Easiness, naturalness and warmth are the key features that distinguish country style among others. The premises, decorated in rural style, will help to relax at the end of day, which was rich in the events, provide recovering of the serenity of mind as well as allow to feel yourself closer to nature, notwithstanding the constant city fuss outside.
Currently we would like to demonstrate the special aspects of kitchen country style and advantages of such interior decision.
Country-styled kitchen means the absence of glamour and artificiality as well as filling the interior with natural materials and fabrics, nice on the touch. If you are especially attracted by the given style, then you must forget about glossy surfaces, as well as about plastic and chromized elements. You should imagine the kitchen of the real country house: light, ornamental hangings on the windows, wicker baskets on the shelves and near the table and squeak plank flooring.
How to create the country style in kitchen
The county style for kitchen is a truly good choice, as it creates the atmosphere of freedom and coziness and fosters a pleasant pastime in the room. A bit naive but kind image will inspire the hostess to prepare delicious and healthy dishes for the whole family and the time, spent in the comfortable conditions of picturesque kitchen, would pass quickly and easily.
It isn`t appropriate for the county-styled kitchen interior to use bright tinctures neither in surfaces` facing nor in the furniture items. Too light pastel tinctures would rather remind of Provence style, which is close to the country style, though they are not totally identic.
The country style is based on moderate muted shades of the surrounding nature, namely pine needles, tree bark, soil, felt or send out leaves as well as clear blue sky, mellow wheat, sand, natural stone and wood.
Simplicity and unaffected atmosphere
A special charm of county-styled kitchen is, beyond other features, that while decorating the interior it is possible to fall for natural desire and leave the habitual canons, e.g. at choosing the necessary furniture items and their further arrangement across the room`s perimeter. The main thing is to go with own gut and fill the premises in accordance with own needs.
The kitchen could be furnished with a suite containing solid tabletop, as well as upper and lower cupboards. The dining table is appropriate to locate in the middle of the room, by the window, in the corner or to adjoin it to the main island. However, it is also a right decision to place the furniture in separate islands at the correspondent functional zones. Thus a buffet for utensil and cooking pots could be located at one of the walls, a preparation table or kitchen island could be placed in the middle of the room whereas the corner of the room or the place near the window might become the perfect area for a dining table.
A cook stove with a cooker hood as well as lockers for kitchen appliances and a sink with a shelf for utensil`s drying above should be correspondently located at the wall opposite to the buffet. Thus, the kitchen`s interior scene would look well-ordered and relaxed at the time, which is extremely important for the country style.
Natural materials for facing
The accent of the whole county-styled kitchen is made on materials, used at its decoration. Tiles, wood, stone, cotton and flax are at the head of all design decisions. The floor is possible to lay with wooden planks or laminated material with realistic texture. However, it is more practical to use non-transparent uneven tiles for kitchen`s decoration.
The tiles should be laid either in strict geometric order or in random one, with the use of diversiform tiles, which are analogous to stone.
The kitchen walls could be covered with sole-colored neutral wallpapers without any print or simply rendered with further paint covering. Clean and light ceiling, usually decorated with ornamental wooden beams, is rather remarkable detail of country-styled kitchen interior.
Furniture for country-styled kitchen
All furniture items in the country-styled kitchen have laconic shapes and apparent simplicity. Buffets, tables and shelves are rather massive, roughly tooled as well as made of solid wood or covered with natural veneer sheet.
You should pay attention to the fact that the furniture should be covered with transparent lacquer, displaying the natural print and original texture at all its beauty and naturalness. The color of the wood should also be close to naturalness and neutrality; too dark or light-painted facades would not be appropriate in this case.
You should give preference to the wooden-brown as well as grey-brown species (oak, walnut, beech, pine-tree, cherry).
It would be better to select smooth-faced furniture facade, with simple glass embedment but without carven decor. Working tabletops should be of stone or wood, whereas the dining table must be robust and solid, made of wood and of circle, rectangle or oval form. You may select wooden chairs with backs and soft replaceable sittings as seat furniture. A pair of small armchairs would enliven the interior scene as well.
Country-kitchen may contain upper- and lower-level cupboards. However you may refuse of the upper-level furniture at all, or to replace it with several lines of suspended shelves, which are also the feature of the given style.
Choosing the modern appliances and lighting
It is not reasonable to display all modern appliances, and the country-styled kitchen would not become more attractive at such approach. However, there is no need in their complete concealing. You should hide small items into the cupboards or put them into niches whenever appropriate, and let big equipment be inbuilt into the kitchen furniture.
Air extraction system above the stove is traditionally placed into big container, which is beautified with ornamental tiled borders and small decorative items.
Lighting
The kitchen must be light regardless the chosen interior style. Country style implies the use of simplified forms of lighting fixtures without crystal pendants and silk abat-jours.
It is possible to hang a horn-like ceiling lamp of hammered metal, with glass or ceramic plafonds; it would be also reasonable to hang a light fixture with candled lamps above the dining table and to place a pin-up lamp with fabric cone-typed abat-jours above the working areas.
Typical entourage of country style
The image is created by details; this statement is true, especially applied to the country-styled kitchen interior. This room is necessary to fill with pleasant and useful items, namely: wicker cache pot and baskets, pots and vases of clay as well as pictures with domestic animals or birds.
It would be a good idea to put a neat rag carpet of bright colors on the floor, to lay the table with checked tablecloth and to decorate the stove zone with napkins and potholders.
Window sills, upper ambries and suspended shelves should be decorated with bunches of dried herbs, garlic, onion and bay leaf; pots with live plants and bowls with fruits and vegetables, placed within the kitchen, would be appropriate here as well. Windows should be covered with light curtains, made of batiste, flax or cotton chintz.
Photo Gallery: Country-Styled Kitchen
