My mini kitchen makeover – Paint colours & fabric patterns

The summer holidays have arrived! And with them come the opportunity to spend some time at home and get started on a couple of decorating projects that I’ve been bursting to do. You may remember that I shared some inspirational images for my ideal kitchen a couple of weeks ago and I’m now planning to put those ideas into practice. I’m calling it a ‘mini makeover’ for two reasons; firstly, my budget is tiny and I want to get the best result for the minimum outlay, and secondly, my kitchen is also tiny – I’ve actually never lived in a home with such a small kitchen before and I really need to make the best use of the space available. So this interior design project is really going to be a challenge!

The thing that I’ve had the most trouble deciding on is the colour of the walls. We’ve had patches of paint samples on the wall for more than a year and I couldn’t decide on a colour until I found a lovely duck-egg blue in Homebase. It’s bright enough that it doesn’t make the room feel any smaller but it’s a little more exciting than just using a neutral white or magnolia to make the space bigger.

I really think I’ve made the right decision with the paint colour, and here’s why; when I started scraping away any flaking bits of cream paint around the window in preparation for painting the walls, I found that the colour beneath was originally a duck-egg blue. What a coincidence! It’s like the room ‘wants’ to be painted this colour and ‘should’ be duck-egg blue. I’ve not started painting yet but now that I’ve made this decision it’s been easier to think about other colours and patterns for the rest of the room and I’ve been able to choose some fabric for the blinds and accessories.

The Clarke and Clarke striped fabric the I have chosen is ideal for the ‘retro seaside’ look that I’d like to incorporate in my kitchen. I’ve taken inspiration from my trip to Southwold Pier (I wrote a guide to the pier last week – it’s a great summer holiday day out!) and I was very keen to include a deck-chair-esque striped fabric in the kitchen. I found this candy-stripe fabric when I was searching on Web-Blinds.com for a small custom-made roman blind.

I chose the striped pattern because it included all my favourite summer colours; yellow, green, blue and pink – which all remind me of ice creams and beach huts – and I would be able to pick out these colours in my kitchen accessories. The blind I chose was the Sugar Stripe Pink roman blind with a blackout lining. Although I didn’t necessarily need a blackout in the kitchen, I’m sure that it will make a difference in the while and provide an extra layer of insulation in front of the cold windows. At the moment we have no heating in the kitchen at all (apart from the oven!) so even a little extra insulation will make a big difference.

The good thing about this custom-made roman blind is that it will exactly fit my tiny window and I can get a length of the same Clarke and Clarke fabric to make some extra kitchen accessories with, such as a peg-bag, apron and tea-towels, to incorporate the colours and pattern throughout the room. This will give me the chance to spend a couple of fun afternoons stitching away on my sewing machine and if these accessories are all kept in the same colour range this can help to make a small space feel less cluttered compared to when a variety of patterns and colours are used.

I am planning to get started on my mini makeover later this week so I will be sure to let you know how I get on – keep an eye on my Instagram feed for progress photos as I start work on the kitchen! And please do let me know if you have any space-saving suggestions for small spaces by leaving me a comment below too.