Outfitting a Tuscan Kitchen

One of the newest and most attractive decorating trends, that is currently on an upswing is the Tuscan, or Tuscany designed kitchen.

People are more anxious it seems lately to emulate an older style, to afford themselves old world elegance and charm, and perhaps to find themselves having tea in a kitchen that smacks of a country cottage before they begin a hectic day in the city. Whatever the reason for the Tuscany kitchens reassurance, its result is an old world elegance in a casual setting, replete with style and charm.

Tuscany celebrates clean, wholesome and simple things such as a bottle of good wine, a loaf of home backed bread or a mug of coffee.

The style is no muss, no fuss, durable and charming, with stoneware mugs and plates, grapevines and sandstone or faux stone walls.

Typically it will include a lot of tile, wide tiled counters, stone and wood tones.

I began my own journey into Tuscany because I wanted the old world feeling without all the expense of antique collecting and major renovations.

To begin I took some dark tan paint and trimmed in butterscotch , rather a deep buttery gold.

Adding a paint textures that is available from nearly any good paint store, you can get the look of sand, plaster or nearly any rough wall and give your walls some texture that adds visual interest to them.

Deep reds and golds as well as old wood fit in well

Over the top of this, I used a spouncer, which is a thing that is rather like a sponge like gadget and helps to make the walls take on a look of being a bit faded in places, so they have more depth, and more color to them.

The window and door trims were left natural wood, and the accessories were something simple and natural. I chose grapes and grape vines for my accessories, finding those on pots, pans and plates..

I used a half round pot hanger, and hung copper pots above the stove. Above that, on the top of the pot rack, I added some very natural grape vines with attached deep purple grapes.

Earth tones and woodsy trims are part of the Tuscany style

Stone war crocks in a deep gold are replacing my old wood cannisters on the counters, as well as a small convection oven.
Above the hall to kitchen door stands a small wooden plaque that is wood burned. A quote is from Hemingway, “Wine is the most civilized thing in the world”.

Tuscany is old wrought iron, stainless steel serving spoons and a wall done in faux bricks above your sink to add to the ease of cleaning and the sturdiness of use. You could as easily use porcelain tiles or copper ones.

To offset all of the deep butter color, we purchased the tables coverings and table cloths as well as our throw rugs in a textured weave, a deep burgundy color, which picks up the colors of the flowers on the butter colored stoneware canister’s.

The Tuscan Kitchen is utilitarian, comfortable and comforting. It is at home with a Royal Alber tea cups or a chipped beaker, either will be fine in this type setting.

I love waking to coffee in my Tuscan kitchen, and all in all it took less work than any makeover I have ever done, and was infinitely more satisfying that what I had begun with.

Isn’t it nice to get a little bit of your own style into your home? Doing it yourself provides that you get exactly what you want.

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