Whether your current layout needs renovating or you simply want to refresh a tired colour scheme, now is the perfect time to plan your dream kitchen. But what’s hot in the world of kitchen design?
“Kitchen design in 2018 is all about timber veneers, colour contrast, texture, metallics and the ongoing industrial look,” says bespoke furniture manufacturers Schmidt.
“Personalisation will be big in 2018,” adds Sinead Trainor, kitchen category manager at LochAnna Kitchens. “The tail end of 2017 has seen the emergence of more bold colours and textures in kitchen doors and this will follow into the new year. The mix of striking solid colours and woodgrains will continue to prove popular, whilst more industrial finishes like concrete will sit alongside these to really create interest in the kitchen. Consumers are increasingly looking for more variety and being braver in their style and colour choices.”
From colour to materials and appliances to aesthetics, take a look at the best kitchen trends of 2018.
1
Bold, vibrant colour schemes
“Vibrant colour schemes will continue to be popular for 2018 with a focus on both Scandinavian application – pops of bright colour – or complete maximalism –with colour clashes,” says Matt Prall and Stephen Garland of Papilio. “The use of colour in the kitchen is extremely important and should reflect homeowners’ personalities and their needs. For instance, a space for cooking should be light and bright while spaces designed for entertaining could have a darker essence to provide a suitable ambience.”
2
Delicate pastels
“Pretty pastels present real design advantages and are a great way to inject a little fun into the kitchen, especially when used as co-ordinating or contrasting finishes,” say the team at Schüller. “For those keen to create some individuality, yet not quite brave enough for the dramatic contrast of bold colours, then pastels are ideal partners for popular grey palettes and wood effect finishes. Used for highlighting and creating features, pastels in blue, yellow, pink and green can create a real wow factor.”
3
Hues of blue
From cobalt blue to powder blue and teal, blue is the colour of the moment when it comes to kitchens. Darker shades of this versatile hue will prove to be the most popular. “Undoubtedly the biggest colour trend the industry has seen this year is the desire to have blue in the kitchen,” reveals BA Components. “This bold and dramatic move is for those who are brave and want to make a statement within the home.”
4 Warm neutrals and gold accents
“Golds have been on trend for a while now but the move to combining them with browns and organic materials is going to be big for 2018,” predicts Papilio. “Combining the use of neutrals, golds and organic textures makes for a warm environment with a slight seventies feel, hitting the mark in terms of both style and substance. The boho look is not only easily adaptable with other colours but also comes hand in hand with good quality and timeless design – something which a kitchen needs to present.”
5 Hardworking islands
“Layouts are usually dictated by the space available, but islands continue to dominate with many larger kitchens now opting for two islands,” say the experts at Kitchens International. “Most will have breakfast bar seating or banqueting seating attached to the island so that dining is incorporated into the kitchen area.”
Trainor from LochAnna Kitchens, adds: “An island or breakfast bar can also work as both a storage area and a place for dining. But less often they are used for actual food preparation. Utilise your island further by installing an appliance – the addition of a small sink or hob in your island will mean everyone can get involved with food prep!”
6 Shelving is making a statement
Open shelving is becoming increasingly popular with homeowners able to make a statement in their kitchen by adding their own personality with small accessories and even deluxe food items placed on shelves. “It’s the perfect chance to add lots of greenery in a physical format with bright, airy kitchens providing the perfect setting for succulents and hanging Ivy, incorporating yet another important interior style trend,” says Papilio.
The team at Kitchens International say floor to ceiling units with no plinths or space above the unit is a key design trend that will provide maximum storage in smaller areas. They add: “Open shelving with internal lighting produces a more living room feel and look to the kitchen and is becoming increasingly popular on islands.”
But hidden storage will be “more important than ever for hiding older cookware that you don’t want on display, ambient food and other bits and bobs that find their way into the kitchen,” says Trainor from LochAnna Kitchens. “Internal drawers, pull out storage systems and tall larder storage will also be making their way into kitchens.”
