A Few of My Favorite Things for the Kitchen

By Susan Serra

Susan Serra is a Decorati Contributing Guest Blogger and author of The Kitchen Designer blog.

The kitchen, to me, should be a room, an “environment”, with surroundings that make you feel not just good, but wonderful, every day. That’s easy to say, and few would disagree. But, let’s go a step beyond that simple statement today and talk about incorporating special furnishings into our kitchen designs which draw our OWN admiring gaze, enhancing the connection we have to our spaces every day. Pieces we love will make our kitchens a meaningful place to be in and will communicate the joy and passion we have for our kitchens to those who enter this very special, and multifaceted, environment.

There are many ways to express oneself in the kitchen. Think, first, of the feeling you’d like to convey. Take a moment to consider aesthetics, apart from the strict functionality of the space, to understand the many ways color, texture, style, size, proportion and other aesthetic tools, contribute to our unique sense of design. Our kitchens are places to, let’s face it, work. Cooking CAN be “work” when we’re tired, hungry, preparing for an elaborate event, faced with time constraints, stressed out or just not feeling our best. Doesn’t it make sense, then, to strive toward a higher calling of beauty and comfort in the kitchen? Absolutely, and why not?

I encourage my clients to bring a little bit of a living room feeling and aesthetic into their kitchens. Expand your boundaries of materials and decorative details beyond what you feel is “kitchen appropriate”. Sometimes I feel that if certain decorative objects are thought of as those which “should” (only) be in the kitchen (no examples, insert your own decorative object here) then it surely means it’s time to be open to inspiration from, well, anywhere! Here are a few pieces of non typical kitchen decorative elements that just may make you feel better when you walk into the kitchen than you did before you entered.

Above, take a tip from Ina Garten’s kitchen, who has easy access to, and uses, her best servingware all the time. Combining special serving pieces and plain glass jars have the common thread of being useful objects. It’s amazing, however, how displaying your best and most beautiful serving pieces on lower shelves in an open shelving situation or within glass fronted doors, also displaying on lower shelves, elevates the entire decor of the kitchen. In this case, the idea is to bring a little “dining room” feeling into the kitchen.

Bring your living room artwork, below, into your kitchen! Why not? Nearly any place other than behind the range or cooktop is just fine. Hang your quality paintings in and around your kitchen and dining area. The idea is to be surrounded by the things you love. Go ahead…go into your living room, dining room, foyer and gather just a little bit of your art collection to enjoy in the kitchen. If these pieces are meaningful, they can have a home in the kitchen. Art can transform a space. Art, added to a minimalist space, adds a fantastic layer of energy. To every space, it adds visual depth and dimension.

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Below, use an antique armoire as a pantry. When you are out antique hunting, consider items like this beautiful French armoire, for the kitchen. OR, do your shopping online and travel around the country at the same time. One of my favorite places to hunt for antiques is Magazine Street in New Orleans. While I cannot be in New Orleans at the moment, I CAN shop up and down Magazine Street virtually. I found this armoire at Wirthmore Antiques.

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Below, also found in a New Orleans antique shop is a lovely, very distinctive, sconce. I believe there is only one of these, but, surely there must be a piece of wall in the kitchen that is crying out for something very special. Sconces are not just for dining rooms and hallways. Bring them into the kitchen for a touch of elegance, usefulness, and beauty.

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The point of my message today is to do something unexpected in your kitchen to enhance the aesthetics of your environment. Go beyond typical boundaries. Look and listen to what speaks to you, and then incorporate it into the heart of your home. It will feel quite amazing.