#Kitchen Trends - Top Designs, Cabinets, Appliances, Lighting & Colors

Top Designs, Colors, Cabinets, Lighting, & Appliances

When planning a remodel, staying on top of the latest kitchen trends can help you to avoid building a kitchen that will look dated in a few years.

At the same time, most homeowners don't want to be out front on a hot kitchen trend that fizzles out prematurely, leaving them with a "formerly hip" kitchen. What do you do? Review the trends we've identified here, and then use this knowledge to enhance the designs that you already love. Above all, if you plan to keep your home, remember:

"Be faithful to your own taste because nothing you really like is ever out of style."

Kitchen Design Trends

So what's the "in look" for today's kitchen designs? Are kitchens getting bigger and more ornate? You may be surprised.

Minimalist Kitchen Designs

Minimalist kitchens have been making a major surge recently. Simple styles, limited colors, flat planes, and minimal ornamentation describe this recent trend. "Simple and clean" is a common refrain used by our readers use to describe their favorite designs on our social media galleries (you can join the conversation on Facebook ).

Despite what you might think, minimalist kitchens don't have to be ultra-modern. Below is a traditional kitchen with a minimalist twist: Its monochromatic color scheme speaks of modern simplicity, while the simple moldings and butcher block countertop add a classic style and warmth to the design.

Kitchen Design Trends: In a way that both embraces and transcends seasonal trends, Kitchen Design Centre designed this traditional style kitchen with a minimalist twist.

It is possible that the minimalist kitchen trend is a reaction to the excesses of the housing boom, or perhaps just a natural response to the slower economy. Either way, we think a minimalist undercurrent will be here for some time, because such clean and simple designs are usually practical and rarely showy. Both traits are marks of a longer-lasting movement that shouldn't look dated any time soon.

Kitchen Color Trends

Calming Colors: Designer Amanda Lavi sees "quiet" kitchen colors gaining in popularity. Many kitchens are becoming almost spa-like in their color schemes. She describes the color trend as somewhat "beachy": Pale blues, greens, grays, whites, creams, tans and buffs are the colors that her clients have been asking for the most.

Dueling Tones: From what we've seen, two-tone kitchens are still highly popular, especially in modern designs. Too much of one color can be either boring or overpowering, so mixing things up with a different color on the island or hood is a great way to keep the space from looking monotone.

Kitchen Color Trends: Created by Woodale Designs. this two-tone kitchen features soft white inset cabinets contrasting with a walnut wood island. Natural light floods into this luxury kitchen through skylights and windows, illuminating the beautifully balanced design that celebrates both contemporary and classic styles.

White kitchens -- even antique white kitchens -- have been steady if not increasing in popularity, often with a wood island for contrast. For wood elements, walnut and cherry wood are popular options in natural finishes. Both wood species have interesting grain characteristics without looking overdone.

Smaller is Sometimes Better

We recently interviewed Amanda Lavi of RA Design Group in Los Angeles to get her take on current kitchen trends (Designer Interview: Amanda Lavi ).

Lavi has worked in high-end residential projects, including celebrity kitchens, and she recalls designing kitchens in the past that were ridiculously large. Far fewer people are doing that these days. Luxury homes are still large, of course, but those gigantic islands or even multiple islands are coming down to more practical levels.

Having lived in both a tiny kitchen and humongous kitchen recently, I too can testify that there are many efficiency benefits to a smaller work triangle. Walking around an 11-foot island is rather time consuming compared to being able to reach the perimeter of a small kitchen in two quick steps. That said, the kitchen is still the primary gathering place for most families, so larger kitchens aren't going away completely; they're just getting more practical.

An open-plan layout, which appears to be an ongoing kitchen trend, is a great way to get the best of both worlds: Guests can gather in the living area near the kitchen, and the cooking area can be more reasonably sized for efficiency.

Kitchen Cabinet Trends

If you're wondering what old kitchen trends are out of style these days, we'll tell you what to avoid, and what to use instead. Read on:

Cabinet Wood Species

Knock on Wood: Red Oak was a wildly popular hardwood that was overused across America in the 1970s and '80s. Many homeowners are simply tired of it. "Golden Oak," that yellowish brown finish used on Oak cabinets that turns even more yellow with age, is exactly what many folks are tearing out of their homes. The wood also has a tremendous amount of grain that is a bit too busy by today's standards.

The early 2000s saw a surge of maple wood being used, probably in part because its grain character is almost diametrically opposite that of Oak. Maple has very little grain by comparison, so in some ways it represented "the opposite of Oak."

Subtle Beauty: What I've seen in recent kitchen trends is a swing toward the middle in terms of wood grain patterns, as well as a shift toward more interesting and exotic wood species, especially in modern kitchens. Walnut, cherry, beech, and birch wood continue to be popular. Oak is still used, but in rift or quartersawn cuts that result in straighter grain patterns, completely hiding the sweeping cathedral grain pattern of plain sawn oak so prevalent in '80s kitchens.

Kitchen Cabinet Trends: Cherry wood cabinets featuring flat slatted doors create a warm ambiance in this contemporary kitchen. High windows, dramatic lighting, black granite, modern bar stools at the island, and a stainless steel backsplash round out the mix.

Cabinet Hardware Trends

Cabinet hardware is considered the "jewelry of the kitchen." Weathered nickel, oil rubbed bronze, pewter, and satin nickel are the more popular hardware finish options today. It's usually best to avoid ceramic, glass, or polished brass knobs, as those colors look dated in today's kitchens, unless it is a vintage style that demands it.

In contemporary kitchens. many designers are choosing to employ push-to-open mechanisms or long finger pulls along the rim of the cabinets in lieu of handles. This creates a cleaner look in keeping with recent minimalist trends.

Kitchen Appliance Trends

According to a recent report in Kitchen & Bath Design News. kitchen appliance manufacturers are currently focused on practical performance, user-friendly controls, and customized styles and colors. Here are some recent kitchen trend reports we've published with the aid of appliance makers and retailers: