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Questo articolo è in italiano e in inglese (you can read the English article down below).

La cucina country è nel cuore della maggioranza delle persone che amano i mobili classici, antichi, rustici e che cercano di aggiungere calore al luogo più importante della casa. La cucina è infatti il centro della casa perchè la famiglia si riunisce per chiacchierare, cucinare, prendere un caffè...

Per avere una cucina rustica (country), ci sono alcuni ingredienti che aiutano a ricrearne una: il legno, le forme, gli accessori, l'ambiente, i colori.

The article below is in English. You can read the Italian intro above.

Country Kitchens
Many people today are in love with country kitchens. That's because the country style is warm and cozy. It reminds us of grandma's pie and it is homey and elegant. A country kitchen, in fact, makes you feel welcome and it's always the heart of the house.

The secrets for a country style kitchen are just a bunch of ingredients: wood, shapes, accessories, colours.

Country kitchens go back to old styles and traditions. I would say there are two types of rustic kitchens: the country kitchen and the country style kitchen.
The first ones are all-wood modular separated pieces, just like the old kitchens were. They are arranged in a sort of messy but extremely pleasant way. The fridges are hidden into cabinets that look like an ice-house. The stove is a separate block similar to granny's wood stove, the pantry is an old style cabinet, often with curtains.
The country style kitchens instead, even if they are technically modular, they look like a whole block.
They are partially in wood (chestnut, cherry-wood) or decapé in cream, white, sage or light blue colours (pastel tones anyway)..
They can also be built in (see my article on these types of kitchens).

Rustic kitchens might look old but they are technologically advanced. The draws slip open and close with no effort (you can use a finger to do it), the kitchen appliances are generally the best Europeans brands; the sinks are often in ceramic or, even better, in stone. You do find the metal type, but only in the Country Style modular kitchens. I would recommend to avoid these as they scratch easily and you have to keep on polishing them if you want them to look decent. Stone is the best choice, ceramic the second choice.

You can find rustic elements in real country and country style kitchens: cupboards and dish racks with nicely exposed crockery are combined with wooden tables and straw-bottomed chairs.

Some of the ingredients
Shapes: traditional style, rustic look, soft lines.
Elements: rooms cheered up by a burning fire or traditional stoves (there are many companies producing stoves that work with and/or without wood and have the same antique look); old traditional objects as decorations (old radios, copper items, cane baskets, dry flowers, hand painted plates, old clocks, laces, coffee grinder, jugs, etc.); curtains to close the niches, wooden doors, cupboards and dish racks, straw-bottomed chairs, timber beams, nice colourful tiles or earth tones monochromatic and textured tiles; metal handles (iron, bronze or brass); decape, built in or all-wood kitchens with ceramic, marble, granite or stone bench.
Colour: Country kitchens are great in warm rooms (earth tones from creamy colors to reds); but white wall contrasting with dark wood are just superb. For a Mediterranean look white wall and blue decapé wood is ideal. A warm atmosphere is also acquired with wood beams, red brick, cotto floor, parquet floor boards, or stone floor tiles.

Styles: For a Provincial style just choose bicolor decapé or painted wood kitchens: a light creamy base, for example and dark olive green accents around the frames of the doors. A Shabby Chic (r) style kitchen would have to be all white with a fair floorboard floor.

Si ringraziano i rispettivi produttori (Osio Mobli, Opificio Italiano, Scavolini, Vescovi Lamberto, Mobilificio d'arte Marchetti).