We once saw a quote that said, “Kitchens are a gathering place for friends and family, and a place where memories are homemade and seasoned with love.” Quite frankly, we don’t think we can say it any better. Kitchens truly are the heart of the home…or at least here in the South, they are y’all.
In our kitchens, all the way from our childhood is where most of our family conversations take place. In the mornings, we make sure to take the time to talk to the kiddos as they are waiting for breakfast; and in the evening it’s where all the family congregates to share their day while we are cooking dinner. Kitchens seem to open themselves for creating traditions and memories for a family as well. One of our favorite traditions has to be when all the cousins come over to bake and decorate sugar cookies during Christmas. Are they tasty? You bet! Are they always perfectly decorated? Well, let’s just say that they taste good! We have Christmas music playing in the background and everyone has an apron on! These memories will always stay with our families forever...and they were homemade here in the kitchen. Don’t just view kitchens as a place to cook dinner. View it as the center point of your home that brings the entire family together.
So let’s get “cooking” and learn the easiest ways to turn your kitchen from a place to cook to a place you gather.
8 Easy Elements to Add to Your Kitchen to Make it a Room You Love
Cabinet Knobs and Pulls
We think of cabinet knobs as the accessories to our kitchens. Just like choosing an engagement ring, each one of us has a different style. But just like any engagement rings, they are all perfect because it’s a complete representation of you. So, if you are feeling like the kitchen just isn’t your “cup of tea” anymore, think about upgrading to new knobs. It will give you a quick makeover for a fraction of the price.
Barstools
Personality plays a huge role in your home, and just like knobs your barstools give that same impression. Since there is so much of the traditional style in our kitchen, we went with these industrial style barstools. It helps to balance the space and not make all the decorations so “matchy-matchy”. Even though we absolutely love white, contrasting with wood and metal helps give the kitchen warmth and character.
Barstools are also a safe way to take a risk. They are not permanent and even though they can be a bit pricey, it doesn’t come close to remodeling the entire kitchen. If you are seeking a quick update for your kitchen or looking to be more daring with your decor, then we suggest barstools as your solution.
We bought these barstools at an antique fair, but here are some similar on Amazon.
Lighting
Lighting helps to create the mood you want your kitchen to have. In the mornings, we like our kitchens bright and have all the lights on. Trace Adkins would be so proud. In the evening, we are ready to start toning down the day, so we usually will only turn on the pendants or above/under cabinet lights. You can easy install above or under cabinet lights and doing so will make a huge impact on your kitchen. Check out some on Amazon, and what’s even better is that they can be controlled by a remote. This is an expectational way to add a lot of depth to your room without much of a cost.
Cutting Boards
Looking for an easy and inexpensive way to add warmth to your kitchen? Look no further! Adding a few cutting boards to use as décor can do just this. HomeGoods and Amazon have a variety of styles that are so budget-friendly! They make for great decor pieces in your kitchen, and you don’t even have to make any holes in your wall! Talk about a win-win!
Coffee Bar
But first, coffee. It’s all the rage now to have a coffee bar in your kitchen. You don’t necessarily have to go over the top with a ton of decor, but a few accent pieces and a special place to keep your coffee machine can give a charming touch to your kitchen. Coffee makes everything beautiful, so make sure the spot you choose to make coffee matches that beauty. Another quick tip, we have a drawer under our coffee machine that has all of our supplies like spoons, sweet-n-low, sugar cubes, creamers, etc… This keeps all your belongings neatly in one place.
If You Don't Want Your Kitchen Bland...Then Get You a Cake Stand!
When we were young, we had a good friend whose mom put baked goodies in a cake stand every time we visited. Let’s just say, we definitely looked forward to visiting this friend often. That was over 20 years ago, and we still remember how it made us feel. We just thought it was so homey and absolutely loved visiting there.
Well, fast-forward a couple of years, we decided to add that tradition to our own homes. Now with our own children, we want to give that same feeling to our kiddos and especially to friends that enter our kitchens. We love this tradition so much that we give cake stands as wedding gifts with a note hoping the newly married couple will start this tradition as well.
Any cake stand will do the trick, but we love the cake stands from The Pioneer Woman in both mint green and white and this Magnolia cake stand we were gifted from Target. They are inexpensive, and in our opinion mean so much more than just holding a dessert.
Something Old
We feel like every room needs at least one antique or “faux antique” piece to give history and character to the space. For our kitchens, we use crocks and antique bowls. Crocks make for the perfect container for spoons and serving utensils, and antique bowls are great for displaying fruit or eggs. All of our crocks were given to us from family, so they bring a special meaning to our kitchens. You can still get this look by purchasing something similar at Antique Farmhouse, Hobby Lobby, and HomeGoods.
Two Birds, One Stone Using Food
There is nothing better than getting beautiful items to decorate your kitchen from a home decor store. It’s the best feeling. A mistake that we have made in the past, to remember this room also needs space for working, preparing, and cooking! One way that we avoid this old mistake is to use the food to decorate your kitchen! We put our flour and sugar in these beautiful containers that we bought from Walmart for decoration in our baking area. These jars give a little pizzazz to the space and what’s even better is that they are functional too! We also take advantage of our fruit and fill bowls with them often. This is such an easy way to add freshness to your home, and because the fruit is so colorful you can match it to any season. Last week, we did a blog post on how to decorate and entertain with lemons. You should check it out.
We hope these 8 tips encourage and inspire you to think of your kitchen as not just a place to cook, but as a place that is filled with family memories and joy. Please tag us the pictures of your kitchen and ideas you have to make your kitchen a warm and welcoming space on Instagram @theoldrivenest.
All our love,
Amber & Brooke