With the kitchen being the heart of the home, its only natural that it should be the host to a unique theme. Kitchens with themes are fun to work in as well as a creative area in which to enjoy special time with family and friends. Choosing a theme for your kitchen is not difficult as long as you understand what a kitchen theme is. A kitchen theme is choosing décor and decorating options that all point to and focus on a main object. Anything you desire to turn into a theme will work. A certain area of the country can also be used as a theme instead of a particular object. When contemplating a theme, there are a few major questions you’ll need to ask yourself when beginning this fun decorating journey.
First of all, would you like to have the theme of your kitchen match the existing theme of your home? For example, when you think of your home, what theme would you say it follows. Is it a country farmhouse with a picket fence and a tree swing in the yard? Or how about an adobe home in the southwest adorned with chili peppers and rounded arched doorways. Would you call it a beach house where its summer all year round and water, sand and shells play an important role? Or perhaps it would be classified as a Cape Cod home with cedar shingles and a walkway from the garage to the house. Or how about a cabin built in the mountains and surrounded by a forest of woods and trees? These are just a few kinds of décor that you could adapt into a terrific theme for your kitchen.
Another question you could ask yourself is, “What is my heritage?” For instance, do your roots take you to Ireland, or possibly Mexico. How about Italy or maybe even the French Riviera? Creating a theme based on your family heritage would be a wonderful way to share your family roots with others and a good history lesson for your growing children.
How about creating a theme for your kitchen based on a favorite vacation spot. Have you ever traveled and loved the architecture, people, food, and culture of your vacation destination so much that you just couldn’t wait to visit the area again? This little bit of “heaven” could be made into a major theme for your kitchen so that during the times between visiting your vacation spot, you can still enjoy a little piece of vacation life.
If you still aren’t sure how you want to decorate your kitchen, browse home decorating sites on line. There are literally hundreds. The world is at your finger tips. Look through decorating magazines for ideas. When visiting a friend’s home, study the techniques she has put to use in her kitchen décor. Keep track of any ideas you like and maybe even clip the picture from the decorating magazine or print the picture from the on line site. This will help keep the ideas fresh in your mind.
Create a kitchen theme decorating file so you have all the ideas you like, together in one spot. Add any hand written notes to this file as your mind thinks of something new. Feel free to mix and match any decorating ideas you have found for your kitchen theme. You are allowed to be creative. Choosing an unusual theme is ok. Its your kitchen so you can do anything with it that creates an enjoyable environment.
A major consideration in choosing a theme for your kitchen is determining your budget. If you have an unlimited budget and price is not a factor, then by all means, use every idea you can, to incorporate that special new kitchen theme into your home. If your budget is tight, you’ll naturally need to use creative ideas in moderation. Another important thing to consider when choosing a theme, is to decide if your kitchen is large enough to host all the elements of your new theme or just allow a few of the ideas to be used.
When choosing a theme for your kitchen, be sure you do research on the particular area and traditions from where your theme originates. Know what the people are like there and how they live. How do they decorate an authentic kitchen in their home? What kind of colors do they use? What kind of wall texture is popular and how do they cover their windows? What kind of food do they create? Know what life is like in the area from where your theme is based.
When creating a kitchen theme, if you use items that are unique to that certain way of life, then these items become part of the themed décor and help to describe the theme. When entering the room, there should be no doubt about what your theme is and no explanation would be necessary. Finding items that you could use from flea markets and second hand stores is a fun and interesting way to add special accessories to your kitchen theme project. And for a fraction of the normal cost!
Be sure to take before and after pictures of your kitchen for your family album. You’ll enjoy looking back throughout your life and your kids will get a kick out of the things they remember as they were growing up. . Times dictates that about every twenty years, styles repeat themselves. And home décor is no different.
There is one simple step in deciding if your kitchen theme decorating project is a success. Ask yourself this question. “How do I feel when I walk into the kitchen?” Do you love being in the room and feel happy and content when you spend time in your kitchen? Do you delight to show family and friends your new themed room?
One thing is for sure. Nothing says welcome like a sparkling clean kitchen from where delightful smells greet your nose and a happy hostess awaits.
