It’s often said that the kitchen is the hub and heart of the home. What they don’t tell you is that it needs your decorative attention, immediately.

The kitchen is a space we use every day, but we tend to neglect it on the style front. Here are five rookie decorating mistakes you’re making in this zone and how you can correct your wicked ways.

Your tea towels are sad

Tea towels were once considered a necessary evil because you needed them on standby, but oh my did they look horrible.

Times have changed, though, and tea towels are now decked out with designs that allow you to add a tonne of personality to your kitchen.

They also introduce some much-needed softness to the space. And in a room that’s considered quite hard in terms of the materials it houses, this is a welcome burst of fabric.

There are many tea towel designs on the market at the moment, but I love personalised ones like this from Make Me Iconic.

Your bench top styling has gone AWOL

While the kitchen is a space you definitely don’t want cluttered, your bench top is allowed to be dotted with a little decor.

If you’re lucky enough to have an island, this is prime styling real estate. But even if you’re working with a more modest footprint in your kitchen, it still needs to be decorated.

If you can merge form and function here, you’re onto a winner. A decorative fruit bowl is a nice idea, but you can go well beyond that. A stack of cookbooks, a set of scales, and some stylish salt and pepper grinders are also suitable.

If you want to keep the look simplistic, nothing makes a statement like a great whopping vase of flowers. A bright pink bunch of lilies will do the trick.

Your pantry is a dog’s brekkie

Nobody tends to think about styling the inside of their cupboard, but let me assure you – this area is made for getting creative in.

Sure, guests aren’t exactly coming over to inspect your decorative kitchen cupboard skills, but having a well-organised pantry does look amazing (and it functions even better for you day-to-day too!).

Having glass jars, canisters, cubes and even a lazy Susan (we love Susan) in your pantry not only allows you to see everything and have it within easy reach, but it also makes the inside of your cupboard look stylish and sorted.

From paper towel holders to tiered step shelves, food wrap racks and beyond, this zone definitely deserves your attention. So start thinking of ways to make it amazing.

Your kitchen appliances are lacklustre

We’re often hardest on those we love, and the same goes for your kitchen appliances. The kettle and toaster are a duo we tend to use every day, and yet it’s probably been years since you’ve updated them.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on appliances, but it is worth thinking about them stylistically instead of just functionally – and considering how their colour, shape and design will impact the overall look of your kitchen.

There are some wonderfully modern (and colourful!) appliances on the market now that really allow you to make a statement. Tie the colour of your appliances in with the other accessories you put in your kitchen and you’ll have created a zone that makes visual sense.

Your cleaning products aren’t sexy

Bringing sexy back in the kitchen starts with your cleaning products. Not all of us adore cracking out the elbow grease, but you’ll be amazed at how motivational a good-looking cleaning kitty can be.

Spray bottles are just the beginning (but they too need to be packaged well and have divine labelling). Beyond that you need beautiful scrubbing brushes, cute cloths, a stylish holder for your scrubber and a hand soap dispenser that oozes style and sophistication.

Anything less is going to make you dread cleaning. And we already dread it enough, don’t you think?