Ways to Bring Nature into Your Kitchen During a Renovation
Bringing nature into your home will make it more welcoming and appealing. Here are several ideas on how to achieve this during kitchen renovations.
Outside View
One approach is to provide a view of the natural world. For example, replace an opaque door with a glass that opens to the garden. Seeing the greenery will bring it inside to be part of the kitchen landscape. As well as thinking about the walls, what about the ceiling? A skylight window can provide a view of a blue sky or grey and white scurrying clouds. A starry night sky will bring the solar system into the room. You don't have to worry about hanging scenic works of art on the walls, as you have the real thing framed within the window or door opening.
Natural Daylight
The ambience of natural daylight is unmistakable. It will give your kitchen a feeling that artificial globes can't replicate. Thus, simply bringing more daylight inside is another way to forge a connection with nature. Consider whether existing windows can be enhanced to allow better light flow. Can you remove bulky window coverings or trim any foliage blocking the light?
Natural Stone
A popular way to bring the organic world indoors is to instal a natural granite benchtop or to lay slate tiles on the floor. Each rock piece shows a unique blend of seemingly random hues and patterns. The colours are often earthy, subdued and ethereal, in shades like grey, blue, pink, peach and brown. However, not all stone counters are muted. You could use a startling cream marble with black streaks. Rock looks different to manufactured products like laminate, which don't have the same nuances. A benefit of using stone on the flooring is that it lets its natural textured surface present itself. For example, lay natural cleft slate tiles. Flooring doesn't have to be buffed to a smooth surface like a countertop does.
Timber
Another exquisite natural element is timber, which you can incorporate in several ways into a kitchen. You could lay timber planks using Tasmanian oak, blackbutt, or Jarrah. Though wood comes in various shades of tan and brown, it offers many variations. Some pale planks have creamy yellow undertones, while others are pinkish. Some floorboards are a deep, dark brown, and others look like grey driftwood. Thus, you'll have plenty of choices to choose the flooring that harmonises with the decor. Other places to use timber are the countertop and cabinetry. You could have joiners construct a custom kitchen island using repurposed doors.