Keep Your Kitchen Clean! Top Food Prep Surfaces Every Mom Needs

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{This is a collaborative post}

Keeping your kitchen clean isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about creating a safe, efficient space for your family. From messy meal prep to accidental spills, your kitchen surfaces bear the brunt of daily use.

Choosing the right materials can make all the difference in managing cleanliness and food safety. Let’s dive into the top food prep surfaces every mum needs to keep the heart of her home spotless and practical.

Acrylic Sheets: A Modern Must-Have

Acrylic sheets are a game-changer for mums looking to balance style and functionality. They’re lightweight, durable, and incredibly easy to clean, making them ideal for kitchen backsplashes and countertops.

Their non-porous surface ensures they don’t harbour bacteria or stains, unlike some traditional materials. Whether it’s wiping up spills or disinfecting after food prep, acrylic sheets simplify your cleaning routine.

Available in various colours and finishes, they allow you to customise your kitchen’s look without sacrificing practicality. If you’re considering a high-quality option, Simply Plastics is known for offering durable acrylic sheets that blend form and function perfectly.

Incorporating them into your kitchen can significantly elevate your space while keeping it easy to maintain.

Granite: Timeless Durability

Granite has long been a favourite for its natural beauty and resilience. This robust material stands up well to heat and heavy use, making it ideal for busy family kitchens. While it’s durable, regular sealing is necessary to keep its surface hygienic and resistant to stains. With proper care, granite can last a lifetime, maintaining its charm and functionality.

Tapping Into the Industrial Revolution: Reinventing Your Home

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{This is a collaborative post}

Get acquainted with the industrial home design trend, its raw beauty is waiting to be unlocked by you! Reviving earthy foundations from yesteryear with sleek sophistication for today's homeowner is what the industrial aesthetic is about. So now is the time to strip back layers of traditional home design to uncover those cool yet edgy vibes of industrial aesthetics, not just as an aesthetic choice, but as a powerful statement about strength, character, and authentic living!

The Blueprint of Industrial Chic

Industrial design celebrates the raw beauty of materials that are typically hidden away. Exposed brick walls, visible ductwork, and concrete floors that have long been considered undesirable are now welcomed features in any work-live loft space. Together, they contribute to creating an atmosphere that's both stylish and practical, mixing raw materials with contemporary fixtures and fittings that balance rough with sleek.

Materials Matter for Industrial Style

At the core of industrial chic lies its material palette - wrought iron, raw steel, and untreated wood - which creates an unrefined elegance in any space, echoing architectural history from old factories and warehouses. You can incorporate industrial style elements into your home through simple choices like opting for sleek steel kitchen islands or bolder ones such as installing sliding barn doors. Each choice nods towards this period while keeping a firm footing in contemporary design.

 

Lighting the Way: Illuminating with an Industrial Glow

Lighting plays an integral part in setting an industrial mood. Vintage pendant lamps, Edison bulb fixtures, and floor lamps with metal finishes not only illuminate but also contribute to creating an inviting ambience by emphasising old-world charm mixed with contemporary living. Choose pieces with metalwork details that capture this aesthetic for maximum industrial spirit!

 

A Fusion of Form and Function

Industrial design philosophy embraces an orderly space where each piece serves a specific function. Here, minimalism marries functionality to enhance decor choices. Open shelving units showcasing kitchenware, books or collectables can add visual interest while maintaining its utilitarian ethos while remaining true to industrial aesthetics. To balance the raw, utilitarian feel, many designers incorporate bold artwork for larger spaces, creating a striking contrast that adds personality without compromising the clean, functional layout.

 

Pipe Shelves: The Quintessence of Industrial Flair

Pipe shelves encapsulate the true spirit of industrial style, merging functionality and aesthetic appeal seamlessly. Crafted from metal piping and repurposed wood planks, these shelves serve as dynamic focal points while simultaneously offering sturdy storage solutions. Their modular nature enables creativity when placing or arranging these shelves, whether as one statement shelf or part of an entire wall ensemble. Pipe shelves not only pay tribute to engineering feats from yesteryear but also bring raw, open-concept qualities into any space - perfectly complementing industrial chic ideals while also showcasing anything from kitchen spices to classic books on display!

