My kitchen is the heart of our home. It’s where we gather with family and friends, to connect and celebrate the important moments of life.
Creating moments and memories.
When we were renovating our soon to be home, I started thinking about the kitchen first. I knew that the feeling and tone of the kitchen would determine the style for the rest of the home.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you will know that I always start developing my interior styling ideas with a mood board. The kitchen was a labour of love, and the mood board was the key in leading my creative process and design decisions.
My vision was to create an original kitchen yet still give a nod to the mid-century era the home was built. I researched, designed and obsessively thought over every detail. In moments of doubt, the mood board kept me on track to realise my vision for the kitchen.
On my mood board, I saved photos of walnut timber veneer kitchens, as this timber tone was often used in the 1950s-1970s. I also saved the colours, textures and any specific design features I wanted to incorporate. Take a peek at my mood-board below so you can see where I drew inspiration from.”
The jumping off point was the walnut timber veneer for the joinery. Oak timber kitchens were the popular choice at the time and I wanted something different. I love the warmth of walnut and the nod to the 60’s and 70’s when this timber tone was used often and suited the mid-century architecture of the home.
I’m naturally drawn to shades of earthy green so I used sage green to break up the walnut and introduce some colour into the home.
I love bold stone choices so I didn’t want to play it safe with the benchtop and splash so I searched for six months to find the right stone slab that was an earthy neutral palette but had some beautiful sedimentary markings. It was worth the wait because I love the Brazilian quartzite slabs we used, they make a gorgeous impact.
The gold hardware was another detail I took my time with. I wanted the hardware to have an organic shape but in a gold brass finish. I found some beautiful options that suit the vibe perfectly.
Can you see how the inspiration in the images led to the design? All the tears and self-doubt were worth it because we are so happy with our kitchen, and it’s perfect for our family!
If you are planning a renovation or want to style a room in your home, I encourage you to create a mood board. Even if you're not great with technology, the design tool Canva is super easy to use for mood boards.
If a digital mood board isn't your thing, collect magazine pages or print out images of interiors you like to create a physical mood board on a cork board. It’s also great to source materials, fabrics and textures from local suppliers for your physical moodboard too.
Moodboards are an essential part of my creative process; so much so that I have a module in The Interior Styling 101 course about creating your style concept using a mood board.
If you are keen to learn more about styling, then you'll love my online course Interior Styling 101. This course is jam-packed with demonstration videos, cheat sheets, tips and tricks teaching you how to style different areas of your home.
You can read more about it here.
