The wall decals are extremely easy to attach to a wall and do not in any way damager a painted surface when it is time to remove them. Another point to make is that these decals can be used many times and retain their stickiness for placement in numerous locations. The benefit of wall decals, as compared to stencils, is that they are quick to put into place and just as quick to remove completely. It’s often important to change the décor of an interior such as a kitchen so the visual environment doesn’t become too stale and as such, decals make it exceptionally easy to simply attach, remove and reposition as so desired.

The fat and happy chef wall decals are going to add a wonderfully exuberant and charming ambiance to a kitchen interior. Some of the best decorative accessories tell a story and this is certainly the case with these fun chef designs. The chefs, plus the wine barrels, bottles and glasses, can be placed in any way you wish as well as all together or just a few at a time. They can be attached to walls, cupboard doors, refrigerators, cabinets and furniture, and don’t have to be reserved for the kitchen. A dining room or even a bedroom interior can be enhanced with these fun, friendly and appealing characters.

You can buy the complete set of 15 here: Happy Chef Wall Decals.

Made in the USA.

In the basic terms, a breakfast nook is a smallish space frequently enclosed on three sides and situated in or off the kitchen interior. Casual dining is the key word when it comes to this type of furniture arrangement and the Linon Caitlin set can seat between 4 and 6 people depending on the main usage of the table. As I have personally found, breakfast nook tables are excellent for board-games with children and light reading when natural daylight streams through nearby windows, as seen in the image above.

Breakfast nooks are perfectly little arrangements for families with young children. The kids can be served their food from a nearby food preparation area whilst all the time the parent can keep an eye on what they are doing. This applies in some ways to when friends visit too and conversations and laughter can continue without having to leave the room to get drinks and food. Placement next to windows can provided the seated people with lovely views of a flower filled garden or scenic street.

The 3-piece breakfast nook I found here is made from good quality Brazilian pine wood that has been given a lovely light honey finish. The attractiveness of the wood makes it a great decorative addition to a wide variety of existing kitchen interior décor schemes. The light tonal nature of the set will lift up a kitchen’s ambiance even during the winter months. Included in the set is a bench, table and corner nook seating piece with secure back rests. As you’ll see from the reviews, this table nook set has received some great feedback from previous buyers.

You can buy it from here: Pine Wood 3 Piece Breakfast Nook Set.

By the way, the Nook bench can be interchanged to fit in a right or left-facing corner depending on your kitchen’s design.

Don’t worry, your kitchen is like many across the nation that have not seen a lick of paint or a new interesting design element since the turn of the century, or even since the war. However, it’s not all that difficult to rejuvenate a kitchen interior and turn it into something inviting and inspiring.

After all, a boring kitchen will inspire boring cooking and this leads to poor diets and avoidance of healthy foods. That’s a shame for cooking should be entered into with the same passion one enters a love affair. Good food is vital for your health and for those of your children.

The following tips present to you a variety of ways you can change the very heart and soul of your kitchen from a boring, slovenly and snore-inducing interior to a lively, exciting and stimulating cooking arena. All this achieved with a relatively small budget as well and no large and expensive refurbishments.

Spatulas at the ready! Let’s proceed.

Add Mirrors

The addition of mirrors in the kitchen can make what was previously a small and dark interior look decidedly lighter, brighter and more spacious. The reflection of ones movements in the space also bring a dynamic element to the scene thereby enlivening what was once a motionless and stagnant room.

Mirrors can be added to cabinet doors or alternatively to spare wall space. Some mirrors come with decorative borders which will appeal to different tastes and can fit in with a general kitchen design theme.

New Wall Tiles

Adding new tile backsplashes is a great way to spruce up a kitchen. Plain white is a good neutral tone that goes with the majority of décor but it’s boring! It’s made even worse if the rest of the décor is so mundane it resembles an autopsy lab.

Tiles come in literally thousands of different styles, patterns, shapes, sizes and materials. With this huge range on offer, it won’t be difficult to find a few tiles that will add some interest to the backsplash behind the cooker, microwave or sink.

Do you like spirals and circle shapes? You’ll find some tiles matching this style. What about dolphins, bears or cats? You’ll find those too. More traditional patterns can also be found, as well as materials you perhaps might not have thought about before.

Transform the Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets are one of the most noticeable features in a kitchen due to their abundance and important functional qualities. In order to add some interest to these doors, a number of possible decorative adjustments can be made which will impact on the rest of the room.

