How to Decorate a Kitchen

Easy Hacks

Declutter. If you are like many people, you may be guilty of too many details. Take an honest look at your kitchen. Is it too cluttered? You can easily sidestep this problem by taking a few things away or simply rearranging your storage system to keep the extras from view. A new kitchen may emerge just from this one step. If you have no choice but to display all of your appliances and dishware for a lack of storage, you're going to have to get some! Buy a cart, bring an extra piece in, or invest in some attractive bins and containers.

Use color to make it cozy. If you stick to whites like a piece of rice, you risk ending with a kitchen that seems hospital-like and cold. Add a few accent colors that are bright and cheery to make it seem warm, lived in, and loved. Choose certain spots for your color. The seating? The lighting? An area of the countertop? In addition, do not feel pressure to stick to just one -- different hues of the same color work well together -- and remove the pressure to find the exact right tone.

Add fresh flowers. Plants and flowers add lively decoration to any room and are good for the environment. Add a functional decoration to your kitchen by creating a window box with fresh herbs, or replace fresh-cut flowers in a kitchen table vase every few days to keep it looking new. Make sure they match your theme! A simplistic, neutral kitchen would benefit nicely from a simple Easter Lily or two while a kitchen with more pizzazz might look better with a bunch of carnations or daisies. What flower fits your kitchen's personality? Herbs are not grown in factories, you know. To kill two birds with one stone, grow them yourself in your kitchen window! What a cute little way to spruce up your kitchen and jazz up your meals.

Jazz up your fridge magnets. For those of us that don't have a massive budget to install gold-flecked countertops lined with rubies, a fun way to spruce up your kitchen's ambiance is to spice up your fridge! There are loads of fun choices available that you can cater specifically to your personality. Sometimes it's the little things in life. Buy a whole bunch of magnetic letters and leave your roommate a nice message about how you drank the last diet Coke, or even put magnets on the back of photos from favorite vacations. If it sticks, it's a possibility.

Use texture to your advantage. When you have one look going on in your kitchen (probably smooth and flat), it can look one-dimensional and blah. To add an extra zing to your cooking space, work in texture, too. Go for textured containers, textured linens, and textured wall hangings or curtains. A little bit here and there will go a long away against the smoothness of the countertops, the table, and the cabinets.

Add unexpected pieces of furniture. Long gone are the days when the kitchen was just the kitchen. Now, the living room is the dining room, the kitchen is the common area, and the dining room could even be for show. While you don't have to embrace the lifestyle, consider jazzing up your kitchen with no-exactly-meant-for-the-kitchen pieces. A china cabinet, armoire, or credenza is a good way to start expanding the look of your kitchen. If you have a great piece, make it the focal point. Voila, instant theme! Add bookshelves, a bench, or other multi-purpose pieces to seal the deal. After all, this is your kitchen.

Change the linens. One way to give the whole room a cohesive theme is to choose one pattern for your curtains, tablecloth, and hand towels and create a matching set of linens. The only hard part of this is committing to just one!

Switch décor seasonally. Give your kitchen a celebratory feel by changing out linens, curtains, or dishes for special holidays. Rotate these items, which all complement the personality of your kitchen, with the changing seasons to add seasonal colors and elements. This has one extra (albeit teeny) benefit: with the seasons, you can give it a good cleaning. Kitchens are the rooms that get dirtiest, and if you schedule four annual overhauls, your appliances, dishware, and linens will stay good as new.

Design Ideas

Create shelving. Since your cabinets are probably stocked to the brim, you'll probably need other methods to house what's left over (the decorative doodads and the like). For this, you have two options: Floating shelves. If you have walls (and you probably do), you can install floating shelves with ease. They will also draw the eye upward, so if your kitchen is small, it will distract from the cramped-ness of the rest of the room. Cubed shelving. This is turning a wall into a series of boxes. They are artistic and utilitarian. For an added touch, decorate each box (or some of the boxes) with different types of shelf paper. Tada, kitchen innovation.

Stick with an accent color. A kitchen does not need too much going on, so sticking to black and white and other neutral tones are your best bet. Nevertheless, take that monochrome look and spice it up with a specific accent color. Maybe bright yellow or bright blue? Suddenly, the eyes aren't concerned with the size and immediately focus on your great pieces. Think of accents in your art, towels, and dishware. But remember: it's an accent color. Too much of an accent color makes it an accent color no more. If you overdo it, you'll lose the effect. Stick to 4 or 5 pieces. Three words: Paint. The. Ceiling.

Consider losing all your doors. Whether it's cabinets or drawers, think about removing the doors. Sure, this means everything on the inside will need to be organized, but that can easily be overcome with cute storage containers and pretty glass and textured bins. And more opportunities to show off your decorating side! The idea here is that you're opening everything up -- literally. The more open it is, the more room the eye will see. The more room the eye sees, the larger the room will seem.

