If you are in love with bright colors, a hot sun, a heavenly blue, a refreshing sea breeze, but it is not always possible to go to southern countries. However, this is not a reason to be sad, because you can decorate the interior of your kitchen in a colorful Spanish style, and a piece of this passionate and temperamental country will settle in the house.
The main features of the Spanish style
In the view of the Spaniards, the cuisine is not just a place where food is prepared and eaten. It is a kind of soul of the home. The kitchen plays the role of a room for relaxation, rest, and guests. Traditional siesta is held here, and households communicate with each other. To recreate the spirit and atmosphere of authentic Spain in your apartment, you need to know what principles underlie this interior design.
So, the Spanish style in the interior of the kitchen is characterized by the following distinctive features:
Natural materials – this is a crucial point for creating the right surroundings in the kitchen. Since Spain is very hot most of the year, the house should provide a fresh life. Stone and wood are excellent for this purpose, maintaining a temperature that is comfortable for a person.
A large kitchen cabinet, a backsplash tiled with ornaments, a lot of dark wood, a spacious island table with a sink, a massive hood – a typical look of a kitchen in a Spanish house.
Spanish kitchen design
Let us consider what distinguishes the interior of Spanish cuisine from a similar room in other countries, and what nuances should be taken into account during the repair.
Kitchen layout
Real Spanish cuisine should be spacious. A stove, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, and other kitchen appliances are usually installed along one wall. But the sink and work surface is located in the middle of the kitchen on a sizeable island-independent table. Under the countertop, there are many cabinets and shelves for various kitchen utensils and other needs. In general, space is organized very ergonomically and conveniently so that the hostess can move quickly and spend a minimum of time on specific procedures.
Color palette
The business card of the Spanish style is the contrast of tones in the decoration.
It is appropriate to combine light furniture with dark walls and flooring. Massive sets of stained oak against the backdrop of roughly whitewashed surfaces look relevant.
Regardless of the choice of colors, the overall tone of the room should be warm.
Also, the Spanish style colors are considered various shades of blue and green, imitating the sea surface.
A particularly good solution would be to use an olive color. In combination with warm wood tones, an unusually active and cozy room for cooking is obtained.
Spanish kitchen finish
For wall decoration, ivory plaster is most often used. But this is not the only possible option; the choice of color scheme is, for the most part, a matter of taste. The kitchen will continue to be made in the best Spanish traditions, if you choose green or olive, dark cherry or pale pink, beige or light for the walls – yellow, brown in any shades or white tones.
As for the floor, the Spaniards appreciate it, which is lovely to walk barefoot in the hot hours of a daytime siesta. Therefore, the floors are made of stone. In modern urban conditions, instead of natural stone, you can use marble tiles. The tile should look aged, roughness. The floor is from brick, terracotta, and the color has shades of sand, ivory, beige, and various brown versions.
Ceiling finishes should not be too complicated. It will be quite simple to plaster and paint it white. If this option seems boring, you can decorate the ceiling with wood beams. They should be dark and create a contrast with a white surface. You can also highlight the working area above the island table in a darker or lighter color than the rest of the ceiling.
Arched structures are widespread in the interior of Spanish houses. Thus, you can arrange the front door to the room, the window, or you can make a niche with an arch to install the shelves on which the kitchen utensils will stand. If the kitchen is spacious enough, the arch can divide the space into the working and dining areas.
The arch above the stove, beams on a light ceiling, dark wood flooring, lamps with wrought iron details, and contrasting window frames are the embodiment of the Spanish style.
Windows – this is another element that focuses on itself. To do this, the frames should contrast with the color of the walls: if the walls are light, then the frames must be made of dark wood and vice versa. Wood, decorated with carvings, will also be a great option.
If the ceiling beams and frames are the same shade, this will create a single composition and give the kitchen completeness.
Lighting in the Spanish kitchen
Lighting can be made out in different ways, but the primary condition is the abundance of light, both natural, which enters the kitchen from the street, and artificial, created using lamps. The Spanish dwellings are characterized by large windows, often two or three nearby windows in the same room. The kitchen harmoniously combines central and peripheral lighting.
Usually, the role of interior lighting is played by a chandelier of impressive dimensions, mounted above the worktop. Traditionally, such a chandelier will be lowered from the ceiling in chains. Lamps play an auxiliary role, highlighting areas near the stove, wall cabinets, fridge, etc. The appearance of the lamps should not be very modern. Again, forged details and a general antique look will give authenticity to your kitchen.
Additional lighting (if there is enough space) can be a real or artificial fireplace.
Furniture and household appliances
Kitchen furniture has certain features that allow you to immediately say with confidence what style this interior is designed for:
Ideally, if the kitchen set will look voluminous and also rude, as for the color scheme, all items included in the headset do not have to be in the same color. You can choose light furniture with decorative inserts or wood trim in darker colors. Another successful option would be to purchase tables and cabinets in different colors, but united in a single style, which will help revitalize the interior.
Heavy, solid furniture, often made of dark wood, is trendy in the Spanish interior.
Open shelves, laden with bottles of oil, jars of seasoning, or just dishes, are found everywhere in the design of the Mediterranean countries’ cuisines, and Spain is no exception.
Chairs and a table should also be massive, bulky. It is not forbidden if the seats on the chairs are covered with beautiful bright upholstery. If the kitchen dimensions allow you can arrange a soft sofa, next to it a coffee table, and if the room is very spacious, you can fit a fireplace. The couch serves as a favorite place where householders like to while away hours of siesta.
Tabletops are usually made of porcelain stoneware, marble, or ceramic tiles and are often painted with Spanish national patterns. The hood is typically massive, dome-shaped, decorated with carvings, tiles, stucco moldings, or multi-colored tiles.
Household appliances traditionally should not be in sight. Usually, it is masked by covering the doors of floor or wall lockers to disturb the atmosphere of a real Spanish house. A sink and a water tap are preferable from copper or brass, a vintage look. The stone sink also fully corresponds to the Spanish tradition of decorating the kitchen.
Decor, curtains, dishes
Spain is a sunny country, and this translates into the use of vibrant colors. Textiles, ornaments, pillows on chairs, dishes, and other elements should bring notes of passion and free energy into the interior.
Kitchen items will be decorated with metal candlesticks, wrought iron candelabra, lanterns suspended from chains, lamps, and individual furniture elements. As in any other ethnic style, it is customary to decorate a Spanish cuisine room with cans and bottles placed on shelves with a variety of spices: salt, oils, etc. Beautiful plates, pots, pans, situated in open places, and hanging along the walls, also serve as decorations.
Forged construction with open shelves, where dishes are placed, containers with spices, wicker baskets with herbs, and small fruit baskets on the table demonstrate the Spanish style.
Even more, it will help emphasize the color and create the desired mood of the picture and tapestries with Spanish landscapes or images of girls dancing flamenco. Cushions for chairs decorated with elegant national ornaments are welcome, and multi-colored rugs, walkways, or rugs will transform the floor.
As for textiles, fabrics made from natural materials are preferred. Curtains need to choose bright, summer colors. Laconic Roman, warm shades are also suitable. However, often in Spanish kitchens, the windows are completely open and not covered by anything.
Multi-colored dishes that create a festive mood, in the spirit of Spain.
For a kitchen decorated in Spanish design, simple dishes with antique elements are best suited. Porcelain services of bright, warm colors, metal, ceramic, brass dishes, clay jugs will perfectly fit into the interior. Variety is welcome.
