5 Tips For Creating The Perfect Country Style Kitchen - House Digest

Authentic country kitchens were usually graced with either a large island or farmhouse table as a spot to perform food-related tasks, take meals, and gather together, per Ideal Home. The outlet advises filling the space with an oversized piece for outsized charm if possible, noting that there must be at least 36 inches of clearance around it to maintain easy traffic flow. Islands that accommodate stools offer additional seating and an invitation to keep the cook company. Those topped with soapstone or marble and finished with furniture style details like corbels and turned legs will add a refined element. Tin and butcher block tops are more rustic. A salvaged shopkeep counter or aged farmhouse table adds bona fide country charm.

Of course, these furnishings provide plenty of function in addition to their aesthetics, and that's precisely why they have endured. Islands offer storage, appliance placement, seating, and counter space, among other advantages, while a big table caters to food prep, homework, crafting, and family time. Add humble fabrics and classic patterns — cotton and linen, ginghams, and ticking — with a table cloth, placemats, or chair cushions. However you decorate it, a farmhouse table is the symbol of a warm and welcoming home.