It’s no secret that kitchens have become the “hotspot” in the home. No longer does a kitchen just include a few cabinets and a couple of boring appliances. From sleek countertops to high tech appliances that offer a multitude of function, kitchens today offer all the convenience we could ever want and a stylish backdrop to make our time spent there even more enjoyable. Personally, I love to cook and bake for my family, so a fully updated and stylish kitchen was at the top of my priorities when we moved into our new spacious ranch style home plan. Before we began to remodel, our one-story home offered an acceptable cooking area, but with the recent changes, I am proud to say our kitchen is beautiful and even more functional!
I did quite a bit of research when we first started redesigning our kitchen because it was a large undertaking and although I had a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look, I still needed some tips to create my ideal cooking space.
One of the things I focused on was lighting. Before, the light fixtures were quite bare and dim. It’s important to have good lighting when you’re cooking so you can see what you’re doing! I even recall reaching for what I thought was sugar while baking some cookies. Needless to say, those salty cookies were not a hit with my kids! Lighting can also completely alter the mood and feel of a space. Brighter lights can lend to a cheerful feel and softer lights create a cozy atmosphere. We invested in several types of lighting options for various areas throughout the kitchen. We chose brighter lighting options in preparation areas and for the dining area of the kitchen, we chose lighting that offers more ambience.
Next we considered our cabinets. Cabinets are one of those things in a kitchen that if they are the right style, they will fit seamlessly with the rest of the space, but if the style is off or the color not fitting for the décor, they will instantly become an eyesore. I personally knew this to be the case with my own cabinets. While high quality and beautiful in their own right, the cabinets that came in our house absolutely did not fit with my vision. Cabinets take up a lot of space in the kitchen and are a natural focus point in a kitchen, so we had to be very careful when choosing our new cabinetry. In our case as well, we wanted our kitchen to fit seamlessly with the adjacent hearth room. In addition, our new house also offers a unique see-through fireplace connecting our kitchen and living room. So with these distinctive features, our cabinet choice was crucial in pulling all three spaces, the kitchen, hearth, and living rooms, together.
Another detail we needed to consider was the kitchen floor, which takes that brunt of the hustle and bustle occurring in our home. From common food spills to muddy footprints, it’s no surprise that the flooring in the kitchen has to withstand some harsh realities and wear and tear. Everyone converges in the kitchen and my family members constantly bring their things through the kitchen so we needed to select flooring that would make our lives easier. No longer spending hours each day scrubbing marks off of our light colored laminate, we chose a darker ceramic tile that can hold up to our busy family’s needs.
In our previous home, a beautiful English Cottage style home that we simply outgrew, we had a gorgeous tile backsplash behind our stove that I took for granted before. The new kitchen did not have a backsplash but after a few months’ worth of grease and other cooking wastes ending up on the wall behind the cooktop, I knew we needed to add a functional yet attractive tile backsplash. In this inexpensive project, we chose colored tiles that reflect the décor of the kitchen to add a custom look to our home and accent the other beautiful features of the kitchen.
It’s amazing how color can make a room take on a whole new personality and that’s exactly what happened when we painted our kitchen. Out with the dark, peeling wallpaper and in with a few new coats of a light and airy color. This light paint opens up the room and gives a perception of larger space. In addition, we added some strategically placed mirrors that spice up the décor and expand the space.
Another thing that my family pledged to do with our new functional and stylish kitchen was to eliminate clutter. Keeping the countertops free of excess mail, grocery bags, and the kids’ homework has been tough but it offers more space for creating meals and gathering with family and friends. The lack of clutter creates a relaxed atmosphere so that cooking and mealtime are that much more enjoyable.
Many of these design concepts seem pretty obvious and I knew from the moment we toured the new house, I wanted to redesign the kitchen. However, it took some work to go from the beautiful concept in my mind to the sophisticated and efficient kitchen that I have the pleasure of using every day. Once we did our research and found out exactly what we wanted, we simply went for it and we couldn’t be happier with the finished product!
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