 

Soften the Edges

Incorporating soft furnishings and greenery can soften the industrial aesthetic, keeping it from appearing too cold. Think plush rugs, soft throws and indoor plants which add colour, texture and life into an otherwise metallic backdrop. Having both hard and soft elements present ensures your industrial-inspired home remains welcoming and comfortable for everyone visiting it.

 

The Industrial Revolution of Home Design

Industrial design is more than a passing trend - it is a timeless style that celebrates form and function in harmony, old and new, encouraging homeowners to rethink conventional design practices while finding beauty in both raw and refined elements. When approaching this trend in home renovation or piecemeal renovation projects, success hinges on finding balance between rugged industrial charm and sleek contemporary accents. Your only limitation in seeking industrial chic can only ever be your own imagination!

Designing my Dream Kitchen.... One Day!

Image Credit: Custom Kitchen Design from Shutterstock

I've got to a point in life where I really am very content. I've achieved the things I want and now I am content to follow God's will and see where He leads me. Right now that means I am down in East Sussex volunteering, mothering and supporting my husband in his work.  In the future who knows...

But if I am really honest there is one thing that I am a little sad I'll probably never get to do and that is design my own super stylish kitchen. My husband and I bought our first house in 1997 and we changed the old-fashioned brown tiles to a mix of bright and cheerful ones but that was about it as eighteen months later we were moving into a house that came with our work and we knew we'd only be there short-term so no point in doing any more than a lick of paint. The next place we bought was a brand new flat where we got to choose the tiles, worktops, cupboards etc which was nice but it was only a small place and I wasn't that excited.

Then in 2002, we moved into our forever home. My husband and I could see ourselves living in this house for the rest of our lives. It might only have had three bedrooms but we quickly converted the garage into another room which became JJ's bedroom and the plan was always to put an extension on the back and to knock the kitchen and dining room into the extension so there was a large, open-plan and very light space that I could pour my heart into and design.

I had the vision of how it would look, a light kitchen probably with simple shaker style kitchen units, a large island where I could cook and prepare the food whilst the kids sat up on high chairs on the other side and did their homework or some drawing. We'd have one of those enormous American style fridges with a water decanter on the front and all the white goods would either be built-in or hidden away in the utility room at the back.

The kitchen would open straight into the dining area which would be able to seat eight or ten so we could happily have guests around and then a comfy sofa and TV would encourage the kids to relax close by so that our lounge could remain an adult sanctuary to be enjoyed in the evening. I remember costing and planning it all out one evening and discovered that to achieve what I desired we would need around fifty-thousand pounds, that was a big wake-up call and the project quickly became just a dream. What I should have done is have a look at Kitchen Warehouse for an affordable solution.

Kitchen inspiration required - share your ideas

As you know I've moved house and I'm super pleased with our 18th century stone cottage, it is really beautiful and has so much potential.

The kitchen is pretty big, bigger than we had before and I choose to have it painted a soft green, which I like. The cupboards are cream shaker style and we have mock wood work surfaces, it is not a designer kitchen but it is nice and has lots of potential. For how big it is, it actually lacks storage space (which is a shame) and the white goods look a bit of a mess in my opinion but I love the fact I have enough space for a small table for the kids to have breakfast/ do homework at and I'm enjoying sitting here with the radio on and my laptop open during the school day.

But I need your help to know what I should do with this kitchen. Excuse the mess in the photos, that will obviously get cleared up but I need some inspiration - what sort of colours for accessories shall I go with? What should I put on the walls, especially above the cooker?

Help me with a scheme for the kitchen please. I'd really love to hear your opinions.

Take a look what I have to work with -

View from the door into the kitchen, looking to the right

View from the door, looking straight ahead

To the right, sort of a utility corner

To the left again

Go on then, what can I do?

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