All About Colonial Style Kitchens
Colonial Kitchen
Colonial-style kitchens are gaining popularity among trends of modern décor. Wondering why? Colonial-style cooking spaces ignite every part of our imagination. That's because we can't help think about stone floors, period cabinetry, and an inviting fireplace whenever we think about a colonial-style kitchen.
Many homeowners want to renovate their contemporary kitchen cabinetry and flooring to create a colonial-style kitchen. However, a lot of work goes into making this warm, beautiful, and timeless style. Liberal use of wood through beams, incorporating beautiful creams, whites, and muted tones, and adding lovely details like antique accessories is a great way to start.
So are you ready to transform your kitchen with some primitive punched tins and brassware? Keep reading for more ideas.
What you Should Know about Colonial Style Kitchens
The colonial style made waves in the 18th century as many people opted for the style to decorate their kitchens.
The only problem was the transportation of equipment from their homes to foreign countries.
Hence, the style offered a mixture of built-in cabinetry and heirloom pieces that were passed down. Regional ornaments, conventional cooking accessories, wooden floors, and walls are just a few components of a traditional colonial kitchen.
The exotic wooden floors featured oriental symbols, floral motifs, and appealing details. We can safely conclude that a colonial-style kitchen is a place where exotic cultural elements combined with European elegance.
Modern colonial-style interiors refer to nineteenth-century African homes. These classy and beautiful interiors offer a lovely mix of Indian notes and African elements. Today, the style is trendy enough to decorate the kitchen and living spaces or maybe even make a tavern room with a cage bar.
Accessories from the Victorian era, such as wooden ladles, primitive punched tins, and artisanal pots and pans can add the finishing touches to your colonial kitchen.
Elements of a Colonial Style Kitchen
Whether you want to create harmony between modern and colonial design elements or design a unique kitchen that takes you back to the colonial era, here are some essential aspects you must incorporate.
Fireplace and Hearth
What's a colonial kitchen without a fireplace? Colonial fireplaces were functional, unlike modern kitchen fireplaces. After all, that's where the servants did all the cooking.
Since colonial kitchens had wide and tall fireplaces, you should have one if your kitchen space allows. To allow easy cooking, the hearth was level with the kitchen floor.
You don't have to keep it big enough like the historical ones, but make sure you use either brick or stone to create a beautiful fireplace in your colonial kitchen. You can choose to forgo the fireplace's cooking aspects and incorporate a raised fireplace that you and your family can enjoy while dining.
Floors and Walls
The primary material used in colonial buildings and homes was wood. That's one reason we always think of wood when we recall colonial kitchens from old movies and books. Homeowners who could afford it would install brick floors. However, wide plank floors were also quite popular among homeowners who preferred wood flooring. Wood ceilings served the purpose of drying flowers and herbs.
Windows and Window Treatment
Small windows were an essential design element of colonial kitchens. That's why many homeowners looking to build a colonial-style kitchen in their homes prefer keeping smaller windows.
You can add a row of transom windows above the kitchen cabinets to recreate the feeling of tiny windows with a modern touch. Paned windows and wooden shutters are great window treatment ideas. You can paint the shutters white or hang some beautiful curtains to give the kitchen a cozy colonial feel.
Accessories and Furnishings
The colonial kitchen was the perfect place for the entire family to enjoy breakfast and mid-day meals, except for formal occasions. A large farm table was a place to prepare meals and served as an eating area. That's where all the servants, workers, and slaves in the house would come together to eat and share their stories.
In addition to that, the colonial-style kitchen isn't complete without dark exotic wood. You can choose a table in ebony or mahogany with leather seats. A colonial kitchen is all about accessories. Don't forget to add clay cases, exotic animals, a rattan lamp, or an ancient globe to add more beauty to your colonial kitchen.
You can also recreate the same feel by having a separate wooden table in the kitchen to eat meals with the family. If you are searching for the perfect table, you can find many large, medium, and small rustic wood tables with chair sets.
Countertops and Kitchen Cabinets
Open shelving was popular in the colonial kitchen because cabinets with doors weren't readily available. Stand-alone cabinets and countertops were popular storage options. You can create an appealing colonial-style design by using hardware constructed out of forged iron.
When it comes to countertops, you can choose between materials such as soapstone, wood, or granite, which look great with wood cabinets. Since Federal and Georgian architectural styles were popular during the colonial era, don't forget to add a few arches and dental molding in your colonial-style kitchen.
Historic paint colors are popular choices for colonial cabinets that will complement your kitchen's overall design. Choose hard-quality hardwoods to create the cabinets. You can choose between popular, pine and maple, which were popular choices for colonial cabinets.
Get Beautiful Colonial Style Kitchen Designs and Accessories
If you are looking for the best accessories and designs to transform your dull kitchen into a traditional and wholesome one, Period Designs Company is the place to go. Based in Ohio, we can help you renovate or build your new kitchen while keeping your budget and aesthetic needs in mind.
At Period Designs Company, we design, build, and install beautiful American and colonial kitchen cabinetry for homeowners throughout the Midwest and nationwide. Here are some features of our durable and customized colonial kitchen cabinetry.
Historical wavy glass
Solid wood construction
Customized for your kitchen space
Period reproduction hardware
Inset doors and drawers
Dovetail drawers
Blum soft-close drawer slides
True divided light glass doors
Beaded face frames
Furniture style feet
Wood Countertops
Integrated hidden appliances
Grain matched drawers and doors for stained finishes
From building custom cabinets to arts and crafts and colonial-style furniture, we cater to all your needs. Get in touch with us today if you want to know more about transforming your regular cooking or eating area into a dreamy colonial-style kitchen.