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Interior Decorating > Five Ideas for Making your Kitchen a Different Place

Five Ideas for Making your Kitchen a Different Place

For many families, the kitchen is the base of operations.  It will be the first place everyone congregates in the morning and the site of some late-night snacks before bed.  If you consider it in those terms, the kitchen has a big psychological impact on the family as a whole.  However, it can be the room that gets the least attention when it comes to improvement projects.  It will linger as the last bastion of the old home which in many ways the family has left behind.  When you are ready to transform your kitchen into something new, see which of these styles work for your home.

1. Look back to the Old Country.  In the design of rustic European models, change the room from a relic of the 1970s to a place more old fashioned but also much more stylish.  Use wood carvings and molding to accentuate different corners and make grand gestures with furniture that is bigger and more ornate.  The breakfast bar should take on a more substantial character, allowing the family to feel comfortable and formal at the same time.

2. Change the main ingredients of the room.  Sometimes, without doing much to the cabinets or flooring, the entire look of the kitchen can be altered.  Clear out the old appliances and switch to modern, energy-efficient models.  For a different perspective, play with the natural light sources.  As long as your cabinets are in good condition, the extra light and new appliances will give the room a totally different feel.

3. Create a modern yet inviting look.  You can go modern without being cold and forbidding.  Using wood will add a more traditional effect, but staining the wood can offer a different, bolder perspective (try charcoal).  Also, limestone is one of the most difficult surfaces to care for, but its beautiful finish will add a strong, elegant feel to the room.  You'll quickly forget that things once felt old-fashioned.

4. Head to the top of the line.  Sometimes, the kitchen can simply not compete with the elegance found in the other rooms in a home.  To go for the highest form of design, think outside the box.  Ask your designer what some original wood cravings can do for the place, or some other items that will separate your home from the pack.  Components of the room which you had taken for granted - the stove hood, the material of your flooring - are by no means limited to standard options.

5. Make it fun for the kids.  Sometimes a kitchen can take on a totally different tone when children are born into the family.  The once sleek and elegant room might now feel cold and anomalous.  Make a shift in tone with some brighter counters and less of a professional feeling in the sink.  A brighter coat of paint will never hurt.  Your kids will notice the difference.

By:Oswald Melman

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