Kitchens are an intrinsic part of the modern home.

A place for social activities, enjoying some you-time, and, of course, cooking all of your great food, it would be an understatement to say that you need this room. With it being so important, a lot of people invest a huge amount of time into building this space into something perfect. What it often lacks, though, is a touch of real life.

It can be far too easy to fall into the trap of simply following trends when you’re working to design a space like this, building something which reflects what so many other happy homeowners already have. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way, as long as you’re willing to take the right steps along the way.

The Style

The first stage when you’re designing any room is deciding upon the style you’d like to capture with your project. For some spaces, this can be a great challenge, as you really don’t have many options which will carve out the defined look you’re trying to achieve. In the kitchen, though, this isn’t the case, and you have loads of scope when it comes to finding a unique and personal approach.

There are a couple of different features which will lay the foundations for the style you choose for your kitchen; era and inspiration. Choosing the decade you’d like your kitchen to reflect should be nice and easy, as time hasn’t changed this sort of space very much, and the decor options available enable you to capture trends from practically any period. Inspiration, on the other hand, could be a little harder. Some people will want a space which is lifted straight from a cottage, while others will be hunting for something a lot more modern. To help with this, websites like Instagram make it nice and easy to see what other people have done to this part of their home.

Once you have an idea of the basics, you can start to go a little deeper, picking out the colours you’d like to use in your kitchen. In this area, as long as you choose shades which compliment one another, there really isn’t much you can do wrong, but it’s worth considering how colour can make you feel. Red can feel very romantic, but will often inspire anger and frustration in some people. Purple feels luxury, blue can be very calming, and yellow will make you feel uplifted, giving you plenty to think about as you go through this process. There are loads of resources around the web which can make it easy to pick hues which will inspire the right feelings.

The Big Stuff

With factors like style and colour picked out, it will be time to start your hunt for the pieces which will bring the room together. There are loads of sites which make it easy to think about your preferences first and your budget second, with options like eBay offering used cabinets and sinks, and hundreds of businesses giving you access to premium options if you have a little more to spend.

Being the largest part of the room, the cabinets and work surfaces are the best place to start with this, and you have a lot to choose from. At the moment, simplicity seems to be on most people’s minds when they’re working on this room. Modern examples often include very basic shapes for doors and drawers, relying more on the handles and other fixtures to liven things up. This is a great approach to take, as it can make updating your kitchen in the future into a much easier job. Granite has always been popular for work surfaces, but the spotlight is well and truly on thick slabs of wood at the moment, and this sort of material can often be more affordable.

Following your cabinets and work surfaces, you can start to consider the other large parts of your kitchen. Sinks, appliances, and even furniture all fall into this category. Metal sinks are a thing of the past in most homes, with ceramic sink options taking the market by storm, all while making it easy to capture a range of different styles with one product. The appliances can be a little harder, unfortunately. A lot of the companies making these products aren’t known for their subtly, and this shows when it comes to modern fridge freezers, cookers, washing machines. Companies like Smeg have made a name for themselves for breaking this sort of trend.

The Decor

While it may seem weird to start on the decoration for the room after you’ve sourced the big bits, people often regret their decisions if they try to handle this area to soon. The tiles, paint, and trimmings you decide to use should always be dictated by the type of cabinets and other products calling your kitchen home. To achieve this sort of goal, you’re going to need to look for some serious inspiration.

In the world of social media, this sort of job isn’t really a challenge anymore, as you have access to thousands of users with a range of experience in this area. A site like Pinterest, for example, can give you the chance to find your exact cabinets, along with reems of images to show you how they could look with different types of decor. If you’d like to get some advice, most kitchen stores will have professional employees who will be more than happy to support you. Given that they want to sell you their work, you can often get help for free, and it will usually come with some digital representations of what your room could look like once you’re all done.

It’s well worth being as patient as possible throughout this part of the job. You will probably have to try a few different options before you find the perfect one for your space, and this could involve doing loads of hunting. Paint should be simple, as you can get tester pots in any colour from the big companies, giving you the chance to try it out before you invest in a larger quantity. Tiles, though, will require a little more research. Surprisingly, one of the best ways to scope out this part of the kitchen is the catalogues kitchen companies will provide. While this may seem a little archaic, there’s a good reason these resources are still being produced by leading brands.

Your Personal Touch

Of course, all of the work this post has covered so far is essential, and anyone putting together a kitchen will have to go through it. This isn’t about getting the trends right, though. Instead, you’re going to want to add a personal touch to your kitchen space, and this is where the doors truly open. Artwork, ornaments, and all sorts of other features can be added to a kitchen to make it feel like your own. These items should always reflect the style you’ve chosen, but that is just about the only rule you have to think about. It’s worth being as creative as possible with this part of your space, as this is the single best way to pump some life into the heart of your home.

Kitchens have always been a very important part of the modern home. Not only do they give you a space to spend time with your family, but they also provide a much-needed service when it comes to keeping everyone healthy. When you use a room this much, it’s critical that you’re in love with it, and this could take some work to achieve.