Hello sailor!

Bring the sunshine in with some amazing kitchenalia, such as nautical accessories, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER

SUMMER IS FINALLY here. Make your kitchen radiate the optimism of the season with a few clever face-lifting changes.Start by swapping your winter seating for something that feels fresher and lighter in terms of colour and texture. Zesty lime-green Harlequin dining chairs (€65 each) from Harvey Norman will add punch to any setting.

Bring the outdoors in by installing lots of greenery in the space. Start with potted plants. Ikea's ( ikea.ie) Abstract grey kitchen gets a seasonal lift from a Hyllis shelving unit (€10.16 each) populated with lots of plants in white pots. The brand's oval-shaped Aska builders (€5.07 each) are also great for creating an interior hanging garden. Decorate windowsills by planting herbs. Meadows Byrne has smart looking metal herb pot trios (€14.94).

Appliances in bold colours also help reflect the breeziness of summer. Guarantee sunshine in your kitchen 365 days of the year with a La Canche French oven available from Showtime (tel: 01-505 1020, sho.ie). Manufactured in Burgundy, where they've been making ranges for 200 years, the oven pictured (€5,200) has a five-burner hob and one fan-assisted oven. It comes in 21 basic colours but can be made to order in any RAL shade. See the collection at Blackrock Kitchens, Design House Dalkey, Fulton's in Belfast, Hanna Browne in Bangor, In-house Sallynoggin, John Colleran in Ennis, Coach House Kitchens in Cork and Abbeywood in Mallow.

You can also add colour with new countertops. Corian comes in myriad shades that will brighten even the darkest room. The sky-blue shade pictured lifts the look of a simple white kitchen. Corian is fabricated and fitted to order. Obre Fabrications (tel: 0404-69054, obre.ie) in Milltown industrial estate in Rathnew, Co Wicklow will retro-fit an existing kitchen with new Corian worktops.

A nautical theme will lift the look of any kitchen like a fresh gentle sea breeze. Fired Earth's (tel: 01-663 6160 firedearth.com) Moderne Kitchen, designed by Charlie Smallbone, features an island available in a variety of colours, but you can revamp your own island with several coats of their acrylic eggshell from Kevin McCloud's collection for the brand (€59).

Say "hello sailor" to nautical accessories. Decorate benches and seating with Strawbridge's (tel: 0404-40502, strawbridge.ie) feather-filled cushions (€42-€44) from the Cobble Cove collection.

After years of high-gloss and sludge-coloured painted styles, the cool monochrome of British Standard's by Plain English (tel: 0044 207 870 7688, britishstandardcupboards.com) feels fresh. The new diffusion range of kitchens (approximately €9,040) come readymade, but you have to come and pick up from their Suffolk base. The basic units come painted in Farrow Ball Broken White. The dark colour is Off Black.

The Victorian Kitchen Company (tel: 01-672 7000, victoriankitchencompany.ie) in Dublin has done something similar that is all handmade in Ireland. The design includes a Belfast-style sink, taps, soft close doors and drawers for an introductory price of €7,450. They can replicate the paint effect pictured. The price includes delivery and fitting anywhere in Ireland.

The right blinds can add sunshine even on grey days. Luxaflex ( luxaflex.com), the premium brand of Hunter Douglas, has a wide selection but these lemon yellow Sacette ones (from €260 for a blind measuring 60cm by 100cm) will brighten even a north-facing kitchen.

Free-standing objects will also help change the look and feel of the room. Kitchen dressers have made a comeback, says Christie Bird of Christie Bird Antiques (tel: 01-475 4049, christybird.com). He's selling more and more painted finished styles and can even revamp pieces for you by spray-painting them.

He suggests adding brightly coloured crockery to stop the dresser looking too traditional. Fluoro tableware, for example, would modernise even the most traditional style. He also reworks other freestanding items. A mahogany wash stand that looked tired and past its sell-by date was revitalised (€75) with a coating of off-white paint.

For something more unique head to The Store Yard (tel: 057-868 0088, thestoreyard.ie) in Portlaoise. They have lovely steamer trunks that would work as coffee tables in family areas, lots of traditional blue and white crockery. They also have a 19th-century Mongolian store cupboard that is gilded, painted and lacquered (€975, reduced from €1,300).

For interesting lighting and furniture check out Design Goat ( wearedesigngoat.com). The design duo of Cian Corcoran and Ahmad Fakhry punch above their weight in terms of the pieces they are producing. They are responsible for the gorgeous fit-out of Brother Hubbard, a cafe on Dublin's Capel Street. Its emerald powder-coated steel lighting and metal accents on dining tables and shelving are a soft and colourful way to work the industrial trend. The pieces can be made to order and are available to buy by contacting the pair on their website.

Savvy households have swapped bottled sparkling water for a Soda Stream. The Genesis in fire-engine red (€89) from Harvey Norman will make worktops fizz. It is one of the many products the chain sells in candy colours so that they can be decorative as well as functional. A Krups Nespresso Pixie, €149 comes in tomato red while a Magimix Nespresso comes in lime green options. And the humble kettle has been transformed into a worktop thing of beauty. Russell Hobbs’ Heritage, €59 and Kenwood KMix Boutique in sugar pinks and blues, €49, will appeal to lovers of colour.

You can also add vibrant personality with accessories. Stock Design (tel: 01-679 4317) on Dublin’s South King Street has some amazing kitchenalia, from ceramic cheese plates sporting summer Camembert labels (€45 each) to small individual plates with the same labels (€24.50 for a set of four) and sharp citrus-coloured herb grinders (€21.50).

Moss Cottage on Dundrum's main street (tel: 01-215 7696, mosscottage.ie) has Falcon enamelware that brings the picnic factor indoors. Colourful tools such as their retro scales (€24.95) will lift the look of countertops.