The lovely Karen was one of the Rock My Wedding 2012/3 Real Brides and her combination of huge heart and wedding flair made her a hit with the whole RMW gang and readers alike.

Last week Karen and her husband Lee finally completed their purchase on a three-bed 1930’s pad in Liverpool. Over the next few months they will be making their new home their own and the first room under the spotlight will be the kitchen.

As with our usual Reader Request format, I’ll stick my oar in and put forward a few suggestions but I hope you’ll add in a few ideas too. As an added extra I was thinking we could try out a team Pinterest board too. More on that later, but first over to Karen.

{Karen’s Request}

It’s ridiculous but after spending 8 years in a two-up two-down, the one piece of furniture I aspire to own is a kitchen table!! I’m easily pleased! We do have room for a little one, which makes me very happy.

The kitchen is new, but not to our taste. As it’s new, it’d be daft to replace it right away, so we’re thinking of Annie Sloaning the cupboards (although they’re laminate I think it’d take), replacing the worktops and getting a new floor. There’s also space for a small dining table – it has really great potential to be the heart of the house and I’d love the décor to reflect that. Generally, we like natural colours – greys, stones, creams. Often with a little pop of candy or pastel tones.
Summing up what I like style-wise in a kitchen, I’d probably say ‘modern country’. So, lots of clean lines and bright, functional space, but keeping that homely natural feeling too.

Other than that, I’d love a range cooker. but to get it in, would mean ripping out two cupboards, so we’re currently weighing up whether to do that (we probably will, but i’m worried about losing storage and what to replace the bottom corner unit with/how to replace it).

If you have any magic décor tips or styling advice to share that would be ace.

Modern Country Style

I suppose the best way to describe the ‘modern country’ look is a contemporary take on the traditional country style. This lends itself very well to a muted heritage palette but also allows for a hint of pastel and retro pattern to sneak in too.
Karen’s space has great proportions and will most definitely be the heart of the home. My own kitchen is dark so I’m hugely envious of the dual aspect windows letting lots of light in.

In my old house I acquired a dirty cream melamine kitchen so I painted all the doors with specialist cupboard paint and was thrilled with the makeover.
Many an RMS reader would also suggest using Annie Sloan paint too and it’s definitely a route to go down if you’re after more of a diverse palette. As Karen and Lee are fans of the natural shades, I’m tempted to suggest a colour such as ‘old white’ to keep the space light but not stark. Karen’s units are laminate to I know she’d be keen to hear about your experiences on painting a non-wooden surface.

Karen has a penchant for copper, so for a colour scheme I reckon off-white for the base, then accents of duck egg blue (for the pastel kick) and then a rich and sexy darker shade to offset some copper hints. Wouldn’t a couple of long copper light fittings (such as the Thor ones from Cox and Cox) look ace over the half island?
I like the mismatched approach of the main image in the mood board above so perhaps the unit and shelves around the fridge could be painted in a darker shade of grey or blue such as Annie Sloan’s Paris Grey.
One the other hand I also saw a really warm palette recently demonstrated in a copy of Ideal Home recently composed of dusky pink, pale grey and copper. I think a similar combination could work well in Karen’s kitchen too if the idea of dark blue doesn’t float your boat.

While we’re talking about paint I’d also suggest adding a few coats to the table or chair legs and also painting the interior of the window frames for a quintessential modern country look. Karen doesn’t necessarily have room for the rather large John Lewis table shown in the mood board above but there’s no reason not to steal the style.

Worktops & Flooring

I appreciate a good marble top (I’m also still a lover of concrete worktops too but they are proving to be a right pain in the bum round at my house) so I’d say for a modern country style it has to be a wooden counter top.
From a flooring perspective, slate or stone is also perfect for a more contemporary take on farmhouse style but can be cold on the tooties. An engineered wood floor (to withstand the sweeping and mopping) could work well in either a traditional wood finish or a lighter, limed finish.

Final elements

A deep butlers sink, simple tiling and open shelves stacked with crockery are all components of the modern country style, as are pots of herbs and a collection of rustic chopping boards.

Now it’s your turn! Any ideas you can share with Karen on how to decorate the space? How would you deal with the stove scenario? Any great suppliers you’d like to share for elements to get the new look? I’ve set up a Modern Country Pinterest board. If you fancy adding a few pins yourself then please drop me a link to your pinterest profile and I’ll ping along an invite. (You need to follow the board first for the invite to come through). Hopefully we can share a whole heap of collaborative ideas with the new homeowners.