From a focus on sustainability to inspiration for improving your space's functionality, we look at the trending styles in kitchen design right now.
Image: Brookmans by Smallbone
If you're self-building, extending or renovating your kitchen in 2020, are you planning on making the kitchen the hub of the home? With increasingly busy lifestyles, it's the way we're ensuring we connect with family and friends, and it means the kitchen is ever more vital to get right.
The concept is therefore feeding into how we design our kitchens. The kitchen has become a space to be enjoyed, while retaining its functional nature - something that the biggest kitchen design trends of the year go to demonstrate.
Sustainable materials
Image: Naturals Range cork flooring in Champagner Sand, Granorte
No surprise, sustainability comes top of the list for kitchen concerns in 2020. Improve your kitchen's eco-credentials by choosing a company which sources sustainable wood, or even look at salvaged and used kitchens for a green option that will save you money too.
Look for sustainable finishes elsewhere in the kitchen as well - we're seeing more and more inventive furnishings and fittings come to market as the want to make more eco-friendly choices increases. This flooring from Granorte, for example, is made from sustainable waste from the wine cork industry, or check out osme of our favourite recycled interior products for more inspiration.
Fluted glass
Image: Holkham Shaker style kitchen with fluted glass insert, from Davonport Kitchens
Feeding into an industrial-influence design aesthetic, this vertically-grooved decorative glass offers privacy when used in doors and windows, without sacrificing light. With just enough distortion to conceal the details, it's perfect for kitchen furniture containing glassware or crockery and room dividers in large open plan living spaces
Textured finishes
Image: Futura cabinetry finished in Oxidised Amber, from Mereway Kitchens
With the number of people renovating, instead of moving, increasing, bolder choices in the kitchen can be expected. Textured finishes offer a tactile element to appeal to an extra sense - plus, they ensure surfaces are practical, durable and easy to maintain.
Living space kitchens
Image: Marylebone apartment by Proctor and Shaw architects. Photography by Ståle Eriksen
With the rise of open-plan and broken-plan kitchen-living spaces, a minimalist style of kitchen is on the rise. This kitchen doesn't, necessarily, look all that kitchen-like – instead opting for hidden storage and low impact appliances which blend into the space when not in use. This feature timber-clad wall in a Marylebone apartment renovation by Proctor and Shaw sees the refrigerator and extra storage almost seamlessly integrated into the space.
Dark on dark
Image: Large Suffolk walnut kitchen, from Neptune
The fear surrounding dark colours in the home has lifted in recent years, and decorating with hues such as black has become far more common. For a design-forward way to embrace the look, designers are moving away from relying on strict contrast, instead layering dark on dark for a dramatic look, while playing with textural difference to add depth to the scheme.
Statement stone
Image: Jurassic Green Brazillian Quartzite, from Cullifords
A re-emergence of biophilic design principles is putting a focus on natural materials in the home. While humble materials remain popular, those that showcase the boldness of natural beauty are also sought after – think wood that's been treated to enhance its decorative grain or stone with vivid colour and defined veining detail.
Colourful cabinetry
Image: K1 kitchen range, by Brookmans by Smallbone
With less of an onus on re-sale value, and more on enjoying the home that you live in, colourful kitchens are on the up. Expect unexpected colour combinations as homeowners look to exert their individuality in a world where our interiors are increasingly shared online.
Art in the kitchen
Image: Abigail Ahern x Herringbone Kitchens collaboration, pictured in Agigail's own home
As the kitchen becomes less of a purely functional space, and more a hub of the home, art and decorative objects are creeping their way in. Take designer Abigail Ahern's kitchen as an example, created in collaboration with Herringbone Kitchens. The kitchen space blurs into the wider living space thanks to its relationship with the decorative elements of the room.
Behind closed doors storage
Image: Bespoke kitchen, from Humphrey Munson
Avoid a cluttered kitchen worktop by employing clever storage. These breakfast/coffee stations or larders often sit behind a bi-fold, pocket or tambour door for easy access, while the worktop continues into the storage space for added utility. Use it to store worktop appliances and create somewhere that mess can be quickly shut away if you need to clear up in a hurry.
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