Home Renovation Toronto

By Agnes Jones

Just because your kitchen is small, that does not mean it has to be short on style. In fact, since it is diminutive, it may be a perfect candidate for a cottage style makeover. Cottage style is big on detail, so the compact size of your kitchen lets you add eye-appealing accessories to every nook and cranny and it is just the right size for the cozy atmosphere that is a hallmark of the style. If your kitchen has vintage painted cabinetry with open shelving, all the better because you can use this space to create stylish vignettes of acquired cottage clutter using collectibles, old glasses and dishes, bric-a-brac, cookbooks and old kitchen gadgets and cookware.

Here are some tips for bringing cottage style to life in your little kitchen.

Cottage Colors
Think first about cottage colors when planning your makeover. Cottage style can embrace one of several style motifs: Country cottage leans on farmhouse colors like barn red, fresh green or sage green, tan, cream and slate blue. English country cottage is more focused on pastels, such a lemony yellow, rose pink, lavender, delphinium blue and Delft china blue. Cottage style with a shabby chic twist has a similar reliance on pastels but colors are more muted and aged with distressed creamy white balancing the color act and uniting the entire palette. If you love nautical style, a seaside cottage kitchen would feature sea green, sky blue, lots of crisp white with khaki and red, as well as deeper blue, green and yellow for accents.

A Once-Over for your Cabinets
Now that you have nailed down your color palette think about how you can use color to give your cabinets fresh cottage appeal. Of course painting them a silky shade of off-white is an idea solution for any of the above mentioned styles: Beaded board cabinets lend a farmhouse or English cottage look, distressed white is so shabby chic and white is a perfect foil for the blues and greens of a seaside cottage.

You can also try rag rolling, sponging, crackle finishes or other faux painting methods to give your cabinets an antique look. Decoupage cabinet faces with old photos or vintage papers to add Victorian appeal or consider adding feet, corbels and molding to cabinets to make them look like built-in furniture. Glass-fronted cabinets are a popular look for cottage kitchens where Depression glass or other antique dishware begs to be displayed and it is easy to replace wood paneled cabinet fronts with glass. Arrange a few colorful linen tea towels or lace runners, letting them drape over the fronts of shelves, to add a little color and attitude to your glass front cabinet or open style display shelving.

Finishing Accents in Cottage Style
What makes cottage style so fun, affordable and personal is that you can accessorize with vintage and found items and create any look you like. Browse local antique stores frequently and you will soon be drawn to items that grab your attention: For some people, it is salt and pepper shakers from the 1940s; someone else may collect ironstone pottery or yelloware, whereas another person may love fiesta ware dishes, colorful barnyard roosters, tea pots or vintage English china to hang on the wall.

Cottage style is all about mixing and matching, nothing should be too perfectly synchronized; when choosing fabrics and accessories, mix colors and patterns, adding stripes and checks with florals and chintz. Now just make things comfy and cozy with a cushy rag rug in front of the sink, potted herbs and flowers in the windowsill, pretty colorful curtain toppers, seat cushions, and a chalkboard to display todays comfort food menu.

About The Author

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