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Piece By Piece Lights and tiles and blinds, oh my! Create the kitchen of your dreams, right now  Image courtesy Amtico When Marcy Rogge needs to brighten up the kitchen in her Warrenville, Ill., condo, she heads for a tile market. Then she'll ponder about whether she should arrange the tile pieces in a frame or just hang them on the wall. "Choose a color scheme and mixture of textures. In other words," she says, "don't choose all with a pattern, but mix them with plain ones. You don't have to be an artist. All the materials are available; you just arrange them in a way that's pleasing to you." Small projects that can be completed within an hour go far in transforming the look of a kitchen. Use your creativity to find exciting ways to make your kitchen more appealing. Rogge says she loves to change tile patterns in her kitchen. First, she advises, choose the place where you want to put the tiles (back splash, above the stove, dead space under a cabinet), then measure the selected space. Next, buy your tiles and lay them out within that space on a horizontal plane. Play with them until you get the right design. Professional organizer Leslie Jacobs of New Britain, Conn., says decluttering is a quick way to make a kitchen look new. "Get rid of everything - as much as you can - unless it is something you use every day, like a toaster or coffee maker," she says. Resist the urge to put out decorative items with a lot of pattern. This only creates visual clutter. Likewise, placing too much on the front of the refrigerator makes the room look sloppy. Jacobs suggests using the inside of cupboard doors for displaying paper and children's drawings. Jacobs says to toss those ugly knobs from the 1960s and 1970s. Knobs and handles are like jewelry for your cabinets, Jacobs says - they are accent pieces. "I staged a house that had very plain vanilla white Formica cabinets. I changed the handles from 1980s contemporary gray plastic to simple pewter handles. Everyone who walked in that kitchen commented on how nice the cabinets were," she recalls. Go for simple and modern curtains that are short and washable. Or opt for blinds that provide lots of sunlight during the day and privacy at night. Natasha Stocker of Inspired Spaces Design in Sonoma County, Calif., says that replacing cold florescent bulbs with new warm or full-spectrum ones can cast a fresh glow to the whole space. Likewise, place a series of battery-operated lights under overhanging cupboards for a moonlight glow "I'm always a fan of a big bowl of fruit on the counter. It makes any space feel fresh and alive," Stocker adds. A modern flower arrangement also gives color to the room. |
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