Cheap Tuscan Kitchen Ideas | eHow

Paint is one of the most inexpensive ways to change a room's personality. Choose paint colors that reflect nature like the bronze of autumn leaves, the gray white of a dove's wing, sage green, and the red and orange found in a spectacular sunset. To achieve the appearance of the rough texture of stucco or plaster, use a painting technique like sponging or ragging or purchase paints that will give you the same look as well as a rough texture. Make the window and door trim pop with a bright color like grass green or geranium red.

Another inexpensive way to add Tuscan style to your kitchen is with fabric. Linen, cotton, and damask are often used for napkins, table linens and dish towels in Tuscan style d cor. Find them cheaply at flea markets and garage sales. Choose nature based colors in solids, stripes, and floral designs. Tuscan kitchen windows are often dressed with simple linen or more fragile lace curtains. Watch for white sales at your local department stores to snag them on the cheap or buy material and sew your own.

Tuscan furniture can reflect that found in a centuries old farmhouse; rustic and mismatched or, resemble the heavy, more formal pieces associated with an Italian villa with their wrought iron or copper accents and carved embellishments. Watch for scratch-and-dent sales at local furniture stores. Some also have a section devoted to furniture that has been damaged and you can pick it up at bargain prices. Cruise your neighborhood on garbage day. You might get lucky and find a worn wooden kitchen table, chairs with carved backs or a free-standing cupboard you can paint, distress or embellish for a Tuscan flair.

Copper pots and pans hanging above a kitchen island or range are quintessentially Tuscan. If copper cookware and expensive pot racks aren't in your budget, you can achieve the same look with the pots and pans you already have suspended from a DIY pot rack made from a vintage wrought iron gate or weathered wooden ladder. Add bunches of dried flowers to emulate those that might hang from the beams in a Tuscan kitchen. Visit your local donation center to find large colorful ceramic platters and rustic pottery to display on open shelves or countertops. Fill a basket with colorful vegetables to use as a focal point on your table. Scatter pottery containers filled with wild flowers around the room.