Decorating your kitchen can be a wonderful experience.                        

No matter what style you are going for, a colour co-ordinated home is fundamental in creating a stylish home that goes pop! Whether it be a cozy warm decor that is colourfully happy and cheerful, or a classic countryside cottage, or an elegant modern chic, it is important for kitchen appliances and materials to complement each other to bring warmth and personality to the heart of the home.                         

Many things need to be taken into consideration beforehand though to set the mood and bring a decor theme to life. The flooring should be taken into account with regards to dark/light wood or vinyl influencing the rest of the materials; as well the counter work tops and where you live.                         

Whatever colour you have chosen to paint your kitchen should match your personality, the way you use it and what you actually do in there. If your family spends all their time in there and food is a passion and is constantly being cooked, perhaps a rich warm red would be complimentary?                         

A beach front apartment might be best suited in a cool blue, whereas a forest getaway lodge would suit dark browns to bring the forest and its’ wilderness inside.                         

Another key concept is to ensure the colour scheme unites the rest of the house, to ensure a colour flow and theme throughout the rooms. It would seem senseless modernising all of the rooms in contemporary colours and furniture and then to decorate your kitchen in a traditional-barn style.                          

So you have finally decided upon your colour scheme; now for your appliances. Having matching utensils and cutlery etc. will ensure unpleasant chores that you spend hours completing daily such as washing up, a rewardable task that is less daunting.                          

Here at Ulster Weavers we have selected some colour scheme ideas and appliances you may consider for your home.                          

Country                           

Coffee Potts Double Oven Glove

Why not create the cozy cottage feel kitchen by teaming the Coffee Potts Double Oven Glove, with matching Gauntlett, Coasters and Apron.                          

 Retro  

Lola Tea Cosy

Make a bold brass statement in fun and funky colours! Try oranges, yellows and greens to really stand out and bring a groovy disco decadence to your home.           

Sorrento Pot Mitt

Straight off the catwalk and into your home, floral patterns are sprouting up in interiors, with oversized blooms being a key trend. Similar to this Sorrento Pot Mitt, decor your kitchen in on-trend matching items such as Apron, Gauntlet and Tea Towel.                 

 Animals                        

Eurocucina is a yearly international event for new kitchen trends. From laminates to wood, to metal, masonry and laquer – besides the finest furnishing accessories – the trade show allows kitchen furnishing companies from around the world to showcase their latest products and designs to all.

The four day exhibition held in Milan this April saw over 300,000 visitors view hundreds of cutting edge kitchen designs from some of the leading kitchen manufacturers around the globe.

And Eurocucina 2010 saw six key kitchen trends come into play which are likely to take shape in kitchen design over the next few years.

Kitchen/Living Room combination

The open plan kitchen/living trend is set to continue in the home. With technology and hi tech gadgets transforming the kitchen space into a clean and inviting environment, this trend is set to grow stronger. Kitchen appliances are almost silent nowadays and designed to sit in a social environment, for example cabinets that close softly making it ideal for an open plan living environment.

Spotlessly clean surfaces

Materials in the kitchen appeared to be a lot more textured than in previous years. The wood, in oak or walnut was rich and textured in a refined way.

Glass was popular at the trade show with high gloss surfaces replaced by a rich matte, non-shiny texture.

All-steel kitchens were a common trend; however stainless steel was often seen used for finishing details.

Smart lighting

Moving into a more open kitchen plan and cleaner surfaces era there is a growing need to improve storage space for all kitchen appliances, food, cutlery and crockery.

Due to this, lighting has improved with a clear trend for LED lighting which was used for both practical and ambient purposes.

Even though modern kitchen appliances are stunningly designed, most of the refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers were hidden in cabinets.

The kitchen sink

There were a few interesting solutions to the kitchen sink at the trade show. One was with thin Corian lids covering the sink, with the lids featuring metal inserts on the back to allow a safe resting place for hot pots and pans. Another interesting feature was a smooth stainless steel sliding cover to cover the sink when the kitchen was not in use.

Eco Friendly

A strong emphasis was put on sustainability. Recycled materials as well as materials that can be recycled without losing their properties and materials that can retain value for a long time.

Bright and Bold

And for future colour trends the Eurocucina 2010 saw a variety of bright kitchen colours creep in. Pink, yellow, red and green, were a few colours that cropped up however they didn’t take the centre stage, with the natural palette the common trend, featuring white and black, blonde and ebony as the most common colours for the kitchen.

