How to Decorate a Kitchen in Havana Style

Cool Havana Mornings

• 1

  Start your decorating project by attending to floors and walls. Achieve an authentic Cuban look on your floor using materials replicating indigenous Cuban minerals like cool terrazzo, marble, slate and terracotta. Use this lime-wash scrubbing technique to achieve an exotic wall texture found in homes throughout Cuba: Apply blue and white paint and allow each layer to dry thoroughly. Soak a rag in mineral spirits, also called white spirit, and randomly rub the wall down to replicate years of weathering found in Cuban homes as a result of aging plaster.

• 2

  Select and install muted lemonade-colored or hot yellow backsplashes to visually expand the smallest kitchen and give the room an airy, tropical feel found in Havana kitchens. Opt for yellow countertops to bring more of this popular color into your decorating scheme and choose cabinets in white or sand to balance the yellow touches. A dining area made up of a distressed table and chairs with cane backs and woven straw seats will add to the kitchen's charm.

• 3

  Search for retro appliances if you're seeking an authentic look. Appliances from the 1950s remain on the island thanks to the nation's fixation with repairing and restoring vintage appliances. Since turquoise, peach and yellow were popular appliance colors during this era, you can find reproductions in these colors if originals can't be tracked down. A troth sink and a distressed table and chair set complete the look. Vintage posters recalling Havana's beaches, fishing boats and flowers add a nice touch, as does a tropical palm tree.

Hot Havana Nights

• 4

  Choose a warmer color palette for your Havana kitchen if blue isn't for you and your vision of Havana has a warmer, hotter color palette. Start with neutral, whitewashed walls. You can use the lime-wash technique described in Section 1, eliminating the blue paint. Track down Cuban tiles in colorful terracotta, reds, yellows and blacks -- reminders of the island's centuries' old tile-making tradition.

• 5

  Pick one color from your floor pattern for your back splashes and counter tops. You can't go wrong alternating yellow and red tiles on areas that make up your back splashes, but if you've fallen in love with red or yellow lacquered kitchen cabinets, you may wish to stick to a white Cuban tile back splash. The goal is to mix and match vibrant colors in the tradition of a typical Havana kitchen, but don't add so many competing elements your kitchen looks cluttered.

• 6

  Discover the world of vintage posters depicting Havana culture if you need a single decorative accessory to complete the room. These graphics depict open-air cafés and market scenes exploding with color. Install white retro appliances and sink if you've already flooded the room with color on your back splashes, cabinets and tile floor. Add a live palm tree to complete your Havana kitchen.