7 Shaker style retains popularity
The shaker door is still a popular choice with kitchen buyers. “In recent years we have experienced a 16 per cent increase in shaker style doors sales,” says Kieran McCracken from kitchen door manufacturer BA Components. “Shaker offers distinctive yet practical styling as many consumers opt for a traditional design with unicolour matte finishes being very popular.”
8
Handles are back
The overall linear look with handleless doors proved very popular in 2017’s kitchen, but according to LochAnna Kitchens, ‘handles are coming back’.
“Think beautiful, ornate handles against modern cupboards and bright coppers/rose golds on shaker style kitchens,” explains Trainor. “There is also a growing trend towards matching accessories and appliances to the rose golds and copper accents found in handles as more homeowners try to find alternatives to everyday stainless steel and black.”
9 Concealed and disguised lighting
Layers of lighting is key to any good design. The traditional line of three pendant lights continues to be popular and always looks stunning in a rectangular kitchen or hung over an island. “Pendants can work really well as task lighting,” says Simon Wallis-Smith, director of lighting specialists Fritz Fryer. “We recommend that you complement them with LED strips on the underside of eye level cupboards, illuminating the work surface. Depending on the size of the kitchen, you can also supplement this scheme with some carefully positioned recessed down lights.”
Lighting under cabinetry and counters is an easy way to change the atmosphere of a room, something which Papilio has seen a lot of their clients requesting. “Concealed LEDs can be placed under the worktops to transform a kitchen into an entertaining space… it’s an easy way to illuminate a room and add a little bit of contrast to the existing lighting features,” they say.
Angus Mackintosh, senior sales designer from Kitchens International, adds: “Disguised light channels built into the plasterboard are very on trend in modern architecture buildings and I expect this to merge over to the kitchen world and become more common place in most designs.”
10 Multiple ovens
“People are engaging in much busier lifestyles these days and it makes sense to cook multiple dishes simultaneously, particularly people who are big on entertaining,” explains Papilio. “Multiple ovens can even create a statement look as shown here, where three eye level Gaggenau ovens have been placed in tall wall cabinets to contrast with the original stonewall.”
It doesn’t stop at ovens either. “We’ve also had requests for multiple dishwashers, washing machines – just to ensure that there’s always enough room for the various demands of running a family home!,” they explain.
11 The rise of the smart kitchen (all at the push of a button)
“Smart appliances are developing at a rapid pace and anyone considering installing a new kitchen in 2018 should really not do without a boiling water tap – seen as a necessity in today’s living; wifi ready appliances – allowing us to control our kitchens from afar; and steam ovens and vacuum drawers – this makes cooking quicker, easier and contains the flavour in the food,” say Kitchens International.
Meanwhile, Papilio note an interest in “integrated music and lighting that can all be controlled via one central hub, as well as a call for iPads installed for recipes and work surfaces with integrated mobile phone charging”.
In particular, the Amazon Dash button and Google Home have become ‘essentials’ in the kitchen, enabling homeowners to order products, play music, set reminders or find out recipes at the touch of a button or the sound of a voice.
A must have is the Zip Tap – now the world’s most advanced drinking water appliance. “The Zip HydroTap transforms ordinary water into a form of the clients choice, all via one tap,” says Papilio. “This essential and smart addition to any kitchen provides pure tasting boiling, chilled and sparkling water at the push of a button.”
12 Brass and mixed metals
“Brass has been hot for the latter part of 2017 but this will continue into 2018 with the material being paired with warm colourways and acting as statement features within the kitchen,” says Papilio.
It’s not just taps either, although feature taps and statement sinks are becoming increasingly popular too.
“You can create striking focal points with brass doors, door handles, ovens, sinks – it’s all about thinking outside the box,” Papilio adds. “Mixed metals are still a key trend too and mixing with metal appliances can work well. SMEG have a range of coloured metal appliances in black, white, red, blue, mint and more which look great mixed with other metals like brass, silver and bronze.”