Use mirrors. Just because you're in a kitchen doesn't mean you can't do whatever the heck you want. And since you probably know that mirrors open rooms, why not put one in your kitchen?! It doesn't have to scream "I'm a mirror!" either -- simply place it underneath your cabinetry for a is-it-there-is-it-not-there look. Mirrors (with frames) also make for good trays. Slap some felt on the back and boom -- automatic DIY success.

Paint the walls or cabinets. A room's color helps it feel warm or relaxing, so decorate your kitchen by adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls or cabinets. White is a popular choice, but you can opt for a light shade of blue or yellow if an all-white room isn't appealing. Use a variety of neutral tones. While using white, cream, and gray may seem drab, when you mix up various neutral tones, it adds depth and sophistication, while staying classic and simple. Turn boring into brilliant by just using a few shades. Add a focus. Paint three walls one color, and the fourth wall a color that pops. The eye will move to it without even realizing it. If you have a great window or area of the room that's eye-catching, amp it up with a focus color.

Add a backsplash. If you are committed to white walls (either against your will or not), you may feel like your kitchen is a little lacking. Get around this by adding a backsplash -- that is a panel behind the sink or stove that protects the wall from splashes. And the panel can be any style you like! It's easiest to stick to a solid color to add an accent, but consider tiles and patterns, too. Tiles can add extra texture to an otherwise smooth wall. If you already have tile, think about buying tile stickers. A super (couldn't be easier) easy way to jazz up that backsplash in seconds.

Play around with lighting. You have more options here than you probably realize. Depending on your electrical system, lighting can take on several different sources. Each one can vamp up your kitchen, rejuvenating it with life. Play around with table lamps. Those work on counters, too! It adds a homey, unexpected feel to any area. If you are feeling extra creative, make a "lamp" out of a string of Christmas lights in a clear, glass jar. Put lights in (and under) your cabinets. Not only will your pieces be lit up (and they'll look fantastic), it can serve as dim lighting when the full guns aren't necessary. In other words, romantic and functional. Get a great hanging lamp. Even if you don't have much space, a great hanging lamp with an eccentric drum shade can be so much fun you won't notice anything else. Or get several small ones for more lighting options. Go for sconces. If you don't have room for a big hanging shade or lamps on your countertops, a sconce is an easy way to go. Some are incredibly easy to attach and can provide much more light than their size would allow.

Focus on one element at a time. Decorating a kitchen can become overwhelming if you try to change everything at once. Give yourself one decorating project, like painting or buying new dishes, and stay with that project until it's completed. You can move on to others later if you feel your kitchen needs more decorating. This well help you know when to stop and when (and how) to keep going. Sometimes adding a focal point or changing your dishware can put a new twist on your kitchen that may be the small tweak that it needed. Create a priority list of things you want to add/change and slowly move down it as necessary.

Style and Theme

Pick a style for your entire kitchen. The main way most people go wrong with their kitchens is in not choosing a theme. They have a vision here and a vision there (or they pick up knickknacks as they find them) and conflate them together into one hodgepodge of a kitchen. Pick a theme and you've tackled 80% of the battle. It's important that your kitchen decorating be cohesive and make the room look pulled together. Accomplish this by deciding on one theme for your kitchen and choosing decorations that match it. Some home improvement stores have entire sets of kitchen decorations based on themes like country living, French or art deco styles.

Go ultra-modern. If you love sleek, shiny things, a super modern kitchen may be your style. Think in harsh angles and blacks, whites, and popping, bright colors. Most metallic, stainless steel, and geometric art pieces would adorn this kitchen. Glass, too!

Do a sea theme. A common (but still classy) theme to choose is a sea theme. Whether you live on the ocean or want to bring the ocean to you, this theme is cozy and inviting. Line your shelves with seashells, sailor's gear, and scenes from the beach. Work in elements of tan, cream, and blues. What a great excuse to make a DIY project with rope, netting, and items from the beach!

Opt for an earthy theme. If you are fond of dark, warm colors, an earthy, natural, woodsy theme may be more up your alley. Think of dark cabinets, wooden dishware, bowls of potpourri, cherry reds, rich mahoganies, and dark oranges.

Go for a colored theme. If an outright themed design is too much for your sensibilities, just go for a color. Hues can line up a kitchen, too! Blue stools, blue dishes, blue cabinet pulls -- everything will be brought together regardless of your items' designs. Just make sure you don't get sick of it! This theme is a bit dangerous. Too much of one tone can be overkill. However, if you do not have the authority to revamp your kitchen (if renting), incorporating color as your theme may be the best way to go.