My Secrets to Create a Boho Kitchen

What makes a boho kitchen?  

First of all....defining boho, bohemian....it's an unconventional artistic lifestyle.  It's all about being yourself without following the crowd.  It's expressive and not at all a copy cat of a showroom where all the accessories are new and trendy. 

It can be rustic, colorful or natural with subtle tones.

So...if you're still curious,  I want to show you how I created my own boho kitchen. It all started in 2018...the year we bought a good bones house on 10 acres. Although perfectly livable, the house itself needed updating, especially since this was going to be our home for the foreseeable future. The kitchen was quite outdated and although it technically could have been labeled as bohemian....it was far from my visions of my dream bohemian kitchen. 

So...here we go.  Now, first of all, you have to know I am completely self taught in the home decor field.  And this was our first time to completely manage a project like this, from top to bottom, on our own. We ended up taking out almost everything for this DIY project!  I would say our remodel was fairly simple with all of the normal choices for a kitchen.  We didn't get exotic with any choices but I'd say we ended up with a cool little space that we really love being in. 

One of the biggest decisions was deciding to add new cabinetry. At first I thought that we could use the existing cabinetry...and we could have.  But it wasn't functional and I knew that for longevity and ease of use we would want new kitchen cabinets.  We ended up ordering our cabinetry from Cabinet Kings. 

This may not be for everyone.  It requires measuring, designing the kitchen and installing the cabinets (unless you hire someone to do that.)  It worked very well for us and I am very pleased with my cabinetry. 

I also created a mood board...I HIGHLY recommend this!  It helps you to see what you love in a space.  It also will help you with colors and decor.  You can find images in magazines and also on Pinterest to help you discover what you envision your boho kitchen to be like.  I wanted a physical mood board so I put all of my images on poster board.  You could also do just a virtual board online using a tool like Pinterest. My mood board also included other parts of the home but you can decide if you want to specifically focus on a kitchen mood board if you're only redecorating/remodeling that area. 

 Your kitchen won't be a replication of your mood board but it will inspire you and keep you mindful of color choices, etc. 

 I think the tile selection is a big decision in any space.  I chose my tile first and then based my other choices around that.  I ended up choosing two different tiles for my kitchen.  Remember that word that describes boho - "unconventional" ...yes that's right!  I chose one tile for the sink wall and another for the stove wall.

Both boho tile selections came from Wayfair.  I chose Arquivo for the tile behind the stove.  It has a slight nod to Southwest style that I'm quite passionate about and it's also in my favorite color, green. 

For the sink wall, I chose a rustic tile called Rama that appears to be wood.  

This isn't the best photo , it doesn't show the color well, but you can see how I put the two different tiles together in this space.  Honestly....the colors aren't a perfect match, but after everything was styled and I had it up...I was more than happy with it together.  I really really like having the two looks!  

For countertops....I chose wood and stained them dark.  I love the look and marble just wasn't in the budget.  So far they have held up well but I will say that I am careful with them.  

There was a bit of shelving in the kitchen already that we were able to utilize.  I had intended for them to stay the original stained wood color but the painter made a mistake and painted them.  I'm thinking I will eventually stain them again but for now they are just fine.  

One of the things I LOVE is the fact that we were able to tear out the ceiling and expose the rafters.  It's exactly what I have wanted for years!!  It was brown unstained wood underneath and tossed back and forth on whether to go light or dark with the color.  I settled on doing a white wash to keep things bright.  I love it but I think I would have loved a dark ceiling as well....I really like a rustic slightly moody vibe. Originally I tried to do the ceiling myself with a dry brushing effect because I didn't want it just solid white...I wanted it to have an aged feel to it.

But that was taking f o r e v e r.... so our contractor was able to water down his paint in the sprayer and give it a look that I'm really happy with.  

Something I've also always wanted in my kitchen was a stained glass window! 

I really wasn't sure that it was something that it was something that was possible for us....but you know how the universe sends surprises. When we moved to this property...I didn't know there was a stained glass importer just down the road.  They happen to have stained glass of all sizes and price points.  I wasn't sure that we could afford to purchase one but my sweet hubby suggested we go take a look.  To my surprise, there was one that would fit exactly what we needed.   It was priced well at just $150 and it was the right size to place next to the window that was already in place.  Our contractor opened the wall for the window addition.  What a difference it made to open the space and bring in even more light.  I gave up extra cabinetry but I was more than ok with that!  

Now...you might say it's upside down (and rightfully so) because the heart is upside down but I needed to see through the part of the window on the bottom so I could see out.  For me it works just fine like this and it seems that it could really be placed either way. 

I keep thinking that maybe that upside down heart is symbolic...that things can be different than originally perceived...and a reminder of being open minded to receive things with an open heart.

I continued to hunt for items for our new space as time went on. We wanted an island that we could modify.  I happened to find the perfect piece that was originally a dresser with a mirror.  The size and height was perfect.  At some point we will probably add a top to it and also dress the outer side either with metal or different wood accent. (the kitchen isn't even clean here, the crockpot is out on the counter...but you get the real view here!)

 The lighting over the island is upcycled lighting made out of tractor discs.  I had gotten these at Roundtop, Texas years ago and finally had the perfect place to use them.  We added large round Edison bulbs for a vintage vibe and also hung them at different heights for interest.  (there are two bulbs shown here that we still need to add lighting too but I've been waiting for the right vintage ones to show up!)

I left the flooring as it was...I didn't want to refinish it...I wanted it to have a bit of an aged look to it.  If anything I would have painted it dark but decided to keep it as it was and it was a lot easier on the budget!

There were a lot of little details put into this heart of the home but these are the highlighted ones.  I'll be getting a blog post ready on the decor and the vintage/new combo of items I've used to decorate with. As you probably already know...accessories are everything! 

Below is a "board" of the "BEFORE" photos!  Soon I hope to get really good photos of the space with everything in it's place properly but these are photos that have been building up on my phone memory for a while now.  

I hope you've enjoyed the tour...would love your feedback!