What The Cozy Aesthetic Has Become

This apartment kitchen is on the top floor of a building dating back to the early 20th century.

I saw it here, but could not locate where the actual source is from.

A Simple Renovated Kitchen:

The kitchen was renovated in 2021 using IKEA Bodbyn cabinets in a dark green shade. As you can see it has wood counter tops and green upper cabinets.

All in all, it is a small kitchen.

What appeals to me most in this photo is the eat-in kitchen, which went out of favor some years ago.

I grew up eating in this type of kitchen. There was no walking back and forth carrying food to a formal dining room.

There is a simple round table and two chairs with a candle glowing and a bouquet to the side.

The table is obviously near a window, where natural light streams in as tea or coffee is served, and a new day is about to begin. There is an apron hanging informally on a hook.

I would take a kitchen like this over any large open area living and dining space.

It is cozy.

“Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage.” – Thomas Kinkade

Cozy In Las Vegas:

This living room, situated in a home 50 square feet smaller than my own apartment, looks so inviting. The candles in the fireplace are enchanting.

The two windows are set quite high. I imagine so as not to bring attention to this, the window treatments are simple and sweet.

The desk and bookshelves are part of the same home. It is a cozy little home in Las Vegas.

When you get a glimpse of bookshelves like this just filled to the brim, you get an idea of what personality type lives here. I think books tell a lot about a person.

The desk and chair sit in front of a large window. The perfect spot to work and see the scenery at the same time.

The mirror is a way to make the room appear larger than it actually is. An old trick decorators have used for ages.

Reflecting what is in the room does in fact seem to enlarge a space.

Another Example Of A Green Kitchen:

You probably won’t believe me when I say I was not intentionally looking for green kitchens.

This home is where the bloggers who write Lobster And Swan reside. And this is their kitchen renovation.

Let me mention this twice. THIS is their kitchen renovation. Not the before version.

You don’t see stainless steel appliances. Or fancy granite counter tops. You see wood, which brings an element of warmth into a room.

Here is a larger view of this renovated kitchen. And as with the photo at the top, you see that it is another eat-in kitchen.

This journal/blog belongs to a couple living on the coast in East Sussex.

So far we have jumped from the home of a resident in Las Vegas to a couple living in East Sussex. However the kitchen’s intentions, if you can call it that, are quite similar.

The kitchen is the room in which meals are prepared and eaten. These kitchens are not elaborate or shiny with baubles.

No, they serve a purpose, and that is to cook and feed those who live there. Not to simply impress.

Rooms are for the most part meant to be utilitarian. Usefulness versus ornamentation.

Open Kitchen Cabinets:

As I rent an apartment, I can’t do a lot of renovating. I have to live with what is there and work with it the best I can.

Take my open kitchen cabinets. One of the first things I did when I moved here was take off two upper kitchen cabinet doors.

At first, it looked like this:

These two photos are very similar and taken from the same angle.

One difference is that my black microwave died. And a white one replaced it.

And now it looks like this, a recent development I might add.

I have switched out the two red salt and pepper shakers for simple glass S&P shakers I ordered from Amazon. They were under $7.

Coffee Bar Area Before:

Coffee Bar Area Now:

This is the same piece of furniture, needing a bit of a paint touch up.

The red lamp broke, and so I ordered this Mother of pearl lamp from Target.

I gave the red mini Keurig to Kendra and got the mint green Keurig above, which is much more muted in color.

Janet Hill Paintings:

I switched one Janet Hill painting with another Janet Hill painting. I’ve had them both for years.

I took what was on the other wall down and replaced it with two smaller pieces of wall decor.

Little changes that I think make a big difference. I still love my red decor and dishes. They are just spending some time being stored in my useless dishwasher!

The dishwasher motor is going out, and the sound scares Ivy. And not much scares Ivy.

I’d rather wash my dishes. I’ve always gotten a lot of thinking done while washing dishes, as a matter of fact.

In conclusion, I showed you these various photos to make a statement. Many strive for the biggest and the best and the most expensive.

But we can be just as happy with the smallest and the less shiny and the cheapest.

It really doesn’t matter which style you choose. Because it’s not so much the decor as it is a state of mind.

Cottage Core & Hygge:

Cozy is just a word that has become popular. Think of the “cottage core” style of decorating. Kind of like Grandma’s kitchen.

And then there’s “hygge” decorating in Danish culture.

Realtors have used the word “cozy” in their advertisements when they in fact don’t want to say small.

Cozy in today’s decorating almost seems like a new phenomenon. A truly “new” aesthetic.

Well, it isn’t, of course. The word has just been in storage. Much like my red and white dishes in the dishwasher.

The style is just seeing a resurgence in popularity.

And this is what the cozy aesthetic in decorating has become over recent years. It is a feeling of well-being and comfort.

Think of it as a soft place to land.