There was a time that country cottage style kitchen spaces couldn’t have been further from the interior design blogs and magazines pages. However, as with all fashion, the tables have turned and it is back in a big way! Shabby Chic-ing the rest of your home is fairly simple. However, the kitchen and kitchen cabinets might seem slightly more difficult. Here we hopefully dispel that difficulty below and make your home the best of the 50’s mashed with a more modern style.

Appliances for your shabby chic room

Appliances take up a huge space in the room as well as swallow the most money. If you can afford to, invest in some neutral but vintage shapes such as the Smeg brand. Cream and pastel colours can be mixed and matched to create a retro milkshake bar/country cottage kind of result.

Kitchen cupboard doors

The appearance of the cupboard doors in as important as the appliances. If you want a vintage, shabby chic look then go for something that again is fairly neutral such as the Kingston Beige. These doors are made with sustainable wood and made to measure. So no need to rip out your entire kitchen, just order some replacement kitchen doors

Accessories

Next are accessories, such as cute chalkboards to either hang or wall mount. These look fab either for writing down your weeks menus or just for remembering things, which for a modern family can be a task in itself. Add to these with pieces picked up from charity shops and car boot sales. Things like pretty antiqued candlesticks, statement clocks and a collection of jars and bottles in varying shapes and sizes. These look so effective when filled with pasta, lentils, sweets and anything else you can think of really. For added vintage points label the jars with parcel tags.

Shabby chic shades

As we've already mentioned sticking with cream and ivory with accents of pastels with make the room look understated and not too over the top. However if full on retro is what you’re trying to achieve then floral or stripy chair cushions and blinds in complimenting hues.

Introducing greenery is another great tip for making a room seem more homey and seen as we’re discussing the kitchen specifically, it makes sense to try and grown some herbs. These can be used in every meal and once you have them you’ll want to make the effort to maintain them. This is also a great learning experience for children, who will watch them grown and then also see what dishes you use them within.

Finally, you may think you’ll have a task sourcing a beautiful old radio, or concealing your wireless speakers, which appear a little too modern. However, no fear. Roberts still supply a 50’s style radio with the added bonus of being DAB. It also has the ability to listen via headphones. For more information on this see our other post about sound systems for the kitchen.