Decorating my first kitchen will always be special memory. I will never forget setting it up after I was married. Till then I lived at home with my parents and even though I was in the kitchen a lot, it was never really mine. Now was the time that I could decorate my kitchen anyway that I wanted and put the dishes in cabinets that made sense to me.
Right after we got married we moved into a basement apartment, which was far from cozy, but it was my first home as a married lady and I was excited to be decorating it. I know my husband had to think I was on drugs because I was having just too much fun opening gifts and putting them away.
I am not going to say that my first stab at kitchen decor was wonderful or beautiful or any of those pretty words, but I guess it was a learning experience. Sorry, but I have no pictures to share. It was not my best work for sure. I worked hard to create a home for my new husband and myself, even though it only lasted 2 weeks (the apartment, not the marriage). We bought a home soon after we got married, so I packed everything up and moved to our new home.
Where Do You Begin To Set Up Your Kitchen Decor?
Our second home had the cutest kitchen. It had big windows with lots of light that came in and it had great wall space for pictures or things to hang on the wall to tie the kitchen colors together. I knew I wanted to find a great piece of artwork to focus the entire kitchen around it.
My mother had this picture that always gave me the creeps, but she would put it in spaces that people could not ignore. It was a very powerful picture, and it was big, I mean about the size you would put behind the sofa. It was a very exotic picture of a woman maybe from India. Her eyes would follow me from room to room…..creepy!
What I learned from that picture is that well placed pictures can be powerful. They can dictate the color scheme and they can command attention from every person that passes. I wanted to find a picture for my kitchen with that power.
When registered for gifts, I had one a picture already mind, so at the wedding I got several pieces that would go well in our kitchen as gifts. Several questioned my gift register selections before the wedding, but once they saw the pieces placed in my kitchen they understood. Many of them commented that they were glad they went with my wedding register suggestions because they loved seeing their gifts in my kitchen. The fact that these precious gifts added to the overall decor of my first kitchen made me so happy.
Now I did fail to mention that our second home had a teal kitchen sink, stove and refrigerator. When I picked out what I wanted on my gift register, I had no way of knowing this would be a dominant color in our new home. My dishes were basically plain, so that was no problem. But many of the other pieces were blue. I made it work by adding lots of yellow and some touches of green. The teal disappeared when it all came together.
My First Kitchen Had My Mothers Influence All Over It
My mother had decorated her kitchen many times in the 20 years that I lived there. But my favorite was when she decorated with large poppy flower wall paper. Those poppies made a statement. I guess that is where I got my decorating sense from.
So I chose a bright picture that didn’t have anything to do with dishes or the kitchen. Just one that I really liked. I told my husband that it “spoke” to me. But all that really meant is that it made me happy. Every time I would walk into my kitchen that picture would make me smile. It was a happy picture with great colors and knew I could bring out pieces of bake-ware or pitchers or things like that which would coordinate perfectly.
Great Example of a Picture For Your Kitchen Decor?
Since I don’t have pictures of my first kitchen that I decorated so many years ago, I want to give you an idea of the kind of pictures I am talking about. Just the other day I read a great blog about decorating a small townhouse and they used the coolest picture. I have shared it here. The blog is The 2 Seasons and it is a mother and daughter that write together. 
If you don’t like cows, this might be a bit much for you, but you get the idea. Choose a picture that speaks to you, on that makes you feel happy. This one would do it for me. I couldn’t help but smile every time I walked into this kitchen.
Now look at that same picture in their kitchen from the other side of the room. It is seriously the focus of this kitchen. But I love how they took colors from that picture and put them around the kitchen to tie it all in. They did a great job on this kitchen. Now you see why I follow them. Great blog ladies!
This kitchen would look great with red, orange or blue accents. You could even do a bit of all of them. A blue rug with orange and red accents around the room. But if those colors don’t appeal to you, find a picture that has all the colors that make you happy. Good pieces of art don’t have to cost a fortune anymore.
But you get the idea of what I am thinking. When you are choosing a picture for your kitchen decor, find something that speaks to you, that makes you smile every time you see it. If it is a large picture and you have the space to hang it, then go with it. But it has to be something that you love. You will see this every day hanging in your kitchen and all your kitchen decor will be chosen with these colors in mine. Really think about this before purchasing.
Where To Finding Pieces of Art?
You can try to find great kitchen decor pictures online at Amazon.com or other online stores that may have a piece that you just love. There are also plenty of local shops that sell one of a kind art pieces that will work. You then can have it in the size that will fit into your kitchen and even have it framed before they send it to you. There are so many choices.
You can also go about this in the opposite direction if you want. Find a set of dishes that you really like and then try to find art work that will enhance those dishes in your kitchen. There is no wrong way to decorate your kitchen. Just find what moves you and go with it. Have fun with it, you don’t have anything to lose.
Where To Find Other Accent Pieces For Your Kitchen Decor?
Once you find a piece of art work to decorate around, find accent pieces around your home. When you have these placed, stand back and look at your work, then you can decide if you want something different in that place or if that will do. I love moving pieces around my home, I am always surprised where they end up.
So just take a walk around your home and start looking at it a bit different. What is sitting on the shelf or hidden on the book shelf? Pick up items that may have colors that you are looking for and take them to the kitchen. Pile everything on the kitchen table so you can see it all. Now, if you mom or you sister or even your best friend lives close, go do the same thing at their house. The best place to find great stuff is in your mom or grandmothers basement. Go raid their stash that they gave up on long ago.
Bring all this together then start putting things in corners or on shelves. Don’t just put on thing, put several there. Mix and match the colors, really play with it. This should be fun.
When you get frustrated and it just isn’t looking right, walk away and leave it till the next day. When you come back you will probably have already figured it out in your head. What ever you do….
HAVE FUN DECORATING YOU FIRST KITCHEN!
Originally posted 2014-10-07 22:49:14.
