9 Ideas for the Ultimate Winter Kitchen
10 Minute Read
Winter might be beautiful on occasion, but here in the UK there are just as many wet, windy, and wild days that simply encourage us to take refuge – and when we’re in from the cold, the kitchen is often where we head to get warm. Just like other areas in the home, you’ll enjoy your kitchen so much more if you get it ready for those cold winter months.
Styling your kitchen for the winter season
When we’re heading into the darker months, it can be hard to stay positive – but having projects to keep us focused can be a great way to feel good about our homes as we’re stuck indoors. A new kitchen might not be on the cards, but a quick renovation might be.
Refurbish your kitchen units
If your kitchen units look tired but you’re not planning to replace them in the near future, then consider whether you can make smaller changes to lift them. Painting cabinetry to a different colour can be done over a weekend – although you’ll need to do the prep work and ensure you’ve got the right products first. Deep greens, mismatched or two-toned effects, and deep merlot reds are perfect for winter kitchens, and look stylish all year round.
Should painting be a bit too much like hard work, look at changing the cabinet doors, or swapping the hardware to match the brackets on your shelves. In many cases, a screwdriver, and a set of new handles will be all you will need.
Paint the walls
A fresh coat of paint in a new shade might be all you need to elevate the look of your kitchen, and once you’ve taped everything and covered surfaces, it doesn’t take all that long. The colour you choose is up to you of course, but US paint giant Benjamin Moore have selected October Mist (a light sage green) as their colour of the year for 2022, while UK paint manufacturer Dulux, have chosen Bright Skies – a light, airy and optimistic blue. They are both gorgeous shades that can look fantastic in kitchens – and you’ll be perfectly on trend for the new year too.
Bring in natural accessories
Accessories made from sustainable, natural materials are becoming the go-to for kitchens (and throughout the home) for the foreseeable future, and we definitely approve. Adding rustic shelves, baskets and storage solutions made from wood, rattan, and bamboo can help change the feel of your kitchen, help you organise, and give you a little extra work space too.
Layer your lighting
When it is dark and there’s a storm howling outside, you can increase the cosy factor by updating your lighting – and it doesn’t need to cost a lot either. Adding LED strips under your cabinets is an inexpensive way to create a lovely glow, and increases the ambient light too, or for a no-cost light, raid your Christmas decorations for your fairy lights. You can put them anywhere in your kitchen (especially battery powered ones) but wound inside a glass vase, jug, or repurposed jar, they look great as a centrepiece for kitchen islands.
Cosy winter kitchen ideas
Kitchens tend to be one of the warmer places in the home – especially when we’re cooking. But through the winter, you’ll almost certainly want to increase the cosiness. Here are some of our best tips to make your kitchen feel even more homely through the colder months.
Add a rug
While kitchens aren’t the best place for carpets – accidental drips and spills mean that hard floorings that are easy to maintain are definitely preferred – a runner, or a rug can help to keep your feet warm. While you might think that a rug will encounter the same issues as a carpet, there are thousands of machine washable rugs and runners available, so those accidental winter mulled wine spills aren’t quite as big of a problem as they would be on carpet.
Stock up on cosy drinks
You can approach this in several ways, depending on how much space you have in your kitchen. If you’ve only got a small kitchen, then stash those drink supplies wherever you can. But if you have the space, creating a winter drinks station is going to create all the hygge feelings. (with, or without the special ingredients for Irish coffee!) Pull out your coffee maker, your milk whisk, and place them alongside your kettle and tea pot. Add a basket with your favourite cocoa, fancy coffee, sugar and so on – it’ll become the first place you head in the morning, and when you’ve returned from those wintery walks.
Dig out your slow cooker
Getting home to the scent of a delicious dinner is fabulous when the weather is super cold, and those warming soups, casseroles and stews hit the spot perfectly. Whether your home is busy, or you live alone, knowing that you don’t have to cook when you get home after a long day is well worth the cost! Slow cookers are only a small investment – you can find them on sale for less than £20 – but they are well worth it.
Get your recipe books on hand
Talking of great dinners, be sure to have recipes to hand on a shelf in your kitchen. There might be plenty of recipes to follow online, but when you’re planning ahead for your supermarket delivery, being able to leaf through your recipe books makes it much easier to reduce wasted food.
Add seasonal scents
There are so many ways to add those lovely warming scents to your kitchen – and they’re great for getting rid of cooking smells too. Scented candles bring warmth and light, and banish smells, but an essential oil diffuser, reed diffusers, or a plug-in fragrance can work just as well if you’re concerned about candles being knocked over. Pumpkin spice is ubiquitous in early winter, but there are plenty of other scents to choose from – pine, cinnamon, ginger, and citrus all work well, as do sweeter scents like vanilla. As always, choose what you love – winter is the time for indulging.
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