The kitchen is important because it's the heart of the home. It's where family and friends come together to cook and eat, share stories, and build relationships. A kitchen is also a place where we can create something delicious and nourishing - something that can not only satisfy our physical hunger but also our emotional one. When it comes to the best kitchen trends, it can be a minefield of ideas and designs. With cool new kitchen brands popping up and lots of innovative design ideas and clever twists on old appliance designs on display in kitchen showrooms across the country, there are plenty of on-trend looks and state-of-the-art appliances to pick from. 

As we spend more time cooking our meals in the trend towards being healthier and making better nutrition sources, we are more demanding about the space we are working in. More and more, kitchen design and trends, and making the space more functional is top of mind. We’re seeking not only functional changes to the kitchen, but we want the kitchen to be beautiful too. Here are some design trends that are finding traction with interior designers and home renovators.

If you have a dining table, a kitchen island, or a television in your kitchen, the average time that you spend there would drastically increase. If you have an open kitchen design, the majority of the time that you don’t spend in your kitchen will be spent overlooking it. This is why it’s really important to have a well-designed kitchen in terms of functionality and looks. 

Some older layouts even went as far as hiding the kitchen behind a swinging door. Now, homeowners have embraced the idea of opening up their kitchens to their dining rooms, and often, their dining rooms to their living rooms, too. 

Open kitchens, or modern, open-concept layouts in general, are perfect for casual family living or entertaining, as it encourages seamless movement and interaction from room to room. Eliminating the barrier between the kitchen and social spaces not only works for gatherings but also opens up your floor plan, giving it the illusion of more square footage.

Read through our article for practical kitchen design ideas that will make yours outstanding.

Well-Organized Kitchen

The benefits of kitchen organization to the value of a home are quite evident when that home is up for sale. An organized kitchen adds aesthetics to a kitchen even with the presence of small flaws and needed repairs. Prospective buyers tend to overlook these design or functional flaws more often in a kitchen that is organized.

Every functional kitchen should include at least 10 cabinets and drawers. Some people may even have to install up to 30 cabinets, while others can feel satisfied with just 5. The number of storage spaces that you need to install in your kitchen heavily depends on your needs; though, the more space that you have, the more organized your kitchen will be. Having a well-organized, spacious kitchen can substantially improve productivity and efficiency. When you have enough storage space, you will spend less time trying to find utensils or ingredients. You will also save up on the time, effort, and noise that it takes to squeeze in all your pots and pans or pull them out of your cabinets. Make sure that you designate each cabinet and drawer for a specific group of items. For instance, allocate a cabinet for your plates and a drawer for your eating and cooking utensils. There are many benefits to having an organized kitchen. The most obvious one is that it will always be easy to find what you need when you need it. If you have a vertical cabinet, you can allot a shelf to your spices, one for your condiments, and another for the rice, pasta, flour, and sugar containers. Make sure that whatever arrangement that you decide to go with feels natural to you. This way, you will not risk misplacing your things or spending much time searching for them.  

Make Your Island the Centerpiece

One of the best parts of an open kitchen design is the integration of an island. This will often serve as the centerpiece to your cooking and entertaining, but we love how this kitchen design also makes it a visual focal point. Keeping this center island predominantly white and utilizing high-contrast black on either side ensures your eye will always lead you to the visual interest of the space. Having a kitchen island is practically an absolute necessity in life nowadays. Commonly, the kitchen is the busiest and most social room in your home – the island will change the entire functionality of the space. Kitchen islands are a practical communal area, where your loved ones can gather, cook, eat, and discuss their day.

Note that, you can also incorporate the sink or an additional smaller one (if there is plumbing) or even the cooktop (if there is electrical/gas) which will free up space in the main kitchen areas. Tip: If you want an island that also has amenities, then your design will require planning and possibly involving a designer (Why, hello there!).

To enable free and safe movement around the kitchen, you should have a minimum of 3 feet of distance around the island. You can have a bigger island with storage and other functional features, depending on how big your kitchen is. 

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Kitchens

As people who want to have a good and sustainable home where we can spend our life peacefully, the importance of investing in furniture, accessories, dinner tables, and kitchens is unmatched because it is crucial to invest in what pleases you, in accessories that get the job done and above all it is healthy and true to your lifestyle.

We all want to do our part for the environment, but often what we can do is quite limited. That means that small changes in our lifestyle and home environment can help bolster our eco-credentials. The kitchen is the perfect place to start making some of these changes. Re-using woods and adding recycling receptacles are both good starts but it can go much further than that. Even the smallest things can aid your sustainability mission. Consider doing little things like switching from standard stoves to induction hobs that heat up instantly and don’t need time to heat up and waste electricity. 

That is why we also need to pay attention to the design ideas and materials that are healthy and can also provide your home with a sustainable and long-lasting kitchen for you and your family to live in for decades. These ideas need to revolve around eco-friendly designs of your kitchen and they should include all of your appliances, accessories, and materials used inside your kitchen.

