An updated kitchen adds value to your home.
Renovating your kitchen is an exciting way to add style and value to your home, but it is also overwhelming. The kitchen is the family's gathering place, where meals are shared; it should be warm, inviting and comforting. You want the kitchen functional but comfortable, stylish but relaxed. Save formal for the dining room. Because the theme options for a new kitchen are nearly limitless, many people feel more comfortable going with a classic theme that is instantly recognizable and familiar.
Country Kitchen
The country kitchen is the original American theme. Always invitingly down-home, you can pay homage to early American cookery with deep, rich tones, or use a Southern-style palette with white and pastels. Either way, the centerpiece of the room is a large, sturdy family table. Select furniture in a medium-toned wood; choose chairs with tie-on seat pads in bright primary colors. Countertops of wood make for an early rustic look, or pick granite for a more updated style. Hang curtains that are light and airy as sunlight is an important element. Use bead board for your backsplash and even as cabinet facing. Use wire egg baskets to store essentials, and keep dishes on open shelves instead of hidden away.
Diner Decor
The classic 1950s diner is a perennial favorite in kitchen design, and you get to decide how deep into nostalgia you are willing to go. For a light touch, white walls and stainless steel appliances set off terrazzo or checkerboard tile floors. Choose a simple, bright color scheme--red, black and white are favorites--and repeat it throughout. To go a bit further, use pressed tin backsplashes in a stainless steel finish, and install a booth in place of a table. Glitter vinyl upholstery and steel-edged boomerang Formica are also authentic additions. Go even further by adding neon signs and '50s memorabilia on the walls, and perhaps even install a small Coke cooler. To go the limit, add a vintage popcorn machine, milkshake blender and cotton candy machine, and store dishes and glassware on open steel shelves.
Working Kitchen
The working kitchen is styled after restaurant kitchens where functionality and cleanliness are of utmost importance. Use stainless steel appliances and countertops with a separate butcher block island. Decoration is minimal; limit yourself to hanging flawless cookware from a steel rack. Keep countertops clear of clutter by planning enough storage to stow everything away. Efficiency is key, so consider the way you move and work in your kitchen before you plan the layout. Gleaming white walls feature a magnetic strip to hold high-quality knives. Store rarely-used appliances when not in use. The main benefit of this theme is how simple it is to keep clean. Because there is nothing sitting out to collect dust, you can virtually spray, wipe down and dry the whole room in one shot.
Cucina
The cucina is common in homes with a suburban-contemporary feel. Model your cucina after Spanish, Mexican, French or Italian kitchens, but stick to the main theme of rustic materials and textures. Use rough-hewn stone tile on floors and backsplashes and granite or slate on countertops. Use a lighter earth tone palette with an emphasis on the furniture, not the walls. Choose weathered wood furniture, preferably with carved decoration. Terra cotta pottery and baskets function as storage for towels, aprons and napkins, and a windowsill full of sprouting herbs or colored glass bottles adds a bit of old-world charm. Copper or cast-iron cookware is functional decor when hung from an iron rack, and earthenware plates grace the table all day long. Add a splash of traditional craftsmanship from whichever country you are emulating for a finishing touch.
Tags: stainless steel, more updated, palette with, stainless steel appliances, steel appliances