Chili Pepper Kitchen Decorating Themes

Southwestern Style

• You can't think of chili peppers without thinking of their native region: Southwestern and Central America. Mexican and Spanish-inspired Southwestern decor draws largely from natural materials like rustic wood, weathered leather, earthy clay and wrought iron. Choose your palette from desert colors like rich reddish-browns, sandy yellow, turqouise and burnt orange. You might enhance your kitchen with an arched entryway, a Spanish style tiled mosaic backsplash, a terracotta tile floor and Mexican pottery. Add a dried chili pepper garland hanging from the ceiling, or put a chili pepper wreath on the wall.

Hot and Spicy

• You don't have to take the chili pepper so literally in your decorating scheme. Let the intensity of the chili pepper be the foundation upon which you build your dream kitchen. Contrast black, sleek granite countertops, polished black cabinets and appliances on stark white walls by throwing in splashes of the bold red into the decor to draw attention: a red vase, tablecloth or overhead lampshade. Instead of typical houseplants, place a chili pepper plant in the window. Line floating, polished black shelves with jars of pickled and preserved peppers and flavored salsas.

Garden Theme

• If you love growing peppers to cook with, bring that passion into the kitchen. Paint your kitchen a light and airy color, like lemon yellow with clean white accents and cabinets. Raid the garden store for kitchen decor: flower pots to hold utensils or a rake head to hang upside-down as hooks for your spatulas and cooking spoons. Slice a chili down the center vertically, and you have your own "rubber stamp" supplied by nature. Dip the cut side of the chili into paint, and press it onto the wall to create a border or an accent wall. Find a charming old metal colander, spray paint it white and fill it with peppers, garlic and fresh herbs for a table centerpiece.

Chili Pepper Merchandise

• If you're not capable of changing your cabinets, counters, floors or appliances, you can still redecorate your kitchen in a chili pepper style just by adding accessories. The love of the chili pepper has inspired many different kitchen decor items imprinted with the cute capsicum. Buy a chili pepper clock, hang chili pepper plates or serving trays on the wall and get chili pepper cookie jars to display on the counter. Drape your table with a cloth featuring peppers, or buy baking dishes shaped like peppers.