
The heart of everyone’s home is the kitchen. You can deck it out with fun plates, cups, appliances and furniture, but what about the accessories? Enter utensils. Everyone’s got a set of wooden spoons in their kitchen, but you might not know what a creative canvas they can be. Take a look at these 18 different ways to stylize your kitchen accessories, and then get to cookin’, good lookin’!
1. Double Dipped Spoons: Don’t just do the dip once… double dip it! Play with pastel colors to adorn each of your bamboo utensils, then add a white stripe to bring them all together. This confirms it: Double dipping is always a good choice. (via Like a Saturday)\
2. Dotted Kitchen Utensils: We love Sincerely, Kinsey’s take on these. Add a cute pattern and complementary colors to a set of cooking tools to give your kitchen a little kick of personality. (via Sincerely, Kinsey)
3. Patterned Serving Spoons: Stripes, chevron and criss-crossing, oh my! By taping patterns onto a set of serving spoons and painting the handles with cheerful colors, these bamboo spoons bring a ton of fun to cooking up something wonderful. (via We See Rainbows)
4. Ombre Wrapped Flatware: Serving utensils shouldn’t have all the fun. Bamboo flatware is fantastic for picnic lunches and BBQs, and adding ombre embroidery floss makes digging in so much more colorful. (via Confetti Pop)
5. Glittered Wooden Spoons: Embrace the sparkle and bring the glitz to your wooden spoons! Coat spoons in glue, then dip in glitter to mix some fierce glam into your kitchen. Cooking has never been so fabulous. (via Something Turquoise)
6. Geo Patterned Kitchen Tools: For a trendy patterned take on painting your kitchen accessories, turn to this tutorial on Free People’s blog. Bring a theme into play by decorating a cutting board as well, and enjoy the cool aesthetic this will bring into all of your food prep. (via Free People Blog)
7. Painted Wooden Utensils: Got some artistic flair? Nous Decor took a more detailed approach to painting kitchen tools and grouped them by using navy and natural wood texture as a color scheme. What a lovely way to cook! (via Nous Decor)
8. Neon Wooden Utensils: If you’re in need of some serious color to interact with your cookery, get some paint and make these neon-dipped utensils! With colors this fun, we can totally see the kiddos getting involved in meal prep, too. (via Sarah Hearts)
9. Ombre Painted Utensils: Ombre is an of- the-moment DIY staple, and this tutorial manages to bring the gradated touch to kitchen tools. Unify mismatched spoons with a common color palette, or bring some quirkiness to a set with a different gradient for each tool. (via Everything Etsy)
10. Washi Tape + Paint Utensils: We love washi tape, and so will your cookery! Enhance utensils with paint, then add washi tape in fun patterns to make meal prep time a little more whimsical. (via Just Us Four)
11. Rainbow Painted Wooden Spoons: Choosing a color or color family can be hard. After all, there are so many great ones to choose from! Embrace the indecision and take on this tutorial to bring all the colors of the wind into your kitchen. (via Little Bit Funky)
12. Wood Burned Kitchen Utensils: If painting isn’t your scene, consider taking on these wood burned utensils! Take note of each tool’s purpose by burning it into the handle, and never confuse your spatula with your serving spoon again. (via Cherished Bliss)
13. Etched Wooden Spoons: Add designs to wooden spoons by etching them in. These have some serious style and would add an effortlessly cool vibe to any kitchen. The herringbone is really a stunner! (via Design Mom)
14. Stamped Wooden Utensils: Got metal stamps? Then you’ve got what you need to make these sweet stamped utensils. The pictured tools were stamped with Thanksgiving in mind, but we could totally see words like savory, sweet, flaky and gooey as a delicious embossed additions to your chef accessories. (via The Idea Room)
15. Nail Polish Utensils: Even without paint, you can still change up your utensils using nail polish. Consider using metallic or glitter polish to get a completely different look. (via Brit + Co)
16. Painted Chopsticks: Spoons shouldn’t have all the fun, right? Open up the take-out drawer and jazz up some chopsticks! (via Jade and Fern)
17. Jute-Wrapped Utensils: Maybe painting, etching, stamping or wood burning aren’t for you. Or, perhaps you’re just looking for a frugal way to add a little life to your utensils. Try crafting these jute-wrapped kitchen tools for a cute (+ cheap) DIY that’s begging for a spot in any rustic digs. (via Uncommon Designs)
18. Color-blocked Wooden Spoons: These were painted with a perfect color scheme and pay homage to our fave site, Brit + Co… obvi! (via Craftiness Is Not Optional)
Got your own take on revamping wooden utensils? Share it with us in the comments below.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
You X Ventures for Unsplash
Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
Kobu Agency for Unsplash
You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures