Welcome to the Kitchen where sweet memories are being made daily ~ Anonymous

Research suggests that cooking and baking food is a sensual and therapeutic activity. It’s sensual because when you and your partner make a dish together it promotes partnership. It brings happiness to see something you both made together like a kid of yours only easier and less time-consuming. Cooking is therapeutic because it is creative and puts your mind at work pushing away the tension that occupy your mind. It helps you get rid of anxiety and OCD. When you have a perfect place with all modern accessories and decorations according to your taste, the whole cooking process would be even more sensual and therapeutic.

Some pointers to help you guide towards a perfect kitchen decor is as follows:

Color scheme of your kitchen walls:

Colors are important because they are the first thing your eyes would see walking into any place or room. Choosing the right color is important as certain colors are good for a certain setting. Colors also influence your mood. To give you some options to choose from, let’s go with each suitable color one by one. 

White is the color of light, purity, and energy. When you wake up in the morning you need to be active to perform all day’s activities. Walking into an all-white setup early in the morning would help you wake up. It brings energy to any place. White is a great option, but the walls can get dirty easily, any stain no matter how small would be visible from a distance. So, if you have kids running around, you might want to think the white color through. 

Grey color is a color of mystery and individualism with its various shades to choose from. Grey can be soothing and calming to your soul. It’s a good option for a modern and trendy setting. Many of the appliances come in silver color so grey color can be a decent pairing. Grey color can work, but some might find it a bit drab and boring. It’s totally up to you to decide whether it works for you. 

Red is a color of power, passion, energy, and action. It promotes zeal and zest of life. The red color would pop and wake you up right away. Research also suggests, red color fastens our metabolism and increases our appetite. So, it can be a good option if you are feeling adventurous. Red color, although a reasonable choice can be a little over the top of some people. Plus, you don’t want all the attention of your guests towards your kitchen, right? 

Blue is the color of freshness, serenity, and stability. Baby blue-colored walls can be quite a treat to your eyes. They would calm and relax you all the way. The blue color is a popular choice for kid-friendly and easy on the eye’s decor. Light blue is a satisfactory choice, but the same issue is the stain of food, tea and coffee. It would be visible and difficult to remove. You can go for a little darker shade of blue if you have kids around to mess up the walls. 

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Choosing the best material for your kitchen countertop

The kitchen countertop is an important element of your kitchen. It must be of top-notch quality and material to provide you with the best. Some of the tiles options to choose from are given as follows. 

Mosaic tiles:

These are small, normally 1 inch in size tiles. These tiles are joined together in the form of a sheet. These sheets can be cut into various sizes to be attached to any place. These tiny tiles are made of many kinds of material like plastic, glass, or porcelain. With various shapes and patterns, these tiles offer a vast variety of options to choose from. 

Ceramic tiles:

Ceramic tiles are made of clay after heating them to extreme temperatures and removing the water content. They are water-resistant, strong, and withstand heat from hot pots and plates. These are easy on your pocket and come in many colors. Ceramic tiles are a good option, but ceramic can crack after an accidental whack. Ceramic is cheap but can also break after repeated exposure to heat. 

Granite tiles:

Granite is a gift of Mother Nature formed after exposure of igneous rock to high temperatures. The tiles made of granite have the prettiest natural patterns. The layers of how the rocks have been set over time give the mesmerizing views. Each tile would have a unique pattern than the next one. They are shiny, strong, and very much resistant to fading out and high temperatures. Granite can be heavy and a bit difficult to install. 

Layered lighting for your kitchen, a necessity or waste of money?

There are three levels of lighting also called layered lighting. 

• There is Ambient lighting 
• 2^nd one is Task lighting
• 3^rd and last is Accent lighting

Ambient is the first kind of lighting and is used to light a whole room. For creating an ambient and fully lit-up environment this lighting is used. The sources for ambient light depending on the size of your kitchen. A bigger kitchen and a heighted ceiling will need more lights and vice versa. The light sources used for ambient light are 

• Recessed downlights
• Ceiling mount fixtures
• Chandeliers and pendants

Task lighting is used to focus on a specific task. When you are cooking, baking, adding ingredients, you need proper light to add the right amount of stuff in your dishes. Cutting vegetables and fruits need focused light to carefully perform the activity. Task lighting sources include the following.

• Under-cabinet lights 
• Over the sink lights
• Pendant task lights 
• Walk-in pantry lights
• Automatic sensors and detector lights

Accent lighting is to set the mood. Low-intensity lights are needed to light up a kitchen in the middle of the night. In case you need a glass of warm milk at 2 a.m. in the night or want to make a quick sandwich, these lights come in handy. This type of lighting also adds depth and detail to your already lighted up kitchen. The sources of accent lighting are:

• Glass cabinet lighting 
• Open shelves and up lighting 

Under Cabinet Lighting

Semiflush-Mount Ceiling

In conclusion, all these lights are necessary to make your kitchen outclass and detailed to perfection. It is an investment but, totally worth it. 

