Try Decorating a Tired Kitchen to Produce Summer Fun!

Sunshine Drapery sliding glass doors window treatment

Spring is the birth of our year, and summer is the youth of our year. In summer, we doff our clothing much like children do to jump in the pool, we swing on tire swings or just ropes out over a river, we spend quality family time in the outdoor room or kitchen, in addition to joining friends and family in summer-type endeavors. Decorating kitchens is the last thing on our minds, but if yours is in need of a little pizzazz, we have some great ideas to help perk up a tired kitchen for summer fun.

It’s about Color

Summer is the time for the brightest colors you ever saw. Combinations like neon pink and chartreuse, sunshine yellow, aqua, purples and blues look so good on bathing suits and summer outfits, why not use those same colors in the kitchen? Grab a paint brush and breathe new life into just the lower cabinets. Paint the walls a stunning purple and leave the cabinets and appliances glaring white. Do the backsplash in summery yellow behind appliances you’ve painted bright aqua or the turquoise on a ’57 Chevy. Have some fun with color combinations and surfaces! One thing about color is that it can absorb heat or not. When a customarily warm place like the kitchen is painted in light bright colors, heat is not a problem. This is especially so when the color combination is offset by plantation shutters, blinds or shades arranged in positions in which light floods the kitchen but not the direct heat of the sun. In fact, window treatments come in all sorts of colors that will either match or contrast your color scheme, lending the kitchen a little more fun.

It’s about Shape

Round balls, horseshoes thrown onto a peg, kites of all shapes and sizes, surfboards, skateboards and other fun summer toys are about shape. The pool is kidney shaped. The deck is a half-moon descending onto a square shape housing the outdoor room or kitchen. Shape should be part of the kitchen decorations, too. Tall bottles that look slightly warped and contain pickled vegetables can be obtained at any home store. Pitchers, vases and jugs come in all shapes, sizes and colors and add splashes of color to shelves and atop the cabinets. Decorative plates, iron cutlery sets two feet tall and baskets of all shapes, sizes and materials look great mounted on the walls. Touch up oddly shaped accents with colorful bits of ribbon, silk flowers or the mesh used to make bath poufs.

Practically Speaking

If you’re like every cook in the world, you open a cabinet door to take down mixing bowls, open a drawer for cooking utensils and open yet another cabinet door to reach for dishes upon which to serve your masterpiece. And if you’re like every cook in the world, your serving bowls, mixing bowls, serving platters and dishes are colorful statements of your personality and sense of fun. Especially in summer do we use the most colorful of dishes and utensils in keeping with the freedom of the season. Why leave those colorful bowls and platters in the cabinet? Drag those babies out and set the table, leave the bowls on the counters ready to be filled with awesome creations, and hang some of those colorful utensils or other kitchenware on the walls such as splashy pot holders, trivets and dish towels. If you’re going to use them every day, why not show them off? Bringing some pizzazz to a tired kitchen isn’t difficult, and it’s a lot of fun to put together. Don’t forget to match or contrast your window treatments to your splashy new colorful kitchen.