Sprucing Up the Kitchen

There isn't much you can do with a tiny apartment kitchen except for large scale renovations or changing the materials. Since we haven't bought the flat, we are not going to do costly renos on it. But there should be small ways to spruce it up and make it look more modern and chic.

I've been brainstorming for days and trying to remember everything in detail about the U-shaped kitchen. I don't like the counter material which is an off-white solid surface polymer-based counter. I would prefer soapstone or ceramic, and ideally granite. I would like to fix the counters somehow or draw attention away from them. One thing I've thought of is to put something on the wall near the counters that is stunningly beautiful like a stainless steel spice rack or a distracting cafe art painting  (I have one).

To modernize the space, I was thinking of taking out the lights and adding something more modern in shape but then I realized we had pretty modern, practical pot lights. Really state of-the-art, stainless steel appliances would be great like a toaster and a fancy coffeemaker. I am staring at the cabinets like hmm...what can I do with it? I was thinking of painting them an even brighter, brilliant and shiny hue of white. Anything darker would be a disaster in a small kitchen.  I also had a friend who put a slab of granite over her hideous counters and it really did look great. I was thinking of doing the same--just buying a thin slab of granite and covering a large area of counter-top. Aesthetic beauty is more important to me that function sometimes lol.

MY KITCHEN *FUTURE*

TINY KITCHEN BUT CHIC

Those are the best ideas I could come up with for now. I'm trying to scour kitchen articles but it's usually for huge model kitchens of mansions. Like I said earlier, I see potential with this apartment.

The Culture of the Cafe

Cafes play an important role in our lives. It is our meeting places, our relaxing places, it is our social quo places (ahem Starbucks), it is our omg-I'm thirsty places. When we go somewhere, we instantly look around for a cafe or a coffee shop and relax. If there's an Urbana Coffee or a Second Cup, we know we'll be okay. Our frothy lattes, the deep leather chairs and the earthy aroma of grinding coffee beans is ingrained in our culture. We buy overpriced bottles of waters and cookies because they're in these well-lit glass counters and there's a line up of people watching us. Why not splurge? Christmas season rolls around and the cups are decorative red-and-green. Candy-cane flavoured lattes and pumpkin scones fill the shops and gift baskets filled with organic teas and dark cocoa line the windows. 

How do we take the essence of the cafe home with us? I want our little white kitchen to look like a cafe, as impossible as it sounds. What do I need? White marble counter tops? Top of the line espresso machines? A chalkboard?  I want a counter with our espresso machines and mugs (Turkish coffee is something my fiancee makes well), baskets of Splenda and brown sugar and honey. I want to recreate a cafe in our home. I spoke earlier of cafe "art" but I think that is one component of the unit. A bowl of espresso beans as decor is a fantastic and great-smelling feature as well. I always see sales for espresso machines at Home Outfitters and along with a coffee machine and an electric kettle it'll be fabulous. I think the idea of having this cafe is an extra reason to wake up early! Of course, a rack of newspapers will be a fine addition, as well to the cafe. (Reminder to self: get newspaper subscription).

A cafe in a home kitchen.

RONDO CAFE