How to create a kitchen with personal style
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rend forecasters are predicting a new ‘feel good factor’ decorating movement in line with our desire to make our homes a haven from the harried world outside. After a long period of white-on-white, the kitchens of the moment are becoming more about personal style. The key to creating a customised kitchen that reflects your style is to treat your appliances more like furniture.
The secret to achieving this look is integrated appliances that allow you to fit your own cabinetry fronts, so they disappear into the surroundings. Mark Elmore, GM of design for Fisher & Paykel, says kitchens are often an extension of the living area. “Increasingly it’s less about the appliances being the heroes of the kitchen and more about how they fit with how people want to live.” Integrating appliances is a great way to achieve a clean, cohesive look in your kitchen — providing the ultimate in design freedom. Appliances become more like furniture, and the kitchen presents itself as a beautifully composed space rather than a working area.
The best way to add personal style to your kitchen is to start your design project with a materials moodboard. This will allow you to play with different colours, textures and hardware such as door handles and drawer pulls — before you make any expensive decisions. Keep in mind that flooring comes first. Often neglected as an afterthought, whatever flooring you choose will have a dramatic impact on the look and feel of your kitchen and provide continuity in your living space.
Colour-blocking is an effective way to inject personality into your kitchen décor, but take your time to ensure you get the balance right. You can create a kitchen that still feels bright and light by offsetting a dramatic pop of contrasting colour with swathes of white and splashes of black. Whether you opt for a jolt of bold blue, or prefer softer pastel shades, it’s important to ensure your new colour scheme is in harmony with the rest of your home. Look around at the well-loved pieces you have assembled and take your cue from them to create a kitchen that reflects your style.