Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

Tuscan Kitchen Decor Ideas Mood Board

Rustic elements of nature are the key to a Tuscan style kitchen. To design a kitchen around this you want to have lots of wood and stone with accents of wrought iron. Here is a whole list of Tuscan interior design ideas:

Color Palette: As seen in the photos above, each kitchen has a base color on the walls. This base color will be an earth hue: terracotta/brick, a dark yellow/ochre/golden earthy yellow, or earth green colors.

The Ceiling: Just like in picture (1) having wooden beams fitted transforms the space. A simpler idea is to have the ceilings plastered to create a textured effect.

The Walls: You’ll also want to have the walls textured (2). This can be done through rough plastering or using a technique called stucco (stone tiles is another idea). When it comes to the windows, wooden frames are ideal along with wooden blinds.

Floors: Stone tiling is the best choice for flooring (3). Other choices include terracotta tiles, clay tiles or hardwood flooring. Wooden base molding is a great finishing touch.

Kitchen Fixtures: To keep the Tuscan style flowing throughout the kitchen, look to use a copper hood (4), a porcelain or better yet a stone sink, and when it comes to the countertops the Tuscan way is to use marble (5). For the cabinets: dark brown wooden cabinet designs are the way to go (6) – with wrought iron handles/knobs.

Lighting: The go to style for Tuscan lighting is wrought iron light fixtures. This provides that rustic, earth feel. A 2-3 light bulb wrought iron chandelier or pendant light can be mixed together with more modern recessed lights for the perfect lighting layout. If you have a kitchen island, one lighting idea is to have a chandelier that doubles as a pots and pan rack as seen in picture (7). For more lighting ideas have a look at our post here: (Kitchen Lighting Ideas Mood Board and Inspiration).

Furniture: Use a long wooden family table to create an authentic Tuscan kitchen design setting (8). An alternative for smaller kitchens is to have a round wooden table. Wood, wood, wood – that’s what it’s all about. The same goes for the chairs – leather and wooden chairs.

Decor: Ceramics and pottery accessory pieces are ideal for creating the Tuscan kitchen decor style. There are also wrought iron accessories like wall letters, towel hooks or fruit baskets. Another idea is to hang up decorative copper pots and pans (9). 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

February 17, 2013 in Kitchen

Designs and Ideas for Fitting Kitchen Sinks

Modern vs. Tradition: For a modern look the best kitchen sinks to go for are stainless steel or porcelain styles that are built into a countertop as seen in pictures (1) & (2). This creates a uniformed look. For more traditional styled kitchens like French and Tuscan (Tuscan Kitchen Decor Ideas Mood Board), rounded porcelain sink units (not built into a countertop) are the way to go to create a more vintage look (3) (4) (5) (6). These go along with traditional faucets with porcelain handles. Another idea for a Tuscan style kitchen are stone sinks (7).

Other Kitchen Sink Ideas and Styles: Stainless steel and porcelain are the more popular choices for sinks. Other options include a custom made marble sink (8) or a gorgeous copper one (9). Don’t forget there is the choice of having a single tub or a double to divide up dishes (rinsing vs. soaping). And there is also the choice of having a deep tub vs. a more shallow one (10).

Sink Placement: The most popular place to put the sink is in a countertop up against the wall looking out of a window. Other ideas include having it centrally located and fitted into a kitchen island (11). Another idea is to place it in a commonly underused section of the kitchen, the corner.

Organization Tips from Martha Stewart: Have small dishes around the sink for grouping like items: soaps with soaps, sponges and brillo pads. Another tip from Martha is to buy larger bottles of dishwashing liquid and use a funnel to pour it into more decorative bottles – much better for the look of the kitchen (12). 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12

February 17, 2013 in Kitchen

Kitchen Lighting Ideas Mood Board and Inspiration

Here are the specific areas of the kitchen that need lighting and the types of lights to use.

