Kitchen Design Trends: Grey cabinetry & light/dark combos.
I would call these deeper shades of white. Grey is still popular, but the new whites we are seeing may only have a touch of grey. They are still light, but they are not a blaring white. Believe it or not, we have dozens of shades of white to choose from. We are continuing to see pairings of light and dark cabinets. Our designers are known to combine lighter shades with black, midnight blue, green, or dark brown cabinetry for a sophisticated style. High contrast cabinetry is one of our favorite looks, and these dark/light combinations look amazing when you add a pop of color to the design. Greenery, the Pantone Color of the Year for 2017, looks great in this palette.
Gold and Metals.
Gold is huge this year and can be used to warm up any palette. By all means, mix it with stainless fixtures and stone. You don’t have to be so matchy matchy (Is that even a word?) The gold you will see is rubbed and brushed, not shiny as seen in this pot filler. It also looks amazing on so many cabinet finishes as a hardware choice.
They added brass inlays into limestone and marble.
One of our favorite finds at KBIS was the laser cut metals collection from Móz Metals and Architectural Products. They had some fabulous patterns, colors, and finishes. Ken and I got lost examining their metallics imagining how we could use them for cabinetry panels and backsplashes. The panels can also be used as screens and partitions in our outdoor kitchen designs. They are rust resistant and can be completely customized.
Opposites Attract.
Throw out all the rules in 2017. Mix gold and silver, modern and vintage, light and dark, classic and industrial, leather and lace … you get the picture. You will see dark wood or colorfully painted cabinetry used as a punctuation mark to accent lighter woods, and there will be more color and pattern play in the kitchen versus all dark cabinets or monochromatic tone on tone styles. If a kitchen is going to be tone on tone, we will see it with more shape and texture. For example, we are currently making cabinets that are solid white with white leather textured inserts. It is a fabulous new look. You’ll be seeing plenty of texture and rough chic as well, mixing rough wood cabinet interiors with white smooth exteriors. Leather is very hot this year! You will see it in cabinetry, countertops, and furniture adding wonderful texture to your room design.
Don’t hesitate to add some whimsical, unexpected objects to your formal kitchen like this Waterstone’s Wheel Faucet. Add some art glass or fine silver to a rustic kitchen or a pop of color to any kitchen. All these high contrast elements in varying finishes and bright colors make for exciting kitchen design in 2017. Here is a Best hood in Green — Pantone’s color of the year.
Mix and Match Countertops.
Mixing wood countertops with marble or quartz is very stylish and functional in the kitchen. We continue to have many requests for quartz counters that looks like marble.
Some of the new colors that fit the bill are Caesarstone’s White Attica and Georgian Bluffs.
A new brand called Geoluxe took the 2017 Best Kitchen KBIS Gold award and the Best in Show award. They came out with something called Pyrolithic Stone, which is 100 percent mineral based produced using the same natural metamorphic process used to produce marble. The result is a design pattern that goes through the stone similar to marble. For all the Carrara and Danby marble lovers, also have a look at Silestone’s Calacatta Gold and Statuario for a timeless white look in quartz.
Kitchen Design for Cooking and Playing.
Designing a kitchen that promotes social interaction is essential. Kitchens are being used in so many ways, and they need to be personalized to the way each client lives and uses the space. The kitchen is becoming more about atmosphere combined with beautiful, functional design.
We are seeing more flexibility in the design with the kitchen being filled with innovative products that allow for many things to be happening at once.
Sometimes you need the kitchen designed for playtime, homework, or a good stretch!
This kitchen has a space-saving pull out counter for when more table surface is needed for sitting or working — shown in one of our cabinet lines in walnut.
Island Stone, known for its pebble stone and glass tiles, presented its new brand called Island Timber – a series of interlocking reclaimed teak planks weathered with rustic appeal for use on walls and other non-traffic areas. The old wood used to make these planks is rescued from buildings being destroyed in Indonesia. Planks can be painted to add interesting pops of color to your design.
Accessible Design for Kitchens and Baths.
We have designed several kitchens and baths specifically for accessibility. It is such an important design topic, and it makes me very happy to see manufacturers designing new products with accessibility in mind. Accessible design maximizes kitchens and baths for independence, convenience, and functionality. Here we used motorized wall cabinets that can be lowered to countertop height for a client in a wheelchair. The photos below show the cabinet raised and lowered using either a remote control or a wall switch, which you can see to the left of the oven.
Many accessibility features make life easier for seniors as well. We recently designed a bathroom for an elderly couple with a no threshold shower and an entry wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Removing the ledge allows you to safely get in and out of the shower without having to step (or wheel) over anything. Featured here is the Infinity Drain.
Lighting and Technology in the Kitchen.
The trend towards smart homes is very popular in the US and abroad. Comfort ranks high in importance with high interest in decreasing energy costs and use. Electricity-saving LED lights allow for wonderful ambiance when used in, over, and under the kitchen cabinets and counters. High quality lighting is always going to make the kitchen elegant especially when it is integrated artistically into your kitchen design and over the kitchen island. Kitchen Design Trends.
Grohe showcased its foot controlled technology that allows you to turn on the sink’s water flow with a light tap in the toe kick area of the sink cabinet, great for hands-free maneuvering and germ prevention.
Custom Storage that Makes the Most of Space Available.
People want things to be designed smarter. A good design will incorporate the best kitchen products for your budget with storage that perfectly suits your needs. Efficiency is one of the main things clients are asking our designers to help them with here in Northern Virginia. The kitchen has become more customized as a multi-purpose workroom with so many different activities centering around the space.
Occasionally new designs come along that are game changers in terms of life enhancement. For example, this space-saving 7-bottle skinny wine cooler from VinoTemp is new . It features a standard under counter height and depth wine refrigerator that is ONLY 5.8” wide. This is one of the best kitchen products we’ve seen, and we cannot wait to incorporate it into our designs. See more customized storage solutions. Kitchen Design Trends.
Over the next few months I will be sharing more in-depth information about new products, appliances, and accessories for kitchens and baths here on the DS Blog. Kitchen Design Trends.