Now that the days are getting shorter and colder, we’re spending more time indoors staying warm while cooking hearty comfort food, and kitchens are reflecting that shift.
Gone are modern, overly bright spaces. Kitchens are trending away from minimalist and warming up with richer materials and softer lighting. Even if your kitchen feels a bit stark, just a few small changes can warm it up quickly. Add a shaded lamp, hang a picture or two and bring in a comfy chair from another room. More and more, people are moving away from cold cookie-cutter kitchens toward ones that better reflect their own tastes and lifestyles. Here are seven of the most popular trends designers are seeing right now.
Free-standing furniture
Ever wonder how to soften that hard line of cabinets across the wall? Add a free-standing piece of furniture.
Instead of filling every wall with uniform cabinetry, many homeowners are bringing in pieces that would once have been reserved for a dining room, entry or sitting room, such as antique cupboards, open shelving, side tables and framed artwork. The idea is to create a room that you’re comfortable in and want to linger in, rather than just a space to cook in.
A bookshelf, for example, can create a place for all the great cookbooks you’ve been hoarding but have banished to a lower cupboard with the pots. Add a plush chair and lamp to this corner and you have a spot to sit and plan the week’s meals. If you have open cupboards for your spices, you’ll know at a glance what you have on hand and what you need to add to your grocery list. Instead of a standard island, swap it out for a heavy wooden harvest table with storage baskets underneath to hide that mixer you don’t use every day, or to store bulky dry goods like flour or potatoes.
Veined marble or quartz countertops
Instead of plain white countertops, surfaces with visible patterns are becoming more in demand.
These surfaces may be used on an island, a perimeter counter, and even carried up the wall as a backsplash. In any spot, it gives a kitchen an immediate focal point. It can also help tie together the rest of the palette, picking up the brown in wood cabinetry, the earthy green in painted mill work, or the warmth of brass hardware.
Less reflective surfaces are growing in popularity. Instead of shiny granite or stainless steel, honed and leathered surfaces are being used to soften the look of the material. These surfaces are also more forgiving when a kitchen starts to show wear and tear. Instead of showing up as damage, everyday use takes on a rich patina instead.
Shaded table lamps
Small, shaded lamps are quickly becoming a favourite in the kitchen. Not only do they add visual interest, but they make a space feel more intimate by creating interesting task lighting that’s warm as opposed to glaring overhead LEDs. If you use a rechargeable lamp, you can place it anywhere you need extra light even if an outlet isn’t nearby.
Yes, you want good task lighting when you’re prepping the meal, but once that’s done and everyone is just gathered around the island chatting and drinking wine, you want the mood you set with the lighting to reflect that.
Traditional tile
Functional backsplashes are changing, too. Wrapping a kitchen in a full-height slab is making way for interesting tile at a more traditional height. A full slab might still go up behind a stove, but humble, textured tile is having a moment. Textured tile tends to glow as opposed to reflect, and if it’s lower on the wall, it immediately creates a more intimate space.
After decades on the sidelines, patterned tile is also back in a big way. Like textured tile, hand-painted tile with its natural irregularities plays with light. It also offers a beautiful patina without having to wait years for natural aging to take place. With these types of tiles, you don’t have to worry about staining or otherwise damaging a slab of white marble, for example. Besides countertops, you can use them on the seating-side of an island, as a complete backsplash, as a single decorative feature behind the sink or stove, and even on the floor.
Strong colour palettes
White kitchens will always be around and are popular for resale. But the cold, blue-white cabinets that dominated the past decade are giving way to warmer, earthier whites and off-whites. Think vanilla, cream, antique white, ecru and similar shades that look white but carry a natural, warm undertone.
If you prefer to use some colour but don’t want to go too dark, try greige, mushroom, warm grey, sage green and even muted blues. If you prefer a darker mood, try terracotta reds, navy blues, forest green, charcoal and black which pair beautifully with wood.
To soften darker tones, try going with a matte finish rather than a gloss. You could use the darker colours for an island rather than all over, but don’t be afraid to go all in for a truly luxurious feel. It’s a myth that dark colours make a space feel smaller, but to achieve that expansiveness you need to use the dark colours everywhere in a cohesive way, possibly even on the ceiling, so the harsh contrast between dark and light doesn’t cut a space in half.
Natural wood
After years of painted cabinets dominating the market, natural wood is making a huge comeback. And why not? It imbues natural warmth without even trying. But we’re not talking about the golden oak of the 1980s. Today’s wood-tone cabinets feature lighter woods like white oak and maple, often with a clear or light stain that highlights the natural grain. For a darker tone with moodier, chocolate hues, walnut is making its return, either as an accent or on the island.
One of the strongest trends this year has been combining natural wood cabinets with painted ones. It’s a great way to add visual interest to the standard bank of cabinets lining the wall in a straight line. By far, the most popular combination is wood paired with some shade of earthy green.
Creative decor elements
Small decor touches can add up to a big change in a space, whatever its size. By adding interesting and natural items, you can warm up even a sterile white ultra-modern kitchen.
Bring the outside indoors with the addition of a live plant like herbs or even just a vase filled with seasonal greenery or dried flowers. Choose handmade pottery or vintage brass and copper vessels to place them in. Repurposing items that resonate with you and that may have been in your family for decades adds timeless charm.
Add some wood cutting boards to your countertops, or simply lean them against a backsplash if you can’t change the tile. Not only are they functional, they’re also lovely design elements that help warm up a cold stone or tile surface.
Use natural, unbleached textiles with loose weaves, like cotton, linen, muslin, macrame and sisal. Consider layering them for even more dimension. Use them under vases or canisters, as table runners and placemats for a rustic vibe.
If your kitchen windows are bare or bland, consider adding a window treatment like a woven shade, a soft Roman blind or even curtains to close the space in, modify glaring daylight during the day while adding privacy at night and stopping drafts.
Don’t stop at adding colour to your cabinets. Swap out those plain white dishes for ones in earthier tones and in heavier materials, like stoneware. Go with cutlery that’s gold or black.
Adding seasonal touches to your decor also helps to create a more intimate space. For summer, bring in fresh flowers and brighten your textiles. In winter, add richer elements and even a cushion and warm throw on the seating. For Thanksgiving, you could add a selection of gourds and candles to a corner of the island.
Whatever your kitchen style, have a wonderful holiday weekend!