Whilst the living room is usually considered ‘the heart of any home’ in most UK households, the kitchen plays a much more central role in day-to-day family life. Follow these simple guidelines to achieve kitchen bliss!

1. Make the most of your space
Finding suitable storage units to house all of your pots and pans can be tricky – especially if you are working with a particularly small kitchen. Utensils, appliances, and accessories can certainly clutter up your worktops. Either tuck these items away in cabinets or display them in open shelving to add a decorative and homely feel. 

If you are renovating your kitchen from scratch, choose cabinets that have pull-out baskets and drawers for maximum storage space. A recent trend for kitchen redesigns is to contrast worktop colours or textures and to change traditional handles for stylised ones. Although this look is popular right now, that may change by next year, and counters can be costly to modify. Finding a balance between trendy and timeless ensures that your kitchen never seems dated.

2. Go bold
Even if you’re not renovating your kitchen, there is no rule to say that you’re stuck with your old counters or the ones that a previous owner left behind. Sand and paint the counters yourself, and save having to buy and fit out a completely new kitchen every time you redecorate. 

Whilst patterned tiles can make bold statements, don’t overwhelm your kitchen by tiling it from floor to ceiling. When going for bold, try to keep it simple. That may seem contradictory, but having too many bold prints, colours, or patterns in one room will make your kitchen look messy. Tie your room together with colour gradients and make complex patterns look a little subtler. 

3. Lights, candles, atmosphere
Everyone appreciates privacy in their own homes, but rather than choosing to hang heavy curtains, look instead towards using a lighter fabric or blind to highlight any natural light in your kitchen. Likewise, a lighter colour will emphasise the openness of your window whereas a darker material may make the room seem much gloomier.

For the areas of your kitchen where natural light does not reach, put lamps or candles into position for ambience during the evenings. Spotlights or ‘downlights’ attached to the bottom of your cabinets are also an affordable way to improve lighting in your kitchen. These additions will make your room seem bigger, more open, and yet more intimate. 

4. Opt for quirky and personal
Don’t be afraid to style your kitchen according to your own specific tastes, no matter how quirky they may be! By all means, consider hiding your knick-knacks when your property is on the market – as this will encourage potential buyers to envision buying your property – but whilst you are living there, live there! Whether you are a minimalist or a hoarder, showcase your treasures and memories for all to see.

5. Plants here, there, and everywhere
Having potted plants or herbs in your kitchen will give the room a healthy and natural look. Plant pots can be bought from a wide range of suppliers and you can even paint these for a different and unique finishing touch.

Your kitchen design ‘musts’ should be; appropriate use of space, maximum lighting options (both natural and artificial!) and suitable storing. Once you get these things right, they require very little attention. Unlike colour scheme and accessories, which can have a very dramatic impact and completely revitalise a room in need of some TLC.