Painting the cabinet doors and interiors different colours can change the cabinets into more contemporary and interesting features that can match other decorative elements nearby. The addition of mirrors, as noted previously, can bring reflective refreshment to the scene. The addition of glass doors instead of standard wooden versions can allow the items stored within to be the focus instead (although it’s important that the storage jars, canisters and boxes are attractive in themselves). You can even remove the cabinet doors altogether and have open shelving.

For artistic homeowners who like to get their paintbrushes out, then stencilling is a creative and highly personal way of decorating the cabinet space with pretty and unique images and patterns.

Add Table Lamps

Let there be light! You don’t want to be confusing those fresh tomatoes with chilli peppers, especially when your elderly mother-in-law is visiting.

In all likelihood, your kitchen will have enough lighting to see what you’re doing in the all-important food preparation areas. That said, the kitchen as a whole can often benefit from more locational and accent lighting which will also boost the overall brightness of the interior. Table lamps placed on space surfaces here and there can add interest and visual stimulation during the cooking process and make the room more appealing.

With a bowl of fruit or nuts nearby and perhaps some stainless steel utensils hanging on a wall behind the lamp, the resulting light will enhance colours, textures and reflective qualities. The kitchen will look like a new room.

Add Fun Gadgets

Gadgets don’t have to be electrical or expensive to have an exciting impact on a kitchen interior. Some of the best designs are very simple yet eye-catching with their originality. One of the most renowned companies that make exciting kitchen gadgets is the Italian design factory called Alessi. Their fun kitchen accessories include highly original kitchen timers, cheese graters, orange peelers, tea sticks, citrus squeezers and vegetable choppers, to name but just a few.

Some of these items placed around the kitchen will encourage friends and family members alike to have a go at a bit of cooking and make the interior as a whole more interesting, modern and engaging.

Add Baskets

Is your current kitchen all straight lines and little else? Does a plank of wood have more curved edges than your cooking space? If so, consider the addition of wicker baskets as storage items for dried foods, towels, utensils and the various other bits and pieces found in the kitchen. Baskets bring a touch of the natural world to an otherwise industrial looking kitchen and can transform of atmosphere as a result.

Baskets are also great alternatives for shelving and can be stacked neatly one on top of another in a corner or on a kitchen counter. Some of the most popular materials that baskets come in include rattan, straw, cane, water reeds, raffia, oak and bamboo. You can even find some that are painted in different colours which are perfect for overly white or metal kitchen décor schemes.

Grow Herbs

You don’t need a garden in order to grow your own herbs. Equally, you don’t have to be particularly green fingered to successfully cultivate some delicious herbs for future family meals. There are a whole host of herbs that grow perfectly well indoors. Growing herbs is also a wonderful way to bring further elements of the natural world into the home and the addition of greenery in the kitchen can inspire and awaken creative ideas you never knew were possible.

Different herbs suit different types of settings. For kitchen windowsills and counters that attract a lot of sunlight, then herbs such as chives, oregano, lemon thyme and rosemary will be perfect. For darker and more secluded areas of a kitchen like on the top of a cabinet or next to a bread bin, then herbs such as wild rocket, chervil, French parsley and red mustard will be more applicable.

Be Creative

Turning a boring kitchen in a lively, inspiring and welcoming interior will not be a difficult task with a modicum of creativity. Take time to browse through interior design magazines and websites as well as watch decorating programs on television. Be aware of the world around you whenever you set foot out of the door. In just ten minutes of mindful observation when taking a stroll through the countryside or a cityscape, you’ll come across dozens of images and items that will press a creative switch in your brain.

Don’t be boring! Be aware of everything around you and in no time at all, you’ll have a kitchen to be proud of.

See also: 5 Ways to Stop Your Kitchen Making You Fat.

The great American actor and comedian Rodney Dangerfield once said: “I’m at the age where food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact, I’ve just had a mirror put over my kitchen table”.

Dangerfield’s quotation is a funny one but it reveals a certain truth that has developed over the last few decades since the early 20th Century. The fact is that the kitchen has become a more social atmosphere and is now almost on a par with the living room, as a place in the home where families spend the most time.

This trend, along with increasing consumerism and fast food diets, has led to the increasing size of women’s waists, hips, boobs and bottoms. The same has happened to kitchen interiors which have almost doubled in size since the 1940s and have come to be more open-planned areas of the home. This leads the kitchen to become part of other spaces in the home such as the dining room and, in some cases, the living area.

