Summer is the perfect time to give your kitchen or kitchen-diner a spruce up. You’re likely to be entertaining a lot during the warmer months (what with BBQ season and garden parties) so there couldn’t be a better time to refresh your cooking and entertaining space.
We’ve round-up the best country updates for kitchen and eating spaces – whatever your budget and style.
From large-scale projects to easy tweaks and updates to your current room design, step this way for the best summer decorating ideas…
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Divide your room
Divide a large kitchen into cooking and dining areas with a practical island unit. Fit folding glass doors to maximise the light and lay flagstone flooring or lookalike tiles in varying sizes for rustic, country appeal.
Find similar flooring at Classical Flagstones and a similar table at CPW Furniture.
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Choose simple units
Cream kitchen units with shaker-style panelled doors and dark wood bun handles are ideal for the country look. Opt for granite worktops as a contrast to the cabinets and bring in a farmhouse table and chairs for relaxed meals.
For similar units, try John Lewis of Hungerford; for chairs, try CPW Furniture
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Make the cooker a focal point
Set a classic cream Aga into a chimney breast with a mantel shelf above to create the quintessential country kitchen. A panel of decorative tiles printed with foodie words adds to the effect.
Find a similar range cooker at Aga; for tiles try Marlborough Tiles
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Make space to breakfast
A curvy island unit supplies valuable workspace and extends to form a glass-topped breakfast bar, providing this kitchen with the wow factor. Contrast cream units with a bank of gleaming built-in ovens.
Find similar kitchen units at Mark Wilkinson Furniture and similar stool fabric at Pierre Frey
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Choose calming blue
Pale blue units with contemporary bar handles could look a shade too cool, but a reclaimed teak table and wood flooring provide a warm tone. Accessorise in blue and lime, and bring in a check blind and cushion to draw the scheme together.
Find similar kitchen units at Harvey Jones and similar table and bench at Raft
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Dress the window in style
Hang a café curtain in pretty embroidered linen part-way up the window. Make up a lightweight curtain with a deep hem at the top and slide onto an expanding tension rod for an instant fit, no screws required.
Find similar fabric at Nobilis and curtain rods at John Lewis
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Mix textures
Old beams and an exposed brick wall are a great backdrop for a modern range cooker and extractor hood in gleaming steel. Units are painted in crisp white, with marble effect worktops adding a classic touch.
Find similar kitchen units at Smallbone and a similar cooker at Britannia
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Freestanding furniture
Expand your kitchen storage with a practical larder cupboard. Behind the doors practical shelves deal with a multitude of baking utensils and tinned or dried goods. If you have plates to display opt for an open top.
Find a similar larder cupboard at John Lewis of Hungerford and similar baskets at Divertimenti
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Select the perfect sink
Turn the sink area into a focal point with a double butlers sink fitted with a traditional bridge tap with ceramic handles. Stitch an under-sink curtain from pretty, summery fabric to hide away clutter.
Find a similar sink at Shaws of Darwen and similar Nadina fabric at Harlequin
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Go for eclectic style
In a spacious kitchen located in a barn the mix and match approach works well. Fit cream tongue and groove units, then emphasise the wood floor and beams with a well-scrubbed farmhouse table and assorted chairs.
For a similar dresser and kitchen units, try John Lewis of Hungerford
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