There are many advantages to living in a cottage. Whether it has become your permanent residence or you only inhabit one seasonally, a cottage creates a feeling of intimacy and privacy that cannot be replicated in large city apartments. Since they tend to be small and quaint, tiny rural homes also have lower taxation costs and insurance. You also won’t have to spend through the roof on energy bills, which is good for both your wallet and the environment.
However, you may have a hard time coming up with ideas to fit the interior design of a cottage. You may be accustomed to decorating your lodgings in the city, but a more rural environment is an entirely different business and should be treated as such. The kitchen is a particularly tricky place to decorate, as it can be challenging to choose a design you prefer from everything you see. There are so many options on the market that you can simply not know where to start.
Have a look at the following suggestions to get an idea of what you should keep in mind when assembling your cottage kitchen to create a design you’ll love for a long time.
Work with the interior
One of the most important things to keep in mind when you’re beginning to renovate your kitchen is to look closely at the room’s layout. While this is good advice for all the rooms of your home, it is perhaps even more critical when it comes to the kitchen. That’s because this is a room that is habitually used for practical purposes as well, not only for leisure, so it is therefore important for everything to be in order and easily accessible.
Space considerations are crucial when you choose your furniture. If you’re dealing with a smaller space (and when you have a cottage, you probably are, you should never forget not to bring items that are overly large and bulky. Not only will they take up a lot of space, putting you at risk of running into countertop and chair corners at all steps, but it also dwarfs the room, creating the optical illusion of an even smaller, cramped and claustrophobic place. And that is certainly something you’d want to avoid.
Choose the cabinets
The cabinets are the pièce de resistance of any kitchen, as the rest of the décor is usually built around them. Their shape, size and color scheme will decide how the rest of your kitchen looks, from the shades of your curtains to how you decorate your walls. That’s why it’s important to pick high-quality kitchen doors for your cottage kitchenette. You want to choose something that will last a long while, so you should pick a timeless, classic design that won’t go out of style anytime soon.
Since small houses are generally associated with that rustic, unsophisticated and bucolic presentation, you can choose something made out of solid wood. It is an understated, elegant choice that’ll lend itself well to any surroundings. However, if you’re not a staunch fan of minimalism and want to add a personal touch to your kitchen, you can bring painted solid wood doors into your kitchenette. This works perfectly if you plan to decorate your kitchen in a colour scheme. For instance, if you’d decided on a white and blue ensemble, painted wood means you can get blue cupboards and white cabinets, or vice versa.
Another style that fits like a glove in the pastoral-style home is the Shaker kitchen. Designed by the religious group known under the same name, this design has simplicity as its forte. Practical and versatile, the Shaker kitchen would never go out of style and often provides your kitchenette with an elegant, luxurious feel owing to its subtle refinement. You can choose it in various colors and shades, from the lightest whites and beiges to colder shades of blue and grey.
Because the kitchen doors are made of high-quality materials, they are more resistant to stains and abrasions. You can simply wipe them down if you want to remove any splatters you made while cooking. This is important because cleaning solutions often contain harsh chemicals that can harm your respiratory health. Moreover, the necessity for cleaning substances means that your furniture will likely lose its lustre much quicker, leaving it vulnerable to chipping and fraying. Lastly, when you don’t have to spend a lot of time scrubbing down all the grooves and ridges of your kitchenette anytime you cook something, you save time to spend doing the things you enjoy.
One of the main advantages of these cabinets is that they don’t only come as complete kitchen units, but you can also find them as single kitchen doors. You know how much wear and tear a kitchen sees, so being able to reface your cabinets and give the whole room a makeover is a must. When your cupboards become stained or scratched, you must replace them in order to avoid that shabby, undesirable look. However, replacing the entire cabinet may not only be unnecessary but also significantly more expensive, which is why replacement doors are the preferable option.
Create a theme
The best way to craft the kitchen of your dreams is to create a cohesive ensemble. For example, if you are a lover of vintage design, you should know that it can be perfectly incorporated into a cottage kitchen. Add open shelving, pot board dressers, Windsor chairs and pot racks. All these items possess the elevated, elegant silhouettes of furniture pieces that have become staples of charming design choices.
If your cottage was built decades ago and maintains some original features that have survived remodeling, you should also aim to incorporate them into your design. They will create a unique, exciting design that’ll distinguish your cottage from the overdone, run-of-the-mill designs you see represented everywhere.
It’s no easy task to design a kitchen space you love. There are many factors to consider before making a definitive choice, but with careful planning, you’re only one step away from creating a kitchen you’ll adore forever.