According to a recent British kitchen company survey, people in the West now spend more waking time in the kitchen than anywhere else in the home. Televisions, laptops, phones and other electronic gadgets have been increasingly placed in the kitchen. Various daily routines which are normally enjoyed in another location are now done in the kitchen such as homework, watching TV or surfing the internet.

It’s therefore no surprise that our propensity to nibble constantly throughout the day has increased. There are ways however to stop letting your kitchen making you fat. The cures are simple to implement and might well knock off 2 pounds a month from your overall weight. Some might surprise you and are definitely elements you will not have considered before. So what are they?

Congregate Elsewhere

The kitchen is, and always has been throughout history, a place to prepare, cook and store food. In the olden days (when your grandparents were children), the kitchen would be closed down after dinner in the evening and not used again until the following morning. It was empty when food preparation was not taking place.

Move out of the kitchen when not cooking, cleaning or serving meals. Sit in the living room to watch television, create a little home office space in which to surf the internet and take visiting friends into the garden or dining room when they pop round for coffee and cake.

The result will be hundreds less calories consumed by mindlessly snacking and nibbling whilst distracted by other things.

Smaller Dinnerware

Plates and bowls have grown larger over the last half century. With the manufacturing of bigger restraint-style dishes, the natural inclination to put more food on the plate has resulted in fatter bottoms, double chins and wider hips. Dieticians have also noted we tend to eat whatever is placed on our plate.

If you’re often feeling bloated after a meal and your weight is a concern, invest in smaller dinnerware pieces that are around two to three inches smaller than the ones you have now. The same goes for drinking vessels such as beer, wine and port glasses, as well as the glassware you use for drinking coca cola or spite.

Want to lose an extra two pounds a month? Reduce your plate size by two centimetres!

Eat Slowly

This tip is not related to the interior design of your kitchen but it’s one I wanted to include nonetheless. Most of us eat too quickly and swallow food before its truly ready to enter the stomach. Our back teeth (the molars) are there for a reason and that is to grind food down to a pulp before it is swallowed. This makes the digestion process a lot smoother and comfortable and means that more nutrients and vitamins are absorbed by the body.

Another benefit of eating slowly is based on the fact that it takes the brain up to 15 minutes to process whether the stomach is full or not from the commencement of eating. By the time the brain is telling the body it is full, it’s too late and all the food on the plate has been eaten. It’s no wonder that overweight people tend to be the first to finish at the dinner table.

By eating slowly, you’ll be able to reduce weight as well as feel healthier. You might not need to go to the bathroom so often either.

Fridge Size

Fridges, like girths, are getting bigger and bigger. Double-door fridges with lots of fancy gadgetry and buttons are becoming the norm in homes and this in turn feeds the need for excess food consumption. For large and busy families, it is completely understandable that large refrigerators are required as there are more mouths to feed and not enough time to be constantly going to the local store. That said, a full fridge does mean a place to dip your hand into when no one is looking.

When possible, in order to cultivate a healthier lifestyle and eating habits, it’s best to keep the fridge semi-full. Try to buy fresh food and avoid ready-made meals which are usually high in calories. A semi-stocked fridge will prevent the desire to nibble and snack and will also encourage you to make healthier choices.

Glass Shelving and Storage

Fitting glass see-through cabinet doors in the kitchen might be a neat design trick but it will do little for your panty size. Some people even fit glass shelving into their kitchen and compliment these with glass canisters and jars filled with foods such as cookies, pasta and candies. There’s a reason “out of mind, out of sight” is a well-known saying.

Purchase regular cabinet doors which hide the items inside the cupboard. Alternatively, buy canisters, jars and tins that are not see-through and thus don’t pose so much of a temptation to eager eyes and stomachs. Of course, a fruit bowl is the exception the rule and for obvious reasons.

Simple Considerations

Bear these simple tactics in mind next time you enter your kitchen and you’ll soon discover what elements in the interior are making your weight issues worse. There are more factors to consider too such as lighting, the color of the walls and most importantly of all, your diet. However, implementing these five important tips will help to stop your kitchen making you fat.

See also: Need to Loose Weight? Think About Your Interior Décor.

So what woods are best for your kitchen and what choices are there for you to look at?

