White is great in a streamlined contemporary kitchen, but wooden kitchen units are still the epitome of a country style. But don’t despair, units in an all-white finish perhaps with traditional style door furnishings will still look the part if they are combined with a wooden floor, beams or other wooden elements such as the Alder White Wooden Venetian blind, plenty of utensil jars, nic nacs and of course fresh flowers.
A traditional decorative unit such as the delightful dresser shown will always ensure an authentic country feel – a place to strategically display your favourite cook books and family photos. Including a Belfast sink will always complete the look.
But don’t lose sight of the fact that you kitchen is the hardest working area in the house, so do not clutter your working areas. Window sills make a good display area which is where a Roller Blind is ideal. The Penang Gold makes a great kitchen blind, the blind rolling up well out of the way during the day allowing maximum light into the kitchen and at night pulling down to its personal space left especially cleared amidst the items on the sill.
If you are fortunate enough to have a large enough kitchen, then a centre island with stools or a kitchen table will add to the family friendly atmosphere synonymous with a country kitchen. Family life in the country usually revolves around the kitchen, friends and family converging to chat and indeed eat together. If you have the space, then curtains always seem to give a softening effect to a room. In the case of a country style kitchen, a wooden curtain pole is what’s called for like the Regency Sienna pole. Whilst this pole is very well priced, there is no compromise on quality and if you have to look carefully at your budget, a kitchen window is the place that perhaps you can make savings. For that little bit extra the Cameron Fuller wooden pole is very eye catching, especially as it is available in 19 different colours of wood stain and special paint finishes.
Armed with the knowledge and the equipment, making your own curtains always adds a personal touch and you can really get creative with making some of your own kitchen accessories such as place mats and oven gloves to match – another little touch that is reminiscent of country kitchens in days gone by when you usually had to make things yourself or go without.
Vertical blinds will help you get around oddly shaped or differently sized windows as they are made to order. Kitchens windows may have to twin with patio doors which are also best fitted with a vertical blind as they can open tightly against the wall, unlike curtains which can become a nuisance blowing continually around when the door is in use. Take a look at the Maya Leaf vertical blind, the self pattern of tiny leaves are very in keeping with a country decor, as is any decorative item in the colours of a cottage garden.
If you have decided on curtains for your windows and patios doors then most of our wooden curtain poles have matching curtain holdbacks such as the Integra Woodworks holdback or perhaps a simple tassel tie-back like the Museum Parham which has been designed to match perfectly the colours of its related wooden pole – these holdbacks will literally hold back the curtains from the windows or patio door overcoming the problems of unwanted movement from the curtains when open during the day.
