Creating A Rustic Country Kitchen

A good country style kitchen can bring memories of visiting your grandparents or of growing on in the country. The warm cozy feeling you would get from walking into the kitchen and smelling apple pies baking and mom/grandma at the stove baking. To get that same feeling in your modern kitchen there are many things you can do from just adding country decor to refinishing old cabinets and painting walls. In this article I will go over these different methods with you.
If you like the look of your current kitchen cabinets and counters and just want to add some design touches to give the room that country feel I suggest starting with antique stores. If you've never been in one you would be surprised by what you can find at reasonable prices. Look for old kitchen utensils with wood handles. No, you will not be cooking with these! Antique utensils such as egg beaters, spatulas, wooden spoons, etc. can be hung on walls in place of pictures. Arrange these in a way that is pleasing to you. Another item to look for in the antiques stores, although a little more expensive, is old windows. They are very popular because they can be used in several different ways for decorating your home. You can remove the old glass and replace it with a mirror, leave the glass and mount a country style painting behind it. If you are the creative type and can paint, you can purchase canvas at any art store and paint your own design to be mounted behind the glass. I have one with chickens painted by an old neighbor. When choosing an old window for this purpose be sure to keep in mind the size of your kitchen and the amount of wall space you have available. Some kitchens have display space above the cabinets. This space is great for displaying old bowls and bakeware or statues of roosters etc. If you're not into the antiques you can find a lot of great country themed kitchen decor on the market. These can range from rooster or apple themed plate diplays, clocks, dishes, cookie jars, etc. Most importantly, have fun with it!
Now let's say you want to go a little more in depth than just decor items. Old kitchen cabinets can be given new life with a whitewash. Change out your kitchen hardware to something that fits your country theme. You can replace, with a little work, the wood panels in cabinet doors with chicken wire. I don't recommend this on cabinets where your dishes are kept due to the possible dust factor. One way to prevent dust is to place a piece of glass behind the chicken wire in the cabinet doors. Wall paper and wall paper borders are another way to give your walls the look and feel of a country kitchen. Most home improvement stores carry a variety of wall papers or they can order them for you. Don't like wall paper? Try a faux painting technique or just choose a soft natural pleasing color and paint your walls. Another more expensive but effective idea is to replace your flooring with a natural tumbled stone. You can also find porcelain tiles that look like tumbled stone usually at a lower cost.
It is amazing the difference that can be made with new flooring and paint. Add a few rustic antique decorations, place a vase of dried flowers on the counter or table and you have a homey inviting kitchen!
Christy Tuller is an expert on several topics and is the owner of a webstore That's Something Special http://store.thatssomethingspecial.com/