If you’re planning on buying a new home or have recently become a new homeowner, then there’s a good chance you’ll want to invest in a few changes to make your home your home. One particularly important space is the kitchen. Everyone has different aesthetic tastes and functional requirements (people use the kitchen in different ways, after all) that have to be met. However, you may not know how to improve your kitchen to meet your needs. Understanding what some of your options are will help. With that in mind, we present the following ten kitchen trends that are worth considering:

1. Tile Backsplashes As Focal Points

One of the challenges of planning a kitchen design is that a kitchen’s function tends to overwhelm the form. Every kitchen must meet its functional requirements first and foremost, which is why kitchens tend to be heavy on appliances, counter space, and storage space. The typical kitchen often ends up looking the same as any other kitchen. The focal point is usually the room’s most prominent feature, whether it’s the kitchen island or the refrigerator. You can introduce a more personal flourish by focusing your attention on the backsplash.

Using the backsplash to introduce color, pattern, and personal visual taste can allow you to turn it into the kitchen’s focal point. Your backsplash is sure to stand out if your kitchen lacks color, which most kitchens often are due to the use of white or stainless steel appliances. Larger tiles have become more popular over the years due to the bold visual statement that they make.

2. Neo-traditionalist Kitchen Designs

Although contemporary styles, which include minimalist kitchen designs (known for the use of negative space and clean lines), continue to be popular, many homeowners turn to the past for inspiration. Traditional kitchen designs are more classical and contain more ornate designs flourishes. A neo-traditionalist design combines the best of both worlds, melding a classic kitchen style with a modern one. For instance, in a neo-traditionalist design, you might hang an ornate chandelier over your island in an all-white kitchen. Or you could install beautiful, classical wood kitchen cabinets along with a more minimalist white subway tile backsplash and countertop.

3. Hidden Kitchen Appliances

As important as your kitchen appliances are to your kitchen’s function, they tend to draw attention away from any other design efforts you may have implemented. Appliances are big, bulky, and often stainless steel, making it hard to look away from them. So why not just hide them? Many homeowners are beginning to build cabinet-like enclosures around their refrigerators, typically the room’s largest appliance. As a result of hiding your appliances, you’ll have a lot more control over the aesthetic of your kitchen space.

4. Open Shelving

When it comes to kitchen layouts, the general rule of thumb is that you can never have too much storage space. Although your kitchen cabinets may provide ample storage space, consider putting up open shelves as well — especially if you have a significant amount of blank wall space to play with. Open shelves not only give you another storage option, but they also allow you to display decorative items, such as your fancy china or decorative cookie tins. 

Even if you use your open shelves for basic storage purposes, open shelving can help keep your kitchen space from feeling too small. If you have limited space to begin with, installing more cabinets can make the area feel cramped and poorly designed.

5. The Use Of Color

Kitchens often lack a personal touch because they lack color. If your cabinets are all unpainted, your walls and floors remain white, and your appliances are white, black, or stainless steel, then your kitchen space is lacking in color. Introducing color when appropriate, can have an enormous impact on your kitchen design. The following are a few ways that many Denver homeowners have begun to use color in their kitchens:

Pops Of Color For Visual Contrast

The use of color doesn’t necessarily mean you have to paint everything. A simple pop of color here and there can provide enough visual contrast to make your kitchen aesthetically interesting and pleasing to the eye. For example, you could add color through your backsplash or the decorative items lining your open shelves. The open shelves themselves could be painted in a more vibrant color to set them apart from the rest of your kitchen. You could even create an accent wall by painting just one of your walls in a color that contrasts the rest of the room. You could also simply paint your bottom or top cabinets, which is also a great way to turn them into your kitchen’s focal point.

Use Of Wallpaper

Using wallpaper in the kitchen might feel like it’s a design trend straight out of the 1950s, but it’s making a comeback. High-quality wallpaper is much easier to adhere to your walls than it used to be and will hold up to the kitchen environment. It’s also a great way to introduce patterns and colors to a space that’s often devoid of both.

Dark Colors

The typical kitchen is on the brighter side, if not all-white. There’s nothing wrong with an all-white kitchen; it remains a popular kitchen design choice. However, if you’re looking for a look that’s a little different than the norm, consider using darker colors instead. The entire kitchen shouldn’t be dark, but using dark color strategically can add visual weight to the space. For instance, you could use dark blue or even black paint for the bottom cabinets while keeping the top cabinets white. Not only do darker colors add more contrast, but they can also help anchor your kitchen’s aesthetic and even make it feel taller and larger when used effectively.

