Loving Summer Living

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Everyone loves the summer. That warm sun-kissed inner glow; the scented flowers blooming; the long, relaxed evenings; chilled garden entertaining and the smell of cut grass. But how can we deliver ‘summer’ into our kitchen design?

Loving Summer Living

How can we deliver ‘summer’ into our kitchen design? How can we feel calm and in harmony with our environment? We will show you how. This article is here to bring you inspiration and get you started on your dream kitchen.

Italian design is inspired by nature and bringing the outside in, is such a positive way to create calm in your living spaces.

Modern kitchens have evolved into living spaces, where people entertain guests and a large portion of their family time in spent around a social island with an open plan layout, which flows out into a patio space. It is important to consider if you want the colour and texture to flow out into the patio then choose a tile that can work with high temperatures for underfloor heating and can drop to low temperatures outside.

Bringing the garden indoors

Plants foliage have a unique way to reflect light into a space to make it feel more natural and soothing. Cacti and succulents are fast becoming the favourite indoor plant of the Interiors world right now. But if you are an enthusiastic chef then how about adding a floating shelf and adorn with fresh herbs and trailing Ivy with cascading foliage to add that touch of garden greenery. There are just so many benefits to bringing plants into your living space, these include a connection with nature, boosting mental health, improving our mood, decreasing stress levels and increase relaxation.

To achieve a simple clean uncluttered look, clever storage solutions are essential.

Clean lines and clear surfaces create peace and harmony in the kitchen, it is important to consider all the units that you may need to achieve this. Clever drawers that keep appliances organised; cupboards that have multipurpose dividers for all your nifty gadgets and spice racks hidden inside sectioned oak-lined drawers. Using contrasting materials within the splash backs, tiles, worktops and shelving brings in additional textures and warmth. If you don’t have the luxury of sliding doors leading out to a patio then making your windows as open to nature, letting light flood in and bringing in the colours of outside. If windows are limited then getting creative with mirrors to reflect the natural light and ceiling spotlights work well, then bringing in selected greenery with well- chosen plants creates a similar mood enhancing experience.

Choosing a colour scheme

It is so important to love the largest element (worktop or flooring) then contrast with warm tones on cupboards, wall units and tiles. Fresh white walls are the epitome of summer style and will allow you to experiment with different colours and themes against a neutral backdrop.

Accent colours work wonderfully well in a kitchen. There are so many accessories that can pull the colour through from cushions to handles to lighting to even funky coloured appliances. For example, if you chose a rich rustic orange to lift the neutral space then you could go for bright copper handles on your units, antique copper pendant light shades and orange fabric on your bar stools then flow the colour through to your outside space with orange in the cushions in your seating area and a soft fluffy throw with an orange edging stripe.

‘Fresh white walls are the epitome of summer style…’

Create a Mood Board or Inspiration Book

To bring ideas together, we suggest that you start collecting images, colour samples, material pieces to build a picture of what you really desire your kitchen space to be, that could be in the form of a mood board or an inspiration book. Have you seen something in a magazine that has made you stop? This helps us to help you form a flow of ideas that we can focus on and a direction to organically travel in.

Here’s a mood board focusing on neutrals and bringing warmth in with wool and tweed fabrics.

If you would like us to create you a mood board to start your ‘new kitchen journey’ then ask us about this service.

Using our experience and knowledge of looks, trends, colour, products and techniques in how to enhance or hide features, we’ll create a bespoke mood board just for you.

If you have seen something that has inspired you to start your journey then please get in touch. We have a wealth of knowledge and can think outside the box for clever inspirational design.

The traditional Italian kitchen uses lots of earthy tones, shades of cream, browns and greens. Traditionally, this is usually most heavily reflected through the stone and brick work of the walls and floor. The colour scheme to choose for your kitchen will depend on both the size of your kitchen space and the amount of light. If the kitchen space is large, open and filled with natural light, darker earthy shades can be used across the storage units, creating contrast with white walls. Here are two examples of using different shades of greens, one muted with a textured charcoal granite worktop and the other using a sheet of green glass to create an area of interest with a more modern feel.

‘We’re here to help you’.

If you have seen something that has inspired you to start your journey then please get in touch. We have a wealth of knowledge and can think outside the box for clever inspirational design.

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