That is why the eco-friendliest choice when it comes to hood ranges or vents is the hood ranges that are ductless. Vents create a lot of heat and your HVAC system will have to work overtime to clear that heat and air because all the contaminants are getting released from that vent. While as when using ductless copper hood ranges, you minimize the heat and control the number of contaminants released into the air and are a game-changer when compared to vents. That is why design ideas around hood ranges and kitchen appliances are important when thinking about the environment that we live in, including outdoors and especially inside our homes and kitchens.

So, think carefully when you decide what materials, textures, and accessories you will need in your kitchen. 

Know Your Necessities

While there are basic kitchen tools that everyone needs to have, everyone has different priorities. The best way to create a highly practical kitchen is to know your own necessities. Start by exploring what you like and what you don’t so that you can figure out which items are indispensable for you. If you are a coffee connoisseur, it goes without saying that you need to search for the best espresso machine that would suit your needs. If you lead a busy lifestyle and tend to rely much on takeout, then you should consider purchasing a microwave. When you are buying your pots and pans, you should also consider the type of food that you usually cook. Every kitchen tool and piece of equipment serves a purpose and function. You need to use the right tool for the job if you want to be efficient and do things safely in the kitchen. Even the best and most experienced chefs rely on these tools to achieve cooking success, such as getting the internal cooking temperature correct on the meat or making sure that they don’t get burned while cooking. 

Aside from using the right kitchen tools and equipment, you also need to think about the quality. The saying “you’re only as good as the tools you use” can’t be truer in this situation. Make sure to invest in the best quality tools and equipment that you can find to meet your kitchen needs. This way, you won’t spend a lot of money on equipment that you will not end up using.

Storage and Appliances

One of the biggest trends in kitchen design now is to conceal as much as you can. There are many things we will need to store in the kitchen and having them hidden in cleverly designed cupboards makes the kitchen look sleek and inviting. Often getting the most out of your concealed storage will require some custom-made cupboards and cabinet doors, but the result will almost always be worth it. Using tricks like pull-out pantry cupboards and pop-up shelves can be a good start to the concealed storage revolution, but taking it a step further to create cabinet doors that conceal your dishwasher and even your refrigerator is also growing in popularity. 

One of the most unused areas in your kitchen is probably the space beneath your sink. You can make good use of this space by installing a cabinet for all your cleaning supplies. Whether you need to clean up the dining table after a family dinner or get rid of the mess that you made while cooking, having cleaning supplies in reach is always a good idea. 

We spend more time in our kitchens than we realize, which is why we are constantly in search of ways to make our kitchens more practical and appealing. Unfortunately, functionality means more storage spaces, which usually requires unsightly kitchen arrangements. On the bright side, our design ideas will help you make the best use of your kitchen and make sure that it serves all your needs without compromising the design element.

The Invisible Kitchen Trend

Unfortunately, the need for more cabinets and drawers means that you get to have an eye-jarring, potentially unappealing kitchen. This is especially a problem if you have an open kitchen design that blends (not) with the rest of your home. Luckily, there are ways in which you can make your entire kitchen look almost invisible. The idea behind this design is to keep all your kitchen equipment concealed behind invisible doors, allowing your kitchen to amalgamate seamlessly into the surrounding space. You can keep your refrigerator, toaster, coffee maker, microwave, and other appliances behind a paneled sliding door. You can also use push to open cabinets that match the rest of your kitchen design or install invisible handles. If you have space in your home, creating a walk-in pantry could also be a great idea. If you want to take things up a notch, you can install a television in your kitchen and create a small living area across it; no one will be able to tell that it’s a kitchen. This setup can be highly beneficial if you live in a small home. 

Traditional VS Modern Kitchens

To better accommodate family and friends as an additional entertaining space, newer homes were designed with larger kitchens in mind. Some kitchens became more open to the rest of the house, while others remained closed off. Kitchen islands and larger, more accommodating tables were built into these modern, more accommodating kitchens so that guests could easily move in and out of them.

The design and usefulness of kitchens were being given a lot more consideration. In addition, it was becoming more and more acceptable to think of the kitchen as a living place, and individuals with smaller kitchens in older homes began to pay attention to it. Because of this, homeowners began to remodel and expand their kitchens to match the “fashion,” both in terms of lifestyle and resale value.

Although larger kitchens might seem less environmentally friendly, they also can be better for the environment when you consider that their multiple purposes mean that the space can be used more efficiently.

After all, if you are building or renovating a home to be eco-friendlier, then your kitchen is going to be very important. The design of your kitchen is going to help make your home more energy efficient, which will therefore lower your carbon footprint.

The size of the kitchen, the size of the family, and the occupants’ lifestyle appear to play a significant role in people’s lives. Separated from the rest of the houses in old homes, kitchens were small and isolated. An enclosed area that could be closed off to hide the filth was used nearly entirely for cooking. In the neighboring dining and living rooms, family and friends would gather to dine and socialize. As a result, there was a greater emphasis on the dining and living rooms in older homes. As far as kitchens were concerned, they were simply functional.

Newer kitchens are going to serve multiple purposes, which will help make them better for the environment. This is an issue that all eco-friendly homeowners should consider.