View some more pictures from the Eurocucina Trade Show 2010 featuring many of the inspirational trends by visiting Contemporist.com – an architect and interior design news website – by clicking here.

The kitchen is the place where everyone congregates after a long day at school or work to chat about the day’s events.  With this in mind why not make it into a homely and relaxing environment, transforming it into a practical room with colours and life.

And if you are on a tight budget and can’t afford to redecorate the whole kitchen then here are a few helpful tips from UlsterWeavers.com to help you make your house a home.

Bring in more colours

We don’t mean splash the kitchen with blocks of colour and throw in random fluorescent accessories; instead we are talking about adding a touch of colour here and there to add some colour into your kitchen. Things like flowers, vases and candles are the perfect finishing touches, or you could even purchase coffee makers and blenders which come in a range of colourful designs.

Add fresh fruit bowls

Add fresh fruits on a nice basket or tray. Fresh fruits are always colourful and look perfect on a table in the kitchen. It adds colour and vitality to any kitchen.

Small kitchen appliances

Kitchen appliances should be small to avoid occupying more space. You could purchase multi-purpose appliances which are perfect for the kitchen and can be used for mixing, blending, chopping or grinding; all the functions in one.

Textile furnishings

When you think of a homely kitchen you imagine cakes baking in the oven, tea stewing in the tea pot and mum cooking with her apron and oven mitts on. Now this idyllic scenario may not always be the case in your hectic lifestyle but you can always pretend it is by decorating your home with tea cosies, aprons, ovens mitts and decorative tea towels to spruce up the kitchen environment.

And we are not talking plane Jane designs here. We mean decorative and creative home furnishings by UlsterWeavers.co.uk. The website has some beautiful collections to choose from including British Cats by English artist Ann Walker, to Vintage style aprons and tea towels. There are a wide range of designs all at affordable prices to help spruce up your kitchen from drab to fab.

For more information visit Ulster Weavers today.

One of the tea cosie workshops starring the completed Polly Dolly

Two artists from Australia are embarking on a backpacking trip collecting kitchen tea cosies before finally arrive at the World’s Best Tea Cosy Making Competition.

The chick-flick adventure sees visual and performing artists, Sarah Lloyd and Joanne Davis, start their journey in Melbourne, making their way to Miles in Queensland where the competition is set to take place.

Along the way, the pair will stop in at CWA (Country Women’s Association) branches to roll out art workshops, share a cup of tea and most importantly, collect tea cosies.

Ms Lloyd said, “One of the things we love is the community around having a cup of tea,”

Both women believe that taking a bit of time out of your busy day to have a cup of tea with a friend, family member or acquaintance is a way of accepting time with another person, inviting that person to confide in you, share ideas, feelings or grievances.

“Lots of our creativity comes out of having a cup of tea,” Ms David said.

However, the journey isn’t all about workshops, cups of tea and tea cosies.

The duo are hoping to gather information and ideas for their installation performance art piece which is due to go on display during the Beef, Bells, Bottle Tree Festival at Miles in September 2010 – the festival which will announce the winners of the World’s Best Tea Cosy Competition.

Back on the road: the tea ladies making their way to the World's Best Tea Cosie Competition

Described as a three-dimensional portraiture, the display will incorporate drawings, ‘Polly’ dolls from the workshops, sculptures, paintings and possibly even tea pots and strainers.

And to bring their journey together, Ms Lloyd and Ms David said they will be drawing their inspiration from the people they meet and adventures they have during their Tea Tales journey.

The tea-lovers are only two days into their ‘Tea Tales’ trek, however they have already collected 40 tea cosies and hosted two successful workshops.

During the workshops, CWA members were invited to let their creativity take control, dressing individual paper ‘Polly’ dolls with scraps of fabric, lace, cardboard, paper and feathers before concluding with a group dressing of a life-sized ‘Polly.’

To follow the journey of Ms Lloyd and Ms Davis visit their blog at www.teatalesladies.com.

If you are not the creative type and wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to making a tea cosie, then leave all the fuss to us at UlsterWeaver.com, the online home furnishing specialists. The website has a wide selection of tea cosies, aprons, tea towels and many more products for you to decorate your house into a home.