6. An Emphasis On Sustainability

Sustainability is a trend that continues to grow. It’s a trend that is difficult to see ever diminishing. The benefits of designing a sustainable kitchen are too many to ignore. The use of environmentally-friendly materials and technology reduces the home’s eco-footprint, lowers energy costs, and increases the home’s overall value (as well as appeal to potential buyers should you ever sell). With that in mind, a sustainable kitchen design should include:

Sustainable Kitchen Materials

The materials you use have a significant impact on how eco-friendly your kitchen is. For example, if you buy brand new wood cabinets, you may be contributing to all types of environmental damage if you don’t know where that wood is coming from. The wood used for your cabinets could be harvested in an area in the world where deforestation is rampant. Then there’s the environmental impact of transporting the wood to your doorstep to consider. It’s why you should think about using sustainable materials wherever possible. Use FSC certified wood or reclaimed wood for your cabinets. Avoid high VOC finishes. Choose natural countertop materials. Believe it or not, your kitchen design choices have an impact on the environment around you.

Energy Efficient Kitchen Appliances

In addition to using sustainable materials to design your kitchen, invest in appliances that are also energy efficient. Not only will you reduce the amount of energy your home uses (a plus when it comes to environmental conservation), but you’ll significantly reduce your monthly energy costs as well. To ensure that your appliances are energy efficient, look for the Energy Star label.

7. Double Kitchen Islands

Kitchen islands, in general, serve multiple functions. They are often used for additional storage and food prep space while also functioning as a secondary place for family and friends to eat. Because the island is so useful and used for so many things, many homeowners have begun implementing a dual kitchen island setup. Having double kitchen islands allows you to designate one as a work station and the other as a dining or social space. Of course, to implement two kitchen islands successfully, you’ll need a kitchen that has plenty of space available.

8. A Greater Focus On The Kitchen’s Intended Function

In the last few years, there has been a trend to turn the kitchen into more than just a kitchen, whether by adding a dining area, a breakfast nook, or even a small home office in the mix. Recently, that trend has begun to reverse. People are beginning to focus more on the kitchen’s core function, such as the golden triangle layout. By concentrating the kitchen design on the intended function, the resulting kitchen becomes more balanced and effective.

Zoning In Open Spaces

Part of the effort to make the kitchen more than a kitchen has involved breaking down walls to create an open space. As a result, the kitchen became an extension of the living room. Many homeowners still do this; however, a new trend has begun emerging: zoning in open spaces. Zoning involves the use of sliding doors, screens, shelves, and more to divide an open space by each area’s intended function. For example, if there is a breakfast nook in the kitchen, you might put up a large shelf or a screen to create a boundary between the two areas.

9. Butcher Block Countertops

Certain types of countertop materials have been popular for decades now, most notably, granite. However, one kind of material is gaining traction among homeowners and professional interior designers — butcher block. Butcher block countertops are a great way to introduce a natural element (such as natural wood or even bamboo) into your kitchen to help soften what is often a very harsh look. In addition to their natural aesthetic, butcher blocks are durable and extremely functional as they can withstand heavy daily use.

10. Minimalist Kitchen Designs

Sometimes, less is more. Minimalist kitchen designs are growing in popularity due to the sleek, modern look they provide. And minimalist designs tend to have a cleaner look to them, which suits a room that needs to be kept clean. So how can you create a minimalist kitchen design? There are many ways:

  • Limit your color palette to neutral colors.
  • Use hardware-less kitchen cabinets and drawers.
  • Hide your appliances.
  • Limit the number of decorative items you use, embracing negative space instead.

All-White Kitchens

One minimalist trend that has gained traction over the past few years is using an all-white kitchen, from the floors to the walls to the ceiling. Even the backsplash may consist of white subway tiles. This white-on-white design is minimalist due to its complete lack of color, allowing you to focus solely on the kitchen’s shapes, lines, and space. An utterly white kitchen also has a more modern aesthetic, and both looks and feels clean (just what you want in a kitchen space).

Consider These Trends When Planning Your Kitchen Design

These ten kitchen trends are worth keeping in mind whether you’ve just bought a new Denver home or are currently planning to buy a new home. These trends can either be adopted to improve the kitchen design in your house or used as ideas to influence your own design decisions.