Over The Sink: The sink area is one place where lighting is often overlooked. Which lighting design ideas and options to use will depend on what you have around the sink. If there are any cabinets overhead then under cabinet lighting will work (see below). The most common solution would be to have ceiling track lights nearby. Since you can angle these lights, have one angled towards the sink. Other ideas include having a pendant light hang down close by as seen in picture (1), and for the daytime a window will bring in sunlight.

Stoves: Most hoods will have lights built into them (2) (3). If there aren’t any an alternative would be to once again angle a track light towards the area. You’ll want the light shining down so that the person cooking doesn’t cast a shadow over the stove.

Cabinet Lighting Ideas: There are under cabinet lights and display lights. Most cabinets will be hung over countertops. So you’ll definitely want to have under cabinet lights – not only to make the kitchen look great, but they light up the counters making it easier to prepare food (4).

Then there are display lights. These are puck lights that are attached to the underside of the shelves inside of the cabinets. These will require wiring, but a quick fix is to have motion sensor battery powered puck lights (found on Amazon), which will turn on when you are looking for things inside of the cabinet.

The Kitchen Island: For specific ideas on this area have a look at our post here (Beautiful Spaces: Kitchen Island Lighting Ideas).

Over the Dinner Table: A great way of lighting up a dinner table would be to have a pendant light hanging down from the ceiling right above the table. A stylish option would be to use a drum light (5).

Kitchen Bar: Here, just like a lot of the areas in a kitchen, you’ll want to bring the light close down to the countertop. Pendant lights would be the best choice (6). You can even find adjustable pendant lights – you pull them down when you want to use them. Take a look at pendant light adapters if you don’t want to do any wiring and electrical work. These are pendant lights that screw into and hang from a normal ceiling light socket (7). An alternative to pendant lighting for a kitchen bar would be to use adjustable track lights.

General Kitchen Lighting Ideas: The ideas above are great for providing localized and focused lighting to areas in the kitchen. For more general and ambient lighting, recessed lights would be the best way to go. These can be used alongside pendant lights, chandeliers, and track lights (8).

Added Features: Dimmer switches would be a great feature to have in a kitchen. You can instantly transform the space from a functional bright work area to a romantic dinner setting.

For a beginner’s guide to home lighting design, have a look at my post here: The Simple Guide: Home Lighting Design Basics.

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February 17, 2013 in Kitchen, Lighting

Features for the Dream Kitchen Layout

In the mood board above we have included photos of the general kitchen layout ideas. You have the u shaped layout as seen in pictures (1) & (2), the L shaped kitchen (3), and the galley kitchen (4) (5). This post is going to focus on features that can be included in your kitchen. Things that will determine its layout:

The Dinner Table: One of the biggest factors of your kitchen layout will be how you will want the dining arrangement to be. You have options like having an open kitchen plan (separated by a kitchen bar?), keeping dining in a separate room, having an elegant long table for an eat in setting like in picture (6), or wanting to create a kitchen nook for booth style dining (7).

Island Layout Ideas: If you have a lot of space to play with, a kitchen island is always a great feature to have. Even if you have a small kitchen, a small and simple side table can work wonders as an island. But for those that have the space, a built in kitchen island can be used for more than just a countertop and storage. Having leg space allows for seating (8), you can also have the cooker fitted here (9), a sink (10), or even a fridge at the base (11). There are chandeliers available that can hang over the island and will also act as a pot rack.

Bar: A kitchen breakfast bar can be a standalone unit or be a continuation of an L or U shaped kitchen design layout (12) (Cooking Time: U Shaped Kitchen Designs and Ideas).

Peninsular Work Station: A peninsular is a worktop that sticks out into the room forming part of an L or U shaped kitchen. The difference between this and a kitchen bar is that the bar will have leg space (and the countertop could be raised) while a peninsular will have storage at the base.

Desk: If you want to have a convenient space to do paper work, then look to fit a desk into the layout as seen in picture (13).

Command Center: A command center can be set up on a wall to track daily tasks. Check out our post here (Ideas for Setting up a Family Command Center in the Kitchen) for ideas like using chalkboards and calendars to create a kitchen command center. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13