!: French Country Bakers Rack Guide: December 2011

!: Tips For Decorating A Large Kitchen

Everyone loves a big kitchen, but they can also feel cold and impersonal. While there might be plenty of room for more cooks, a warmer, cozy kitchen will be more inviting for family and guests to mingle in. With the right kind of accessories, you can have both a large and cozy kitchen all in one!

One thing you'll want to do is fill in all the extra space with some great furniture and collectibles which will add interest to the room. The kitchen is a great place to show off your collections and they don't have to be comprised of kitchen related stuff either! Having some shelves installed or make special wall displays to show off your collection makes for a unique conversation piece in the kitchen.

It is important to consider the scale of your furniture when decorating a large kitchen. A tiny café table will look out of place so you'll want a large substantial piece for your table set. You can also include some bakers racks or other storage pieces depending on how large your kitchen is. If the kitchen is setup so that you can add a portable island (or even a stationary one), consider doing this, it will add lots more storage space and you can get one with an eating counter and set up some bar stools for informal dinners.

Accessories can help make a large kitchen more homey. I always like to use lots of potted plants (either silk or real) and a large kitchen can take larger plants easily which adds to the coziness of the room. You can also use larger decorative pieces such as urns, wall hangings and perhaps some architectural pieces of it matches with your décor. If you have a theme or a collection of something, you may want to show them off in a lighted glass hutch, or add shelves on the wall.

Lighting is important in any kitchen and special considerations should be made for larger rooms. One mistake that many home owners make is to buy lighting that does not match the scale of the room. If you have a large kitchen, you need to buy lighting fixtures that are of a large scale.
Large pendants, big chandeliers and plenty of recessed lighting is good. Don't forget your task lighting at the counters for cooking and preparing food.

Finally, you can use color and pattern to make the room feel more homey. When decorating a large kitchen, consider soft warm colors that will evoke a feeling of comfort and coziness. Of course, you need to make sure the color matches your overall decorating theme and does not clash with the curtains and flooring.