A couple of weeks ago I shared some ‘before’ pictures of my kitchen, which I hate. I like two things about my kitchen – the fact it has a window (a rarity in flats) and its size, which is relatively large for a central London flat. However, the units and worktop are not my thing and we are definitely going to try to replace some of it. In the mean time I set to work re-styling my kitchen as I plonked every piece of kitchenalia I owned in there when we moved in and then desperately tried to ignore it for as long as possible. The result? A very confused mish-mash that might be ok if set against a beautiful, old kitchen but not in a brand new one like mine.
Today, I would like to show you what I have taken away and a few of the things I have added in a desperate bid to bring a bit of cohesion to my kitchen.
Before
A bit of a confused mess that I’ve tried to ignore for a while…
After
I stripped everything off the walls to make it feel cleaner and fresher and I wanted to remove all of the colour, use a neutral palette, ceramics, glassware, enamelware and add plants to the kitchen. I didn’t actually buy much, it was more a case of removing all of the colourful things, clutter and repurposing other things from around my home (a good bit of ‘home shopping’). I sold all of the Le Creuset I had in the kitchen (not the pans but butter dish, salt pig, sugar bowl etc) as well as the set of blue enamel utensils. This helped to fund a few new bits for this re-style. In total, I bought two chopping boards (£28.50), tea-towel (£15), hand wash (£14), large jug (£18) and the rest of the changes were made by a simple re-jig.
I cleared the window sill and moved the vintage rolling pin, coffee pot and utensil holder (with an added succulent) to here. I also moved the small print tray to the right of the window, which is filled with shells that I collected whilst travelling.
I removed all of the recipes I had stuck to the cupboard door above and added herbs to the DIY jelly mould planter. Adding green to any room helps to bring it alive.
I debated with myself whether I should repaint this vintage shelf as it is the only bit of colour left in this room so it stands out a bit too much. However, it kind of feels wrong to paint it as it is genuinely old and I love the colour. Eventually I would like to move this shelf and replace it with open shelving as the blue doesn’t really work in here anymore, unless I choose tiles with blue in them. So instead, I replaced all of the colourful mugs with white ones to try to tone it down slightly.
Small details like the linen tea towel from Labour and Wait helped to change the feel of the room. I even chose the hand wash from Workshop Living because the packaging blends well with the rest of the kitchen (I have to laugh at myself sometimes!).
I love the contrast of the Tom Dixon marble board (see my review of it here) with the wooden boards. I also added more pots of herbs to add texture and a dash of colour.
I moved the old science lab stool that I salvaged (from a skip at the school I used to work in) into the kitchen. It’s actually quite handy as I can sit on it and chat to Jules whilst he cooks.
I simply turned the enamel tea and coffee jars round to hide the writing on them so they look less fussy. I repurposed the mustard and marmalade jars, which I had in my craft room for paint brushes, and now use them as utensil holders.
I put all of the kilner jars I had in my cupboards onto the kitchen surfaces, which is practical as well as adding cohesion. I bought this large stoneware jug from Habitat to act as a utensil holder but since I photographed this post, I found a couple of old earthenware pots in my local antiques market that are perfect and only cost £8 for both.
I have added a couple of really beautiful handmade ceramic bowls that my mother-in-law gave me purely for decorative purposes. I love the character they bring to the kitchen surfaces. I also bought these wooden chopping boards from Workshop Living.
What do you think? When I feel really dissatisfied with a room, I always try to do my best to solve the problem before spending heaps of money. This re-style has made a massive difference to the feel of this room and I far prefer it to how it was. I’m feeling motivated to make bigger changes now.
Katy x
