Adding Personality to Your Traditional Kitchen

Guest post from Jeri Lynn Repp

WELCOME to my DIY kitchen! This room may just be my favorite room in our home.

It is the “Grand Central Station” of our family. It’s where we eat meals and snacks, play cards and games, read and pray, work on school projects, visit with family and friends over coffee, on and on I could go. Because so many activities occur in this room, I desired to add personal touches. I wanted my kitchen to capture my family’s unique style, our personality.

I have discovered 6 steps to adding personality to any traditional kitchen. Minor and inexpensive personal touches can add a bit of flair or whimsy or even southern charm. Walk with me through my kitchen, and I am sure you will glean ideas of your own. And best of all, adding your personality will cause you to love your kitchen all the more. Let me show you how.

Step 1. Dress up your cabinets with something you love.

Decor doesn’t have to be limited to a wall. To dress up my cabinets I added a pop of dark wooden wall decor right onto the front of my stove top cabinet. I think it adds a bit of old-world style to what would otherwise be traditional. What do you think?

Creamy White Cabinets Dressed with Warm Wood!

Custom decorative additions to cabinets can be costly. These inexpensive pieces of wrought iron shelf brackets add a little southern charm to my kitchen desk. They also compliment the wrought iron found in my Step 2.

More cabinet dressing! Wrought iron brackets add a bit of New Orleans style to my desk cabinetry.

Step 2. Add something fun and interesting that completely reflects you. {even if it doesn’t match!}

I am all about growing things. I could easily have a windowsill cluttered with numerous tin cans and glass jars attempting to grow everything from herbs to flowers. But that just wouldn’t look right amid the grand cabinets my husband made from my designs. My love to grow plants met my love of dark wood and my love of wrought iron, then this window shelf was born. Here I can change out seasonal decorations and still grow a variety of plants without my window appearing cluttered or junky. {at least that is my opinion.}

My favorite plants to grow on my window shelf include: Chocolate Mint, good for much more than tea! My Ever Increasing Ivy! Green Onions Galore! {CLICK on each title to find out more.}

My one of a kind window shelf was made with a leftover board from My DIY Closet Shoe Organizer {CLICK HERE for more info}. The supports are decorative wrought iron shelf brackets. Knobs and pulls in a similar brown color dress the creamy cabinetry and pull it all together.

Step 3. Display a family motto or favorite quote.

We never want to forget to dream. And if we are going to take the time to dream, we might as well DREAM BIG.

Is there a saying that is unique to your family? A quote that moves you? A motto that you strive live by? Consider making your treasured words into a piece of art for display in your kitchen. This art can serve as a reminder of the central truth which guides you or your greater purpose to pursue.

Above our stove is the word C H E R I S H: “to prize above all else.” That simple word serves as a reminder to always cherish each other, God, and all His Children. This is the story of how “Cherish” came to be My One-Word Personal Motto and How God’s Ways Produce Extraordinary Results.

We also display DREAM BIG. Its hooks hold hand towels near the kitchen sink, but its words hold a message I always want my children to hold on to.

Step 4. Include some inspiration.

In order to live an inspired life, we must incorporate inspiration into our day by making it both easy to access and hard to avoid. I always have some kind of basket filled with inspirational books in my kitchen. That way, when I feed my body, I can feed my spirit.

My Basket of Inspiration is currently located on my island shelf amid the greenery. (You can see My Basket of Inspiration in the pic of my entire kitchen.) Click here for more ideas on Incorporating Inspiration into Your Routine.

Step 5. Always have a bowl of fresh seasonal fruit.

A beautiful display of color.

A bowl of fruit? Yes Indeed! A bowl of fresh fruit is an inviting component and can be a beautiful display of color. When in plain view, it can be a constant reminder to eat more real food, and it’s an instant healthy snack.

That is exactly what I need: a readily available, instant, low-calorie, nutritious, energy packed snack. I am on a journey to live a more healthy and fit lifestyle, which includes eating more fresh fruits and veggies. You can read more about my journey to the land of “More Fit” here. Who knows? . . . you may even decide to join me!

Step 6. Display fresh plants or flowers.

Think beyond the usual grocery store flower arrangements. Pick some flowers or plants right from your own back yard. Even some herbs (like rosemary and sweet basil) can be pleasantly arranged in jars to fill the room with an aroma of natural air freshener.

My current display is stems from Red Hot Chili Pepper Plants, which grow in my backyard garden. (This can be seen in the center of my island on previous pics.)

There you have my 6 steps to adding personality to any traditional kitchen. What do you think? Do you have original ideas for kitchen decor? Do you have any tips for how I should decorate the tops of my cabinetry? Or what I should do about that make-shift curtain? I would be just thrilled to get a comment from you!

Adding Personality to Your Traditional Kitchen

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