Trends in Kitchen Design
by Cameron M. Snyder, CKD
The kitchen used to be the place where mom cooked for the family as they waited in the dining area for dinner to be served. Today, kitchens are the center of most home activity, where families gather in the evenings, to do homework, share meals while coordinating calendars, check e-mail, browse the web and catch up with the news. Most of the new kitchen design trends revolve around new ways to make kitchens multi-functional and more versatile.
The open floor plan rules. Most kitchen remodels are tearing down a wall or bumping out the kitchen area to open it up into other rooms of the house, whether it is a casual dining area, a formal dining room or the bigger family room. Therefore the kitchen has become a more elegant space, with carefully designed focal points, specialty lighting, finely crafted ceilings, wood floors and even area rugs. Homeowners are also adding more display areas into upper cabinets or custom hutches, putting in clear or art glass inserts into their door fronts and gallery lighting inside the cabinets to show off prized ceramics or hand-blown glass collections.
As open floor plans continue to become more popular, there is less walls or space to mount above the counter cabinets. As a result, we are increasing the height of the base cabinets to break up visually the space between rooms. We've been designing a lot of pedestal cabinets -- these are cabinets which are taller than the rest, usually 42 inches or more, that act almost like a built-in-pedestal at the end of a long run. It is a great post for a column or other architectural element for the room. Designers are also creating counters with two tiers or even three different levels. The high level breaks up space between kitchen and other living areas and reduces the appearance of counter clutter. It also provides a handy place to pull up a bar stool to do homework. We are also incorporating "baking centers" with lower than standard counter heights perfect for kneading bread or making candy.
Aesthetically, we are witnessing a trend towards the contemporary and more neutral colors. This does not mean the kitchen will look stark or high tech. The new trendy term is “soft contemporary”, using clean lines, neutral colors and more exotic woods such as sapele, apple wood, tiger maple and others are being used. These woods can be successfully mixed with more traditional cabinets in the same area or in an adjoining space. We have done kitchens where the main cabinets are very traditional and the island or entertainment area accent the space with a more contemporary feel. Although painted cabinets are still popular, especially in cream or neutral tones, wood cabinets are beginning to make a comeback. The secret is to keep the room feeling light and open and not closing it in with lots of dark woods. Again, accenting is the key.
Also, using and mixing different counter top materials is on the rise. Although granite is still popular among high-end clients, the array of choices and textures has increased dramatically. We are seeing more wood tops, like walnut and mahogany; metal tops, such as zinc, pewter and copper; heavy curved glass especially in the islands; as well as concrete counters and even leather tops in the message center area.
Not too long ago kitchens had large desk areas in them with places for file drawers and a place to sit and pay the family bills. Now, with the advent of wireless computers and laptops and home offices in a separate room, we are seeing more “message centers” in kitchens. This is an often smaller area near the entrance to the kitchen where the family calendar can be displayed along with party invitations, children’s activities schedules, theater tickets, etc. This is also the place where cell phones, MP-3 players and other gadgets can be stored and charged and the regular mail can be dropped. It is common for this entire message center area to be hidden behind folding or sliding doors. Sometimes these doors will have a chalkboard or white board built in for quick messages to other family members.
Another trend in kitchen design is towards organization and innovative storage solutions. Homeowners today are no longer satisfied to have cabinets that merely look good. They also want them to work efficiently. Cabinet interiors have become so much more sophisticated with pull out spice racks and columns to increase storage, and racks that magically come out of a blind corner. Even appliance manufacturers have also heeded the call and are becoming more aware of ergonomics.
The kitchen must be multi-functional and a gathering area, and the key is versatility. Having more than one sink and prep area and another space for clean up makes sense for today’s lifestyle. Even a second dishwasher by the secondary sink is becoming common. This also means several appliances located in each work area. For example, having a large refrigerator for the main cook and then refrigerator drawers on an island for the second cook makes a lot of sense. In smaller kitchens, designers are creating quick prep areas where a small sink, cutting board, and microwave are close together. Larger homes are reviving the use of the traditional butler's pantry off the main kitchen, with a clean up sink, microwave, prep area and small refrigerator. The butler's pantry has the added convenience of keeping dirty dishes out of the way while entertaining, and storing large amounts of dinnerware, linens and china, especially when it is located between the kitchen and the formal dining room. Instead of just one traditional work triangle (defined by the cooking, prep, and clean-up areas), kitchens today are incorporating multiple work triangles and task areas, and homeowners are using custom cabinetry to create a formal dining area, a casual breakfast nook, a homework area, a crafts corner, a wine service/bar area, or anything they need, just by carving out a corner of space in their kitchens. It is the creative space planning and innovative use of the cabinetry components that truly make the open-concept kitchen trend work. It is a trend that truly reflects how people are living these days, and it is rapidly becoming a lifestyle that will be around for a long time.
1 Comment
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