Oak Kitchen Cabinets

Oak is one of the most majestic of trees, with its mighty branches sweeping outwards like a dancer’s robes in mid-swing. It’s no surprise therefore, that the wood from this old tree is one of the most attractive, strong and long-lasting you can possibly find. Oak wood used in the construction of cabinets will provide an eye-catching and very natural look to the interior which will match the delicious dishes created in the kitchen. Oak can be complimented with various staining processes.

Pine Kitchen Cabinets

Unlike with other woods, pine is relatively difficult to decipher from an online perspective. That’s why it’s often best to find a store or manufacturer in your local area and go in person to look at the pine cabinets up close. Pine wood is usually seen with many knots and these can make or break a particular décor scheme you might have in mind, thus it’s important to choose from a more hands-on perspective. Although when you find the right one for you, pine wood kitchen cabinets will looking stunning and really add substance to a space.

Cherry Kitchen Cabinets

Cherry wood has a unique and innate beauty about it which makes it a popular choice for kitchen cabinets. The deep red of the wood compliments many types of décor schemes and the best thing about cherry is that it deepens in color over time and improves on its already luxurious appearance. With cherry wood cabinets, friends, family and guests will find the kitchen environment most welcoming and you might have a difficult time getting them out of the way of the cooking process.

Maple Kitchen Cabinets

Maple wood is a light-toned wood which is ideal for kitchens which need cabinets that are not going to darken the interior. The wood is also very durable and is relatively resistant to denting and damage from every day wear and tear. However, maple doesn’t react too well to prolonged periods in the sun and soon starts to fade, so it’s wise to make sure the cabinet area will not be in direct contact with sunshine streaming through windows or glass doors. It has an attractive wood grain and is also one of the cheaper woods available.

Mahogany Kitchen Cabinets

To add sophistication and majestic aplomb to a kitchen, then mahogany kitchen cabinets are a good choice. Mahogany is a dark wood and thus lends itself well to décor schemes that will make the most of the differences in tone and contrast the wood can bring. Unfortunately, mahogany wood is both expensive and endangered as a tree species. However, there are some special harvesters and exporters which work with this wood species in an environmentally sensible way and if you choose mahogany for your kitchen cabinet, then a little research online will give you more information on these agencies. One well known and respected one for example is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Take your time before making a final decision and weigh the pros and cons of each wood material mentioned in this article. The wood you chose will transform your kitchen interior and it’s wise to make sure the change will be for the good.

In the best restaurants, the great cooks like to use all or most of the truffle so as to avoid unnecessary and expensive waste. This led to the evolution of the truffle slicer which made shaving, slicing, dicing and peeling truffles a lot more easier and effective. Many chefs even use the skins in sauces which is best achieved using special slicers.

Truffles have been consumed by mankind for thousands of years. The first recorded use of this fungus was in the 20th century BC when the neo-Sumerians commentated on their enemies eating habits, namely the Amorites. The Ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus also wrote about them in the 4th Century BC. In modern times, truffles are often associated with the rather humorous way the fungus is found, using pigs, who often proceed to eat the expensive fungus much to the owner’s dismay.

You can read more about the fungus as well as view a variety of slicers available to buy online from the following page: Truffle Slicers.

From there one can also find a selection of books about the truffle and how it can be used in cooking.

Kitchen carts in general are very useful items of furniture which have become incredibly popular over recent years. Small wheels allow for the cart to be moved from one area of the kitchen to another and even into a different space such as a dining room or pantry. This allows the cart, such as this John Boos Cucina Toscano, to be employed in a number of different roles. These include as a serving cart, a food preparation table, a storage area and even as a decorative furniture piece in its own right.

Many kitchen spaces have been poorly designed and little can be done about their shapes other than expensive refurbishment. However, a kitchen cart can bring a lot more usability to the interior as well as aesthetic charm. If the floor space is large enough, a cart can serve as a kitchen island thus creating an extra dimension and much needed work table, to a busy kitchen. When not in use, it can then be wheeled into a corner, against a wall or into a laundry room. This is especially useful if you rent or cannot afford major refurbishment to what is otherwise a rather lacklustre kitchen.

The John Boos Cucina Toscano kitchen cart is one of the most attractive I’ve seen of its kind. Two dovetailed maple drawers provide storage space for utensils and small dried food stuffs. Channelled grooves on the thick hard maple butcher block top prevent any liquids from spilling over onto the floor whilst metal bars allow for easy placement of tea towels and oven gloves. A removable shelf can act as a serving tray. The open shelves allow for larger items to be stored on the kitchen cart ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

It’s a heavy cart and so it’s not going to be suitable for a linoleum floor, for example. However, the kitchen cart is perfectly crafted and made to last many years and is easily capable of becoming a family heirloom if looked after properly. The top can occasionally be sanded and refinished with oil. After a few days of use, it will be difficult to imagine ever living without the John Boos Cucina Toscano kitchen cart ever again.

