Modern kitchen: kitchen trends and home organisation
What is important in a kitchen? Can our kitchen be trendy? What is the best way to design a kitchen in the first place: designing it according to current trends or considering function, practicality and storage when designing a modern kitchen? Can we do both? There has been a sharp shift in kitchen trends recently. This is what Smarta points out on her blog: 7 kitchen trends that are shaping the kitchen
A brief overview of the current kitchen trends
The kitchen trends of recent years have tended to be minimalist: white cabinets and a clean overall look. But this year will be a year of contrasts. Bright colours, a mix of dark and lighter colours and interesting textures. There will also be a “rustic-urban” touch, with metals and wood. We can also play with copper and gold in the kitchen, with exciting possibilities for decoration. In this year’s trends, tiles with scales or other exciting solutions and dark flooring with white walls and furniture are among the elements we can easily identify with.
We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so it’s important to create an environment that will give us long-term pleasure and practical solutions. Even if you like a trend and you’re in the process of designing a new, modern kitchen, ask yourself:
Is this a kitchen style you can live with in 3-5 years?
What are the things that are important to you in a kitchen?
What are the colours and styles that will give you pleasure for years to come?
Do you really want fancy patterned tiles in your kitchen 10 years from now?
When designing your kitchen, how many years do you plan ahead for when you will renovate again?
Storage in the kitchen – forever
In the 2018 Houzz Kitchen Trends Report, a survey analyzing annual kitchen trends, it was found that 75% of respondents are literally obsessed with organization and storage when it comes to the kitchen countertop. While 65% favoured smart organisation solutions, 49% preferred easy recycling. For 63% of respondents, the most important aspect of a kitchen was adequate storage, for 38% enough counter space for cooking and preparation, for 32% fun and for 32% easy clean-up.
This suggests that those who are in the process of renovating their kitchen tend to prioritise practical organisation. Those who are looking to build a new kitchen now don’t want to be wondering weeks or months later whether they need small storage boxes. No. They are already thinking about built-in systems at the renovation stage. For example, they put drawer dividers in their drawers and built-in tray dividers.
When it comes to kitchen storage, it’s important to buy better quality storage, because once you invest in it, it will last you a long time. OXO airtight food storage boxes, for example, are one of the highest quality containers on the market. There’s a reason why even celebrity homes have these containers.
When it comes to kitchen storage, transparent containers are definitely a winner, as you can see exactly what food is inside and they are less likely to spoil. But in addition to transparent alternatives, you can also buy wooden pantry organizers at the Outside In Happiness webshop!
This year, more people are thinking about built-in, recyclably separated bins, food organizers and wine cabinets than in previous years. Pull-out recycling bins have become very popular and built-in tray dividers and pull-out corner shelves are also in fashion. Fortunately, the idea of zero waste and less waste generation is becoming a more common thought in home design. There’s even a solution to the single-use lunch bag: the cooler bag, which is not only aesthetically pleasing and practical, but will serve you for many years if you want to store leftovers in the fridge.
The answer to this year’s kitchen trends
Kitchen Island
We no longer think of kitchen islands as a way to squeeze one into that small area if there’s space left over. Kitchen islands are now communal spaces in our homes: they serve multiple functions, where we eat, wash up and cook. And interestingly, they’ve grown!
Since fewer and fewer kitchen units have been added to the walls, these modern kitchen islands have also become a storage space, making it an important aspect to accommodate larger storage areas. But as well as looks, practicality is also essential, as drawers and cupboards need to be designed with engineering precision to create the optimum storage space. The kitchen island makes a big impact and is the jewel in the crown of the whole space.
A modern kitchen island is a very practical solution for those who want to multifunctional use the space in their kitchen, for those who have a kitchen as a central place in their home and who want to use more surface area when preparing food.
The extra surface area of a kitchen island also means more cleaning and storage space, so be careful with the sizing! We often find that we pack as much as we can. So if there is extra surface space in the home, we’ll pack it in too, and the kitchen will end up being all about packing instead of clean, empty surfaces… A kitchen island is practical, but before you install it, think about what it would do for you and how you could make the most of it in your everyday life.
Open Shelves
One or two trends may be here to stay for the long haul, for example, the kitchen island has been popular and practical so far. But what about less practical, modern kitchen trends? Here I would highlight the concept of ‘open shelving’. What do you look like with your pots and pans? If you have guests over, would you be happy to show them your utensils with slightly greasy bottoms?
In the last few days, I asked the question in our closed Facebook group, who has how many pans. The post received responses ranging from 4 mugs to 50 mugs. There were some people who had mugs in different parts of their home, but stacked/shoved in cupboards and jumbled together were the common responses. Of course, it was the humorous responses that made this post really enjoyable: it was nice to see that everyone was aware that maybe there are a bit too many mugs in the home after all.
Open shelving can work in a home where all the mugs look the same, where there are no promotional glasses and a clean consistency throughout the kitchen.
So, if you replace all your appliances now with the same style and have a cleaner who always puts everything back in its place, you’ll have a truly beautiful looking modern kitchen.
But if your cupboards are hiding everything from a Mekis mug to a Coca Cola glass to a child’s plastic plate, chances are this trend isn’t for you. In an average household, you’ll only see visual noise and it will negatively affect your emotions every minute you spend in the kitchen.
But if you like the concept, you can make your open shelving system transparent with some internal shelving and turntables!
Different colours and shapes – designing a modern kitchen
White is eternal. Anything else will do, but white is forever. Grey is now coming into fashion as an elegant second colour and darker colours are creeping into our kitchens little by little. Maybe sooner or later, darker colours with a more ‘luxurious’ feel will become popular, but they won’t take over from white for a long time yet. Darker colours make surfaces more difficult to clean, which is an essential aspect of modern kitchen design.
Image: alightreflection.com
When we come home, we want to create a relaxed atmosphere for ourselves, which most often goes hand in hand with simplification. When choosing colours and materials, it’s important that they bring us pleasure and are calming to us. We also need to consider how practical and timeless our choice is, as we’ll be looking at the same pink cupboard door in the kitchen for years to come. It might be worth choosing something a little more understated and if you want to spice up the overall effect for a while, a little decoration can always help. This year’s tip is copper and gold!
Modern kitchen: a summary of the trends
Trends come and go. But storage is forever! The trends of the year are often inspiring, boho and fun to dream about. How cool it would be if I had open shelves or how cool it would be to bring a little rustic-urban touch into the home…. At the end of a weekday, however, it’s important to keep the kitchen counter as empty as possible and only the most essential, daily-used items in sight. And when it comes to the design, the key is to make it easy to put everything back in its place so that you can always find everything in your kitchen.
So beyond the inspiring pictures, it’s also worth thinking about which kitchen will give you years of pleasure and which kitchen will best serve your household’s needs on a day-to-day basis for the next decade. Both aspects are important, so you need to find the point where both conditions are met. By considering these, you can create a useful and relaxing space in your home that will truly serve you.