13
Multifunctional trough sink
“Why have one use for a sink when you can have a multifunctional trough which can be used for anything from chilling oysters, champagne or growing herbs, and of course as a traditional sink to prepare food at too,” says Papilio. “For the avid entertainer the multi-purpose integrated trough sink is the perfect addition to any kitchen and with more homeowners looking to add that “wow-factor” to their home, this has been a favourite amongst suggestions to clients.”
14 The industrial look develops with heavy metal and concrete effects
Look out for industrial style features such as concrete effect finishes – Kitchens International says the trend for concrete-sprayed doors or concrete effect doors will continue to grow – as well as black grip ledge handles and open style metal frame racks for storage and eye-catching features.
“An ongoing shift towards individuality in today’s kitchen design, the latest fronts, finishes and solutions become instrumental in creating definition and individuality,” says Schüller. “With heavy metal, even storage is coming out of the cupboard and when features unite with function, you create kitchens with purpose.”
15 Patina finishes
Papilio notes a shift “towards treating metals to achieve interesting patinas is becoming more popular”. While we can’t get enough of metals in our home – whether that’s copper or brass – there are various ways to achieve a more popular patina finish by oxidation, chemicals and heat, all of which give dramatic and different finishes for a personalised kitchen.
16
Living walls will bring the outside in
“Living walls are going to be a hit in the kitchen this year,” reveals Papilio. “With botanicals being on trend for the past few years, consumers are on to the next thing – feature walls made from moss.”
For example, MOSSwall, which is available in a range of colours, appears as a wall of natural moss. Papilio says this is a “simple concept but delivers a striking visual and in addition the natural moss provides excellent acoustic absorption”.
17 Appliances take on contemporary aesthetics
Thanks to products being designed to take on contemporary aesthetics, kitchen appliances are seamlessly blending in with our interiors. Pastel colours are becoming particularly progressive in kitchen appliances, with key shades of pink, green and aqua blue, whilst bold brights continue to expand within home appliances more generally, offering statement pieces and injections of colour.
Innovation research and trends firm, Stylus, comment on a trend of brands employing natural materials to add an element of crafted luxury to appliances. “Wood veneers, cork and leather provide a welcome contrast to technological-driven products and synthetic materials, allowing appliances to sit sympathetically alongside furniture and domestic interiors.”
18
Natural unpolished timbers and atttractive veneers
With homeowners more mindful about use of materials, we’re likely to see an increase in the use of characterful`veneers such as Pippy Elm & Walnut for 2018, predicts Papilio. “These materials add texture and intrigue to the kitchen and when working in a bespoke manner can be used for everything from statement wall veneers to unique cabinetry and shelving. The use of high quality wood to create statement rooms is going to be big.”
19 Faux marble and stone worktops
“The latest material we’ve seen a surge in for kitchen worktops is Neolith. A well thought-out range of finishes to suit the modern worktop requirement and also very practical, unlike the recent marble trend,” says Papilio. “NeoLith’s revolutionary manufacturing process uses 100% natural materials, extreme heat, and intense pressure to produce the most durable surface material available in the market today. The range includes finishes in silk, satin, river washed and polished.”
20 Accessible, multi-user kitchens
“An inclusively designed kitchen is intended to offer independence to less able or wheelchair users, whilst at the same time being suitable for all other users in the household,” explains home specialist association KBSA.
With multigenerational living on the rise, the growing need to accommodate for different users, whether that’s ensuring enough space has been allocated to create a turning circle for a wheelchair, heights of work surfaces and workflow, has been noted as a key design requirement.
“Multi-user kitchens for those abled-bodied and less abled is an increasing wish for many homeowners with huge advances in moveable worksurfaces, appliances and tables,” reveals Kitchens International.
