Would it surprise you to know that the kitchen is the most Instagrammed room in the house when it comes to Interiors? Well, it doesn’t surprise me. Our love of kitchens is heartwarming and I truly believe the kitchen is the heart of the home. I don’t say that lightly, because having moved from one house where my kitchen wrapped around and was very open plan to a different kind of house, we still spend so much time in this area. Eating, cooking, doing homework and pottering is what we do. My new kitchen sits in my basement now and we have a snug. To be honest there isn’t much light down there but it doesn’t stop us from chilling in this space. In the Winter I think it’s going to get cosy and fairy lights might be on all the time!

I first became obsessed with kitchens looking at Nigella’s cooking programmes a few years ago. There were lots of lights and a hint of pink and it looked the coolest place to hang out with family and friends, getting the girls round for a few cocktails! I remember the famous fridge that looked so expensive but I still wanted it 🙂 Have you seen Nigella in her new kitchen? The new book and TV series? Wow if that doesn’t shout happy times then I don’t know what does! I honestly wish we could purchase an Interior book that just has all the Kitchen’s that Nigella has owned in it, even the staged ones set up for shooting were exceptionally cool. If one person set me off having fairy lights in my Kitchen it was definitely Nigella 🙂 The latest programme has her running through a massive cupboard where she keeps all her cooking items. Cupboards are just a big love for me so I love to see a kitchen big enough to carry a nice big and preferably old cupboard.

So thinking of a kitchen what do we love? Well, our tastes have changed so much. What used to be a place for just cooking and eating now has become a place to entertain. Not only that but it has become a real focal point in our homes. Weekends are a wonderful time for pottering in the kitchen. One thing I miss about my old house was my television I had in there not a huge one but just a nice size so I could pop on Saturday Kitchen and think I was as good as any chef flipping their pan yeah right! But seriously I would cook along and loved watching cookery programmes in there.

Instagram pictures of a wknd chilling kitchen are enough to make me smile and want to chill and I think that’s the thing, we want to see inspiring pictures we can incorporate into our own lives. So what makes a good-looking kitchen? Well, of course, this changes with trends and what we want now will be different in say 5 years time.

Kitchens, as we know, cost a huge amount of budget and so we don’t change the design of it very often and that’s where accessories come in. You can have this area of your home for 5 years and change the handles and add new bar stools and a new kettle and suddenly your kitchen looks bang up to date. So it’s like buying the Black dress that never goes out of fashion and always being a staple part of your wardrobe but then constantly updating accessories for it so it always looks modern.

What I love about the new layout of kitchens these days is we add more windows, skylights and how many have you seen recently on Instagram that has bi-fold doors leading to outside? Or huge patio doors? We love sunshine and want to get as much light into that space as we can. Spending time in this area of your home is important to us these days. If your lucky enough to have a large enough kitchen then it is a place we want to sit and drink and entertain our friends. Create cocktails and eat casually sometimes. Whenever I see a new client design of using the Inside-outside theme it nearly always stems from leading outside from your Kitchen/Dining area.

When it comes to colour, White will always play a huge role in most homes but Grey is a real contender as is Black. My focus over the last year has been reclaimed wood cabinetry mixed with various materials. My love of concrete makes me favour towards using this more in the kitchen. most of us have seen concrete worktops now, but latest trends show concrete looking cabinetry which really does have a wow factor. Also concrete tiles as splashbacks and concrete sinks. What with technology and the availability to purchase online from many countries, there is no reason why if you live in the UK that your kitchen can’t come from Germany or Sweden and I don’t mean Ikea 🙂

My love of an island in the kitchen means I know I would have so much fun owning one but I don’t. My last kitchen had huge freestanding areas which were lovely but I didn’t have an island we could all sit around. big chunky beech worktops and lots of space though so we had lots of parties and my dining room was open plan to fit around it so we didn’t miss out too much. There is something warming about being around an island. Eating, socialising this one structure is the desirability in most homes and lot’s of homes don’t have room for one. My new kitchen has a tall table with stools so it feels like a small island and we find ourselves sitting there a lot.

Right, it’s the time of year that I just need to go and get more fairy lights out of the lighting box although I have plenty of neon now in my kitchen and that gives a glow all to itself 🙂

featured Image – Inside out Magazine

Image 1 – Beautiful Foundations

Image 2 – Pinterest

Image 3 – Pinterest

Image 4 – Home Edit

Image 5 – Apartment Therapy