7 Tips To Create a Cosy Kitchen

You might think that having white painted floors in a kitchen would create a stark empty feel. And that could be entirely possible depending on how you dress the rest of the room. But even a white or neutral colour scheme can feel warm and cosy if you incorporate a few of the tips below. In today’s post, I want to share with you how I made our kitchen feel cosy in a large open-plan space. Clue? It’s not about filling it with stuff!

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Create a Cosy Kitchen with Lighting

In a room that’s big with high ceilings like ours, it was all about the scale. The bigger the lights, in our case, the better. I’ve made our kitchen feel cosier by hanging a large timber chandelier over the island. To soften the harsh lines of the large windows, I’ve added a row of glass bell pendant shades in front. Our lights are on dimmers to create a cosy feel in the evening and the pendants are lit with Edison bulbs that give off a warm soft light. Don’t think you can’t have lamps in the kitchen either. A lamp on the benchtop adds cosiness and makes the kitchen feel more like a living room.

Think about how you can soften the straight lines of your kitchen. Use lamps to highlight the best features of your kitchen and only turn them on at night. I added soft translucent roman blinds for the specific purpose of making large expanse of window softer without losing light.

Build a Bulkhead

Lowering a part of the ceiling is not only effective for delineating a space in an open plan room but is great for adding a cosy feel to your kitchen. We have a bulkhead that runs along the length of the kitchen. It doesn’t box the room in but creates a focal point for the lights. A bulkhead might be out of the question financially but you can do the same thing by adding a row of low hanging pendant lights or even a shelf or pelmet.

Put Down Some Rugs

One way I originally made our kitchen feel warmer was to add a rug under the kitchen island. Rugs have not traditionally been used in kitchen areas but with open plan becoming a thing and cabinets looking more like furniture it’s become acceptable to have a rug in the kitchen.

I had a jute rug until the floor was painted white. I currently have a small Persian style rug in front of the sink. The only reason I don’t have a runner is that we have a Dishdrawer and this pulls out. A runner would catch on the bottom drawer. However, because the floor is a warm white it feels quite warm and cosy without a large rug.

So think about a rug in your kitchen. It will naturally warm up the floor no matter what the surface is made of.

Mixed Metal Details

I love gold and brass if they are the non-shiny new kind. And one way I like to use them in the kitchen is in my accessories. Adding some warm metal highlights to your kitchen in the form of utensils or a pot will instantly make the room feel cosier.

I’ve vintage gold framed artwork on our kitchen walls. It makes the kitchen warmer and it feels more like a living room. An EAT sign over the rangehood is spray painted gold to further warm up the wood. I’ve also shopped our home and brought out my copper birdcage to mix the metals even more. I’ve even added galvanised buckets to take the metal one step further.

Use Timber Elements to Create a Cosy Kitchen

Another way to create a cosy kitchen is to add wood. We designed our kitchen using touches of reclaimed timber from floorboards we had to replace. The old floorboards were used to create the rangehood canopy. You could create a similar look by using tongue and groove pine or plywood cut into strips.

Our island bench is timber too. It is made from an old table we had on the verandah as an outdoor table. The warmth of timber makes even the biggest room feel cosy.

Don’t just think about cabinets or fixtures when you think of wood. Rustic baskets, old breadboards and wooden utensils will all warm up your kitchen and make it cosier.

Worn vintage pieces Create a Cosy Kitchen

Vintage pieces will make your kitchen cosier too. If you have a more modern home, try one statement piece or a couple of vintage accessories. I love vintage rolling pins but china is definitely my go-to for creating cosy. There’s something about china displayed that makes a room feel like home. If you are lucky enough to own a few dinner sets like me, think about how the colours make you feel. A dresser stuffed full of your favourite pieces is sure to feel cosy.

Add Plants

This is a controversial one. There’s no denying how much I suck at keeping a house plant alive. However, as you can see from the photos the I’ve topiary I made last autumn its still going well. I do manage to keep lavender and daisies alive in the house too. And having a pot of flowers on the kitchen bench ramps up the cosy every time.