Love Your Kitchen Series- Artwork

I’ve really enjoyed discussing inexpensive ways to infuse warmth, style, and personality into the kitchen, arguably the most popular space in the home.  So far we have touched on painting cabinets, IKEA countertops, adding glass to cabinets, fabrics, and botanicals.  After today we will be about half way done with the Love Your Kitchen Series!  Adding artwork to your kitchen is another low cost avenue to creating a more high end, custom looking kitchen.

When people are looking for places to put artwork the kitchen often gets overlooked.  But why? Art is constantly being invented in the kitchen in the form of casseroles, soups, and desirable desserts  so why not display creative expression in the decor of the room as well?  Whether the artwork is a  painting, a photograph, a piece of pottery, or a quilt (yes, a quilt) it doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that you like it and that it is interesting.   Often these works of art end up serving as conversational pieces when hosting guests (so make sure it’s something you won’t mind talking about again, and again, and again):-)

Our last home was a townhouse styled condo with an eat-in kitchen.  The area for the table was cramped small and intimate and sat in front of a navy painted accent wall.  I had worked hard to acquire and assemble a visual family tree of pictures and had a few different options of where to put them.  Ultimately, I decided to put them on the eat-in kitchen accent wall.  I loved having these photographs of my loved ones in this space.  It made the space more cozy and instantly caused visitors to ask questions and get to know us better.

Like in our previous kitchen, shelves are often a great instrument to displaying artwork.  If you already have a shelf in your kitchen add art to it and if you don’t, you could always add a shelf or two.

Via Centsational Girl

Via HGTV.com

Artwork also looks great when propped up against the backsplash.

via Remodelista

And of course hung on the wall.

Via Southern Living

The walls in our current kitchen are taken up by cabinets, doors, and windows.  However, I was able to secure a spot for a cheerful piece of art that is conveniently propped up against an unused and unsightly phone jack.

This piece of art was made by my two year old daughter with this lovingly abused watercolor set.

I bought a frame at JoAnn’s for 50% off which made it’s total cost $7.   It’s not grand by any measure but adds a bit of a custom feel to our kitchen.  Have you found ways to bring works of art (other than your great cooking) 🙂 into your kitchen???