#Guide to Creating a Country Kitchen

Down Home

If you want your kitchen to say country, you'll probably need to reinvent a few things in the space. That's sort of a requirement for the style meant to embody warmth and nostalgia, says Kathy Hoffman, an interior designer who works from Michigan with the Chicago-based Susan Fredman Design Group.

In other words, Formica's out and distressed wood salvaged from an old farmhouse is in. You can use it to create a great kitchen table or island and shelves. For lighting, there's probably an artist out there somewhere who can fashion a chandelier out of twigs, suggests Lori Dennis of Dennis Design Group, Los Angeles.

You can't go wrong with roosters, ducks or geese at a country home. But no need to have them squawking in the backyard. For a style that also brings nature indoors, look for them glazed on platters or painted on coffee mugs. Then display them on wooden shelves coated in milk-paint.

Organic is key, says Dennis, "When I think of country, I think of Americana. It's a design that is comfortable and natural looking."