Give Your New Kitchen The Natural Look

When I finally made my mind up to give my home –


and my kitchen in particular -  a


makeover, I had a very definite


image in my mind of the way I wanted my new kitchen to look . I am really fond of the idea of


using natural materials like wood and stone in the home. I decided to make circular holes in the wall and floor cabinets  we had picked out because I did not like the handles that came with them and could


not find any suitable replacements. The result was that


these small holes became the handles.  And the units I chose for the wall and floor was influenced by the


elaborate 3-D floor tile, which you can find in many places in


Italy. One One idea I really wanted to


introduce into my new kitchen was the use of marble worktops from Carrara also


from Italy. I was brought up in Liguria, near Carrara, and there, everyone uses


the local marble in their kitchens. Aesthetics were not the only consideration, especially


for a room such as a kitchen which has such a functional side I enjoy trying out new recipes in the kitchen, and my husband


loves to eat, so that


made it essential to get good quality appliances such as a cooker and cooker


hood. The oven has six burners and a grill that you can


put your choice of meat or fish straight on top of to grill.


Possibly the most surprising


side of the makeover is that when we acquired our home


it was a shop, so we


basically had a blank canvas to create a space that reflected our wishes


perfectly. As part of the project to transform the shop into a home, the room


that was once the shop's office was stripped out and fully plumbed and wired to


become a kitchen. A large window was put in the back wall and glasses panels


were put in the roof to flood the space with light. when we were deciding on lighting we also elected to


fit both overhead lights and LED strip lights below the


kitchen units. When we we have friends over for


dinner in the kitchen we can dim the overhead light and fill the kitchen with subtle lighting from the strip lights,


to which we can add


the soft light from our favourite perfumed


candles created by manufacturers


such as Yankee candles and True Grace candles. These are just two of my personall favourite choices - there are however litterally hundreds ogf different brands of scented candles and reed diffusers out there. The best idea is probably to experiment with a few to find the one or two that you really like and then stick with those choices for the future. Either way home fragrances are a simple but elegant way to add a certain something to your home without breaking the bank. And if you do not like candles, again don't despair. If you are not a fan of scented candles but love to have youe home smelling great then the remedy is simple - use a reed diffuser instead. These are the latest thing in home fragrance, with all the scent of a candle but with much more convenience. They really come into their own in a situation whete you cannot afely leave a candle burning. Typical examples would be when you are out of the house or if you want to fragrance a room which is unoccupied for a long time. Another great advantage of diffusers is that they can be used safely around children and pets. Leaving a lit candle in a room where children are playing is not sensible because as they enjoy themselves there is the risk - however slight - that the candle could be knocked over and cause a fire.










The author is owner of The Scented Candle Store which supplies a wide range of scented candles including Voluspa candles