Kitchen Pizzazz, Creating A Kitchen Oasis

A kitchen and eating space make or break a meal experience, whether that meal is being prepared from scratch or simply being warmed in the microwave or stove and placed on a plate. Great kitchen features include beautiful and plentiful counter space, high quality cutlery and appliances, beautiful plates and cookware, and a stylish, functional fridge and stove unit.

My own personal kitchen is a reasonable size for NYC standards at least. I live in an apartment unit, so the amount of upgrades I can actually do to the kitchen is limited. However, I’ve tried a number of small cosmetic changes including adding ‘food theme’ pictures to the walls’, adding the word ‘Cucina’ above the doorway to the kitchen.




There is also color everywhere, including decorative eating ware; and off course a message board.






These very subtle changes really have made a difference in the way I feel when I’m in that space. Next up is to put colors on the walls.

But I’ve looked at enough kitchen makeover shows to know that having a truly beautiful ‘dream kitchen” space costs a pretty penny. I guess that’s why they call it a ‘dream’ kitchen.

HGTV Kitchen Inspiration ( On a Budget)





But whether you’re an apartment dweller or house owner, subtle changes similar to the ones I’ve mentioned and some of those you've seen, can still make a noticeable difference.

Here are some more suggestions:

• Use bistro-like, colorful pictures to decorate the walls

• Use accents of color throughout the kitchen-a decorative plate as the backdrop against neutral surfaces or colorful appliances for eg.

• Adopt some type of theme for the look of the kitchen, for example, a country theme, ‘shabby-chic’ theme, ‘French Bistro’ theme, ‘Tuscan kitchen’ theme etc.

• If you have a few food personalities you admire, put a couple pictures of them on the walls as well.

• Have a small shelf or area with a cookbook display whether or not you use them.

• Get some color on the walls. White is so blah..blah.

• Focus on convenience. Having a well stocked kitchen makes actually using and enjoying your kitchen an easier task. Even if you are someone who barely cooks a meal, on the few occasions that you do decide to whip up something quick, lack of or poor quality kitchen tools may stop you dead in your tracks. If you’re lucky enough to have that special someone cook dinner, the quality of the meal you can expect is probably proportional to the quality of cooking aids you have to offer them. For the cook, you already know how attractive a well stocked kitchen is.

So go ahead and make your kitchen a great place to be, by adding a little pizzazz.