Country Kitchens are the trendiest right now

Posted by Mia on Oct 10, 2010 in AW 2010, country, industrial vintage, Kitchen, nature & urban farming |

Call it industrial with warmth, country sleek or retro, nature and vintage combined – the trendiest kitchens right now all embrace contrasts. The kitchen is a place for social interaction – just like in the old days they are true multifunctional rooms. The most popular kitchen is bright and cozy. Homey and social. Simple but hi-tech. The stove - a Big and lavish one – is the most central item, the signature piece. Beyond the stove it’s all about warmth, happiness and functionality. And humour. Humour as in a puffy retro-fridge in a country style kitchen, a raw concrete floor in a romantic rustic decor or decorative knobs and fresh flowers in a stripped-down environment, i.e. together with those public toilet style tiles Henen was talking about. And preferably there should be a kitchen island in the hottest of hot kitchens.

| images via Livingetc, Hus&Hem, Bonytt and Bolaget |

In Sweden, it is the Swedish country style that inspire rather than the French or elsewhere country. The wideplank floor, frames around the locker doors and vintage items are prefered to odd tiles and open shelves. Open plan kitchen/dining room is more rule than exception. I read about some practical advice worth highlighting here. For the one who have thoughts to renovate or redo a kitchen. One good advice is to stick to the old tradition to have between 80 and 140 centimeters between the stove and the water. In practice, this surface will be the most important work space. Therefore it’s also a space worthy of good lighting and access to electrical outlets. Stove and sink should be in the same unit – so that one does not need to walk through the room with hot water. A kitchen island needs a sink. And, of course the allround-advice to always take into account the building’s foundations and construction. A kitchen that somehow relate to the material or the time that characterizes the house feels more harmonious.