Rugs in your kitchen, Really? 

Rugs may seem a bit odd to put in the kitchen, but they are totally necessary. Soft material rugs provide a relaxing and massaging experience to your feet as you stand and wiggle your toes on them. They help you rest your feet and not let you get tired of standing around. If you drop your fancy, expensive plate on a rug, it is far less likely to break than on the floor. While washing dishes and putting them in a dryer, the floor can get wet. This can result in a slippery area and get the result in accidental falls. This can be prevented with friction provided by the rug. There are different materials of which kitchen rugs are made such as:

• Polyester
• Nylon
• Propylene
• Bamboo 
• Cotton
• Foam 

Anti Fatigue Kitchen Mats

These rugs can be of different shapes and sizes depending on their usage. The kitchen table rug runs along with the length of the kitchen table. Runner rugs run in the parallel area between the kitchen island and cabinets. U-shaped rug is normal to be placed where you wash your dishes under the sink area. 

Kitchen cabinets and their materials

Kitchen cabinets are the utmost necessity in any kitchen. These are used to keep all the glasses, plates, and every single thing that needs to be stored. There are a variety of materials that your cabinets can be made of:

Hardwood

It is solid wood and a popular choice for kitchen cabinets. A lot of different trees are used for making these cabinets. For example, Hickory, Maple, and Mahogany among many others. These woods and their types offer a variety of characteristics to the cabinets. Qualities like scratch and dent-proof, strong and durable. 

Plywood

Plywood is also solid wood with different thin layers attached with glue to give a stronger resulting wood. There are grades of plywood, and these vary based on strength and expense. AA grade of plywood is the strongest and most expensive of all the other grades available in the market.

Fiberboard 

It is made of fibers of various kinds compressed and forced into one layer. The material used is recycled and hence is eco-friendly. It is not very strong when comparing to the above-mentioned classes of cabinet materials. The materials like waxes, resins, and fibers are used to make fiberboards. Although it’s less expensive but is a compromise on strength. 

Other high-end materials used in making cabinets include Aluminum, stainless steel, glass, and polyethylene.

Storage and Mason Jars

If you have all your spices and ingredients in one rack, in some order, it can save you a lot of time. With everything added in jars placed in one place, you won’t have to struggle and waste time finding that one spice to make your dish perfect. These storage jars are much-needed accessory and decoration pieces. Spices, pulses, and flours added in transparent jars would look like decoration pieces of naturally pretty colors and save you a ton of time. 

Mason Jars 16 OZ With Regular Lids

Can your jars hang? I.e., hanging jars!?

You can take up a fun DIY project where you can make hanging mason jars for yourself. The purpose of hanging mason jars is to save space and utilize the area under the cabinets. Cabinets take a lot of space in your kitchen, and you can use that area to attach your mason jars. You can make your hanging mason jars by following some simple and easy steps

• Take a transparent or any jar with a separable strong lid.
• Take a nail and jam it in the center of the underside of the lid. 
• Screw the nail onto the area you want to hang your jars, with a drill of a hammer. 
• Add the stuff you want to add to the jar and close it tightly with the nailed lid. 
• Make sure the region you attached your jar with is strong and does not let the jar fall with added weight. 

Bigger jars of flour and rice are best not to be hanged due to theirweight. You can keep them inside an empty cabinet. The cabinet should be at a low level so you can reach it easily and take the contents out. Heightened cabinets for heavy jars are a bad idea. 

Decorate your kitchen walls and space:

Instead of leaving your kitchen walls empty, you can decorate them with various wall arts. It would not only increase the appeal of your kitchen but also add a fun element. You can hang a decoration piece over your wall to hide a stain or a breakage in the wall. Some of the ideas to decorate your walls with are as follows.

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Secrete storage to save space and clutter

Every kitchen either small or massive seems nice only when it’s neat and clutter-free. A neat and clean kitchen would make you feel at ease, and you would want to work there. You can use smart and simple tactics to save and make space for much-needed accessories in your kitchen. Some of them are as follows:

• Use the space around the kitchen island. The kitchen island usually occupies the most and the central space of the kitchen. Get built-in secret drawers around it to keep your flours, rice, and pulses. 
• You can take your spice rack and turn it into a spice drawer. This is to save space and your spices from children’s reach. 
• Built a big drawer with a rack to keep your knives and forks away. It would not only save the space but also keep the children safe. It is important as kids run around and pick up anything in their sight. 
• Have roll-out drawers and trollies. These are easy to use, and you can keep all your needed snacks and gadgets. Keep the things that are used frequently in the drawers that have easy access. 
• Trade in the walk-in pantry with a roll-out pantry. Pantries can take up a lot of space and it’s wise to build a roll-out pantry for frequent and easy-rolling in and out. 

Expert’s advice: 

A perfect kitchen means perfect dishes and happy tummies. Follow these smart tips and tricks and get yourself a place you can make one a kind. Make some unforgettable memories and food to enjoy with your family. Happy Kitchen-ing!