Give your kitchen a rustic makeover

This image by CS Photography shows how buying something used can really add that rustic feel to your kitchen. You could have a lovely brand new kitchen and help it feel more rustic by adding some second hand elements to it. A used table for example, can really make a kitchen feel well used. You can pick up a second hand table easily on local websites, or a from a shop. You can also sand it back to the wood and make it look more distressed to add to the effect. It doesn't have to be a table, it can be chairs, cabinet doors, or accessories. Second hand items are a great way to save money and beneficial to the environment. They also have a story to them, which gives them added appeal as furniture in your home.

This kitchen looks remarkable. The island/breakfast bar in the middle is, believe it or not, made from the wood of a boat! It certainly gives the kitchen a rustic feel to it and uses reclaimed material throughout, right down to the dining room chairs. Reclaiming wood, or any item, and turning it into something makes it have a history and is a very green method of making something new out of something old. Reclaiming wood means you can achieve a high quality finish at a cheaper price. For example, you could end up with a solid oak table that would have cost a fortune brand new, but by using reclaimed wood, you get it at a much more budget friendly price. You can strip back the wood and re-treat it, or leave it with dashes of it's old paint work for added authenticity.

Shabby chic or distressed is something that certainly sits well in a rustic kitchen. When it comes to making over a room, budget restraints can be something we need to pay attention too. When doing a project like this, consider exactly what it is you want to achieve. As we can see in this image, the entire kitchen is rustic. But you could get away with just taking parts of it that you like. The island is very appealing and can be an additional item in your kitchen. The cabinet doors are an affordable option and something that a lot of us could do ourselves with a little bit of knowledge. They are a shabby chic looking affair with, what looks like, the original paintwork on them, just sanded back. They are slightly mismatched and uneven ,again, adding to the rustic effect of them. They go well with the whole room and create a little bit of colour too.

You don't have to gut an entire room to create a new look. We all know just how simply moving furniture can create a whole new feel. It can really lift a room to just do the simple things, like adding or removing furniture. To help create a rustic looking kitchen there are some simple steps that you can take. In this instance, we are referring to adding some free standing furniture. You an add an eclectic feel by adding units to your kitchen and making them all a little bit different from each other. You can create an entire kitchen out of free standing sideboards and tables, giving you a lot of freedom with style and placement. The finished look will certainly be rustic and something unique.

A rustic kitchen can really be a blend of colours, as this is part of its appeal. It looks warm and cosy, creating the effect that we want. This room has oak floor boards, a beautiful dark wood, that go well with the table. If you take a moment, you notice that the units are different colours, as are the chairs. This only goes toward adding to the rustic appeal, as we said above. The colour of the walls can be a slightly different story. As furniture tends to look older and shabby, paint can be an important factor in tying it all together. You can't opt for walls that look shabby, because this just looks dirty on walls. The paint here is a clean crisp white, and it really works. Despite going against everything we thought we knew about the rustic look. It helps showcase the furniture rather than steal away from it. Make the right choice and it will help your room shine.

Rustic kitchens can be something we create by using furniture. Or it can be created by using a range of accessories. The look you are aiming for is slightly eclectic. You want the furniture to be the star of the show, whether it is rustic or not. But you can compliment it with the right accessories. Whether that is crockery on your reclaimed boat wood table or cushions on your up-cycled dining chairs. Mixing and matching items of a similar colour or style can really help make your rustic kitchen complete.

Creating a new look can seem like a daunting task. But as we have shown you can do it in small steps and a little bit at a time. This makes it achievable and budget friendly. The kitchen is the hub of the home and making it feel special is something that a rustic look can offer.