{31 Days of Coastal Style} Elements of a Coastal Kitchen

A coastal-style kitchen is one area of the home that DOESN'T require starfish, coral, or even driftwood, to feel beachy!  Here are a few ingredients of a kitchen that says "coastal" to me:

1) White (or light-colored) cabinets

Source: BHG

To me, white cabinetry (or at least light-colored) is one of the "musts" for a beach cottage look! This is the one thing that I don't have in our new apartment, however. :/ Not that I don't love the clean-lined rustic-wood style cabinets that I inherited (that are chock full of cool slide-outs), but it's not my "dream white kitchen" (silly, I know... First World problems!) But just this last week I found out that I might be getting my dream kitchen sooner than I thought! My father-in-law found a full set of the most gorgeous white kitchen cabinets that someone's tearing out of their house (and replacing with a $100,000 kitchen! *gulp*)... so this winter I just might be getting my dream kitchen, thanks to my amazing Superman hubby! Wooo-hooooo!!!!

2) Shiny accents

Source: Country Living

Sleek, silvery cabinet handles and pulls add a touch of shine that's reminiscent of glistening sand and waves! I'm already on the hunt for just the right hardware for my soon-to-be-real dream kitchen! I'm thinking chrome or brushed nickel cup pulls for the drawers, and for the doors maybe bar handles, like the ones above and below...

Source: Aureasf Home

A glossy tile backsplash is also a gorgeous accent that's perfect for a coastal kitchen. This one reminds me of mother-of-pearl!

3) Unique light fixtures

Source: BHG

I big fat puffy <3 everything about this kitchen, but those massive chrome pendants simply take my breath away! This last summer I found a similar pair of Restoration Hardware-look-alike pendants at a rummage sale (you'll never guess how much I paid for them!) that will definitely be going in my dream kitchen!

4) Pops of coastal color

Source: House of Turquoise

Last but not least, pops of blues, aquas, and even seaglass greens are what take a white kitchen from simply "cottage" to "coastal cottage"!

Source: Cultivate

In your opinion, what is the key ingredient to a beachy kitchen? Do you love white cabinetry? Or do you prefer darker natural woods?

Did you miss any of the other 31 Days of Coastal Style posts? Check the list out here!

P.S.P.S. Check out the rest of the "31-Dayers" over at The Nester's blog!

What's Cooking in the Kitchen? A $15 Mini-Makeover!

Yes, it's true-- I just gave my kitchen a mini-makeover for only $15, and about 15 minutes of work! (If you don't count the 3 1/2 hours I spent scrubbing the myriads of spots, dried spills, and splotches that plague  light-colored cabinets... but that's another story!) And how, you ask? The answer: a simple hardware swap!

BEFORE: even from a distance, the  brass & porcelain handles look drab and dated (and if you looked closely, you'd see that the "brass" was corroded and brown-- hence the "wide-angle" shot)

AFTER: the smooth chrome is the perfect modern counterbalance to the traditional cabinetry!

Ahhhh, soooo much better! Sleek, shiny, and up-to-date! Wanna know a secret? I found them at Goodwill! (Shhhh...) Yep, a bag of 7 beautiful handles, exactly what I'd been looking for to replace my sad, corroded "brass & porcelain" handles that constantly looked grimy. And the whole bagful was only $1.49!!!

Unfortunately, I needed more than 7 handles-- I needed 10, to be exact, plus 4 drawer pulls. Fortunately, my local Menards happened to carry the exact same handles, so the extra ones only added up to $13! Bringing the grand total for my fabulous updated kitchen to $15-- well, $14.49, to be exact ;)

Of course, if I hadn't found that bagful of handles at the local thrift store, this makeover would have cost about $21 more, but the total makeover would still be a not-too-shabby $34! (Possible even less, depending on what hardware you chose!)

This update was especially important, because THIS is the view that you see as soon as you walk in the front door of our apartment:

(I'm still trying to figure out what to do to the front of the island, that won't detract from everything else.) Here's the other side:

Our kitchen cabinets were actually store displays, so my Superman took the two lower center ones (where the stove is now), and turned them into an island, flanked with open shelves! I sewed the curtains that cover the shelves out of a tablecloth about three years ago (back when I was into the floral, cottage-y style). I think I need to make a new set that match my new colors, & the stylin' new cabinet pulls! :)

Another thing I want to do very soon is put a backsplash up behind the stove area. I'd love to do glass tile, or even penny tile (*swoon*) but I'm afraid that's out of my budget right now (unless I find some at Goodwill!) But I might try my hand at some paint & stenciling!

A gratuitous flower shot... I never buy fresh flowers for myself, but a sweet friend got me these for my birthday! I love the "freshness" they bring!

As you can see, my kitchen is not very large, and it is (literally) the center of the house-- the living room is to the left, and the dining room is to the right (with bedrooms opening off of those). So this $15 update visually impacts the whole house! I'm so happy with the effect this simple change has!

So what do you think? Have you done any inexpensive updates that have a huge impact on your home? Any quick tweaks?