Our favourite ways to add some cosy Christmas touches to your kitchen

Although it’s fair to say the idea of a second UK lockdown wasn’t exactly welcome news for everyone, one undeniable consequence is that this year we’re all spending more time in our kitchens than ever before. And with so many of this year’s autumn and winter traditions out the window – including public Bonfire Nights, Christmas markets, and even Christmas shopping – most of us understandably want to be feeling festive within the comforts of our own kitchens instead, and that’s what we’re looking at on the blog this week here at Kitchen Design Centre.

We’ve got decades of design expertise behind us, and so personally one of the first things we’d suggest is to first decide exactly what sort of Christmas aesthetic you want for your kitchen. Are you partial to a lavish Christmas, or something a little understated? Here are a few of our suggestions for both!

Get creative with greenery and floral elements

A lovely wreath is of course one of the most traditional and beautiful Christmas decorations, and best of all you can use them in all sorts of ways to express your personal festive style. You can keep it simple and modest with a plain green wreath with just a hessian ribbon, or you can dress it up with dashes of silver, gold and red to give it a more luxurious appearance.

The same goes for your floral centrepieces – you can add dashes of colour with vibrant seasonal blooms and berries, or keep things chic and understated with something like a miniature fraser fir. Whatever suits your style best!

And when you’re looking at festive greenery, don’t forget your windows. If you just can’t find the right ribbons or sashes in which to dress them up, a ribbon of greenery can serve as a wonderfully tactile, natural complement to the energising natural light flooding through them.

See the light

It’s a universal truth that lighting is always crucial to properly setting the mood, and it’s as true on Christmas as it is on Valentine’s Day and other major celebrations of the year. Understandably, the soft golden glow of festive lights and candles is always one of the most popular options, and it’s an especially great way to make your kitchen feel particularly inviting.

A quick word of advice regarding candles though – while scented candles can be a great way to further enhance that Christmas feeling in other rooms, in your kitchen they can often clash with the aromas of your cooking, so we’d suggest keeping your candles simple! Tea lights are a favourite for many of our customers – they’re attractive, unobtrusive, and cheap to pick up. On a similar note, you can opt for lanterns for a particularly distinctive Victorian vibe for your kitchen – perfect if you love the feeling of a traditional white Christmas!

Alternatively, if your kitchen has a muted colour scheme or minimalist style, strategically-placed fairy lights can give it an excellent dash of colourful sparkle for the festive season.

Think about the smaller touches

Don’t hesitate to think a bit outside the box when it comes to Christmas touches for your kitchen either – some of the most distinctive ones aren’t always the most obvious ones! In the short term, you can even use the results of your own baking or cooking to add a tasty decorative touch – Christmas cookies are a popular choice, for example. And although it’s looking like we’ll all have to be very selective about who we invite round this year, at least that means the family will certainly appreciate them!

Another good way to get an extra touch of Christmas in your kitchen is to think about things like crockery and appliances. Red, green, gold and silver are all traditionally thought of as the colours of the festive season, so you can temporarily switch out your toasters, kettles, plates and similar elements of your kitchen for alternatives in those shades. You’ll probably find they’re brilliant at really helping your kitchen to get into the Christmas spirit – even if they’re not explicitly Christmas themed themselves.

These are just a few of our suggestions, of course – you’ve probably got plenty more of your own! And if you still need a bit of guidance or inspiration, our award winning designers are only too happy to oblige.