August 5th, 2016 12:03 PM by Nelson Aybar
Once you’ve moved into your new apartment in New York City, the thought of decorating it might be a bit overwhelming. How do you create a space that reflects “you” but doesn’t leave your bank account dry? How do you bring life and laughter to your kitchen and ensure it’s a space that invites hours of conversations? Because kitchens seem to be the most challenging space to decorate, we turned to Ada Gonzalez of Ada’s Interior Design based in New York City for her insight and advice.
Photo courtesy of Ada’s Interior Designs.
An interior designer since 2005, Ada launched her own firm in 2006. With her motto being, “Economical is Elegant,” Ada understands the importance of the costs around decorating being reasonable while still creating the space you want. Her maxim when decorating a kitchen is, “maximized beauty and functionality,”.
She goes on to say, “Aim to hardly have any items on your countertop thereby maximizing your counter space for (function) prepping food and beauty (no cluttered look). Also, find creative ways to store item when items no longer fit in cabinets,”. To do so, Ada suggests using:
Floating shelves,
Wall hooks
Pot & pan racks
Drawer organizers
Shelf double decker organizers
And while being organized is a goal, it isn’t the only goal in kitchen decor. To up the ante, Ada says to “Add wow fun elements to your kitchen design like an unexpected paint color on just one area, or fun door handles, or a huge wall decal (decals are flat, just like paint so they take up no room yet fill up a space so beautifully). Decorating with unexpected fun elements takes away from the ‘‘Wow, this is a small kitchen’, and invokes a ‘Wow, this is so beautifully creative,’”.
Kitchen design and photo by Ada’s Interior Design
Ada goes on to say, “Most kitchens can get a quick, beautiful upgrade by changing wall paint colors, decluttering creatively, and adding window treatments that beautify the space. My favorite economical add-on to kitchens that have plain backsplash is applying peel-and-stick mosaic tiles. Yes, you simply peel-and-stick these tiles to look like beautiful backsplash tiles,”.
A backsplash that Ada’s contractor installed in a small kitchen. Photo courtesy of Ada’s Interior Designs.
Ada’s blog gives step-by-step instructions on how to recreate the peel-and-stick backsplash look in your own apartment, along with four stores where you can buy the adhesive.
Since the kitchen is one of the most-used spaces in a home, Ada suggests having “elements that make you smile. Maybe even create (DIY!) your own decorative elements,”.
Ada achieved that in the photo below by creating leather pulls for the drawers by braiding strips of leather together, and all the steps are explained on her blog.
When Ada isn’t consulting on how to beautify kitchens or other spaces in an apartment, she keeps busy with her eDesign service. Ada’s eDesign allows her to create an economical design plan for clients within two weeks who send her the measurements of their spaces and fill out a “get to know you” form.
If the kitchen still seems too overwhelming to tackle, perhaps consider reaching out to Ada to see what ideas she has to transform your space. Since home is where the heart is, you want yours to be as warm and inviting as you are.