The kitchen remains the command center of the home. Features in this multizone kitchen, designed by Kathy Corbet, include enhanced storage, display areas, and wine and cookbook storage. (Photo by Quentin Penn-Hollar/QPH Photo)
As people spend more time at home than ever, kitchens are having a moment. Among the hottest trends: optimizing space and storage to create a setting warmed with personalized design touches. (No cookie-cutter solutions here.)
“The kitchen is the nucleus of the home — a place to gather, revel, meditate, eat, drink and be merry,” says Melissa Utt Heatley, a designer for Custom Kitchens Inc. “And it’s also an office, a classroom and a restaurant.”
Furniture World News and Houzz both report that multizone kitchens designed with work trapezoids (rather than traditional work triangles) that include dedicated areas for baking, prepping and chopping, or separate stations for snacks, drinks or homework are trending for 2021.
Designer Kathy Corbet of Kathy Corbet Interiors, who’s seen an uptick in remodeling in kitchens and rooms related to the kitchen, agrees that kitchen space is now multiuse.
“My designs need to have a committed working zone for the chef or chefs, and they need safe zones for the grazers, the bartenders and loungers,” she says. “I am still opening the kitchen more to the dining room, family room and [breakfast] nook, but now [those] areas all have distinct personalities.”
Not to be ignored in kitchen design is the new home crafter/maker trend. “Coffee, cocktails, craft beer, cider and wine — it has all moved into your home,” Corbet says. “I am designing home bars and butler’s pantries with built-in coffee makers, kegerators, wine coolers and bar sink faucets that have a setting for filtered water so that everyone can be a barista or bartender.”
New homebuyers are opting for enhanced storage options such as the cabinets extending to the ceiling in this model kitchen by HHHunt Homes. (Photo by Rene Scott)
Multiple Storage Solutions
Heatley is seeing an increased emphasis on kitchen storage, possibly because people are buying in bulk and going to the grocery store less frequently. Rollout shelves, tiered-utensil trays, lazy Susans and message center wall cabinets to stash mail and keys are all attractive options, she explains, when “people are looking for more order in a time of chaos.”
Karen Shelly, design manager at HHHunt Homes, agrees, and she says that new homebuyers are opting for cabinets extending to the ceiling to maximize space or open shelves in lieu of cabinets.
Personalize It
Corbet recommends including a showcase feature that personalizes the kitchen as more than just a place to cook. It is a feel-good item, says the designer, that can be anything from a family heirloom to wood reclaimed from the gutted kitchen, from art influenced by earlier travels to a chandelier from your grandmother’s house. “I think appreciation of family and loving what you have immediately around you is here to stay for a while,” she says.
Laura Garbett, a showroom manager at Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery, says she’s seen a return to elegance in what she calls the “Roaring ’20s” trend: stylish fixtures that channel the glamour of that golden age. She also says the trend of mixing different finishes, such as “wood and metal, or wood and chrome, leads to less of a matchy-matchy look.”
Color Me Creative
With the popularity of bold and bright colors in jewel tones, Heatley says shades to consider for cabinets can include “endive, lapis and dahlia,” a green, blue and deep red, respectively.
New home buyers are also opting for colorful, patterned backsplashes that add personality and tie all the finishes together, according to Shelly.
Natural Elements
The designers also report the renaissance of natural materials such as quarter-sawn oak, rustic cherry, knotty alder, hickory, walnut and other reclaimed wood cabinets, as well as earthy touches such as copper and hand-glazed tiles.
In its 2021 Design Trends Research report, the National Kitchen & Bath Association concludes that, “The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lifestyle changes are expected to have a lasting impact on kitchen … design extending at least over the next three years.” In other words, current design trends are no flash in the pan.
A Healthy Home
Noting that hygiene is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, Garbett suggests that consumers consider touchless appliances such as the Miele Knock2Open dishwasher or Wolf’s built-in oven with a handle-less design. Separately, she also reflected on the popularity of natural antimicrobial materials such as copper, brass and bronze.
With so many design options, it’s no wonder that when asked to capture 2021’s trends in just one word, Shelly says, “personalized,” adding that it’s about “what works for what your needs are, and how you live.”
