When it comes to designing your own home, you should consider not sticking only to one particular style. Unless, of course, you are very passionate about it. Whether you like modern, contemporary, or a traditional design style, being passionate about creating a home that reflects your style and personality is truly a worthy endeavor.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to properly mix modern and traditional styles for your kitchen. The result—personalized, beautiful, harmonious kitchen space. So, keep reading!
Mixing modern and traditional design styles
At present, the modern design style is king, and many households aim to have a modern look and feel when designing their homes. Others like little bits of different styles used in different parts of the house: from the living room to the kitchen. However, you can successfully mix modern style design and traditional elements, which can, surprisingly, bring cozier space.
Although both design styles are sometimes seen as starkly different, combining the two can intensely look very good together. The key, however, to incorporating both modern and traditional style is to have a good sense of balance to create a beautiful and harmonious space. When balancing both these design styles, you have to carefully choose all the elements so that you will avoid offsetting one design style too much from the other.
Photo by Renaissance Kitchen and Home
When it comes to designing your kitchen, modern and traditional elements are a good match. Create a balance in designing your kitchen by deciding to have a modern space furnishing with traditional accents. This is to avoid creating a space where each style is fighting for equal attention—as it could look overwhelming.
Kitchen remodeling
When it comes to kitchen remodeling, you can choose neutral colors for the furnishing and decorative accents in pastel colors. These create a more clean, sophisticated, synchronized and flowy kitchen space. Using a very neutral palette around the kitchen’s perimeter and streamline it with a good palette of pastel to accentuate a particular area or functionality creates a very modern space.
Photo by Dalrymple | Sallis Architecture
Exploring unique color combinations like pale and subtle colors to brighten up the kitchen area while maintaining a neutral palette is a very refreshing idea. Using pastel color in your kitchen makes a stylish, beautiful and timeless look without overwhelming your eyes. It’s also great in camouflaging worn-out kitchen furniture and materials.
Photo by Encircle Design and Build
And then add a simple, yet durable and good-looking stone countertop like granite, quartz, and marble. You can then add traditional furniture like wooden kitchen cabinets that have classic and rustic elements. For the flooring, make sure to pick a continuous look that is also functional, like a modern neutral plank floor.
Kitchen cabinet repair
Instead of installing a new one, opt to kitchen cabinet repair as it’s practical and can be easily customized. Try repairing your cabinet by tweaking its design to look more traditional like adding crown molding or other detailed woodwork. You can also try changing its color to complement the entire palette of the space.
Photo by suba | Suanne Bassett, Architect
Extend your kitchen cabinets to the ceiling
Moreover, extend your kitchen cabinets to the ceiling as it can offer you more storage room. Extending your cabinets to the ceiling also creates a bolder and more streamlined look. It also eliminates dead space.
Photo by Mercury Mosaics and Tile
Include a smart storage inside your kitchen cabinet for easy organization. While on the outside, you can design your cabinet pulls and knobs with satin nickel or silver.
Adding traditional-style accessories
Lastly, don’t forget to add some traditional style accessories to create more drama in the space—but make sure not to overdo it. For a more traditional feel, you can add classic brass hardware, traditional-era chandelier, and old-fashioned wall clock, etc. Doing this evokes a contrast and excitement to your modern style furnishing, thereby creating a more balanced space.
And as mentioned above, when it comes to styling your space, make one style dominate and use the other one for accents. But if you are not sure what genuinely falls under traditional style, think of the following qualities:
- carved moldings
- detailed woodwork
- sturdy crafted furniture
- framed wall decorations
- graceful lines
Simply, when we define traditional style, we should typically think of something as being cozy, comfortable and somewhat predictable. Unlike modern design, it’s usually simple—has very minimal details, fuss-free, and incorporates earthy-neutral materials and colors.