You can buy this cart from here: John Boos Cucina Toscano.

Price: $1,476

The country-style butcher block table shown in the picture above is made from solid hard maple wood and has been given a special oil finish. There are a variety of sizes to choose from as well as a large array of additional accessories, options and add-ons. Wicker baskets can also be obtained where vegetables and supplies can be placed. The table in the picture shows a green finish but there are also colors such as barn red, tangerine, caviar black, sage, basil and of course the original natural maple.

This type of butcher block table is made especially for cutting and chopping rather than for pure aesthetics or non-cutting food preparation, although this is certainly what it can be used for as well. The oil-finished quality means it differs from specially sealed counter-tops which would suffer in appearance from the actions of knives and other cutting utensils. The oil locks in most moisture which in turn protects the wood. Any long-term stains and damage can be easily rectified with a sanding block.

As with most butcher block surfaces, this country-style food preparation table has the ability to last a life-time. If well cared for, it can provide a solid and highly functional furniture accessory in a kitchen which will be of great benefit to a household that loves to cook. If you get tired of the color, then a simple coat of paint can transform the table to match new décor schemes and even seasons.

You can buy this table from here: Country Butcher Block Table.

Price varies depending on the size and style you purchase. All details can be found via the link above. Check out the reviews too.

The warm climate and colorful way of life in the Caribbean, also known as the West Indies, lends itself perfectly to interior décor and the creation of a vibrant kitchen scheme. Strong colors and simplicity are the key elements to interiors of this style. Rooms which catch the sun a lot are particularly suitable and mimic the glorious weather found in the Caribbean pretty much all year round.

One of the main colors you will need for a Caribbean kitchen is yellow. The beaches and sandy nature of the Caribbean islands is reflected in this color. If you have a wooden skirting board on the lower half of your kitchen wall, then this is a great place to paint a rich yellow color. White is also a very popular tone in the Caribbean and if yellow is a little too much for you, then white is a great alternative.

To contrast the yellow or white, it’s a good idea to go for color combinations found in nature. Again, like the yellow of the Caribbean sand, so the rich blue of the sky can be mixed with colors such as purple and cyan. The key here however is to soften the effect of the darker color buy using techniques such as lime-wash scrubbing. A rag soaked in methylated spirits can also be used to rub away some of the paint thereby creating a cloud effect much like seeing faint wisps of cloud in the blue summer sky.

Further colors can be added to the mix but with a little more restraint. Greens, oranges and natural wood tones can be used as accent pieces whether as part of furniture, table accessories or wall hangings. Older wooden furniture pieces in such woods as pine will look particularly good with the Caribbean kitchen style. Try to avoid the more polished mahogany which will look out of place.

These are just a few suggestions for color combinations if you are looking to design a Caribbean themed kitchen.

Wooden kitchen carts are a visually appealing item of storage and preparation furniture that can compliment a variety of kitchen interior décor schemes. Their natural look and sturdy nature mean they are often indispensable kitchen accessories that become a vital component to the cooking and food preparation areas of the home. This microwave kitchen cart has small wheels at the base for easy manoeuvrability which means it can be moved from one location to another, or from one wall socket to the next, depending on the function you require.

The attractive microwave kitchen cart which has a natural maple finish also has an inbuilt enclosed storage space. This is ideal as a work surface for when an item of food has just been taken out of the microwave and needs to be adjusted or transferred to a plate. Alternative uses can be as a storage area for dried pasta, spices and tea. As one can see from the image, there’s also a cupboard where further items connected to food preparation can be stored.

This microwave kitchen cart is therefore a dynamic and functional kitchen unit that will add a further work surface as well as a platform for the kitchen microwave. The microwave is also stored at a comfortable height without the need to bend down and out of the way of a little child’s reach. Depending on the existing decor of your kitchen, the microwave kitchen cart can also be painted to match the colors already in place in the kitchen interior.

You can read more reviews of this cart as well as purchasing details here: Microwave Kitchen Cart With Enclosed Storage Space.

It’s 36 inches in height.