By LIN ELLIS
DavidsonNews.net

Trends in kitchens happen a little more slowly than in living & sleeping spaces & what is at first perceived to be a fad, sometimes evolves into what people expect & demand in their kitchens. For example, stainless steel appliances were once thought to be trendy, now they are what most re-modelers & prospective home buyers desire. Here are the top trends in kitchens:

Either very dark cabinet finishes, or the ever perennial, white kitchen ~ my personal favorite. Mid-tone wood finishes are beginning to date a kitchen, unless they are special.

The photo below depicts 2 trends ~ dark cabinets, as mentioned above, & a major trend that continues to be the expectation of homeowners: the kitchen is the family room.

Kitchens are getting taller. As the trend to more “right-sized” homes continues & kitchen design focuses on efficiency, soffits are being replaced by taller cabinets & taller kitchens.

Mixing 2 different cabinet finishes has been & is continuing to be a trend. Also, homeowners prefer natural stone finishes for countertops.

Creativity ~ & Ikea. Thrift stores & flea markets are becoming the destination for unique pieces & Ikea has put a lot of thought into kitchen design, appliances & accessories.

Designers are using more furniture inspired items in the kitchen, like the island below.

Professional quality appliances are very popular. And, appliances ~ especially stoves & refrigerators ~ are getting larger. The photo below shows another trend ~ open shelving & in some cases, no upper cabinets.

Dry wine storage in the kitchen ~ interestingly enough, wine refrigeration units are on a slight decline.

Some other kitchen trends are:

Eco-friendly is now a given ~ we are shopping for Energy Star appliances.
French door style refrigerators are the most popular
Sleeker cabinets are sneaking up on cottage & shaker
Built in trash & recycling
Expanded use of tile ~ beyond just the backsplash
Induction stovetops are becoming more popular, but gas is still #1
Satin finish facets, followed by stainless steel
Pops of color via small appliances
Art is more accepted in the kitchen ~ hooray!!!

Lin Ellis is one of the principals of Running in Stilettos, a full-service property care, personal concierge & lifestyle management firm covering the southern Lake Norman area. Lin is passionate about art & design & started a design blog, Style is in the Details, two years ago & also writes all of the blog posts for Running in Stilettos.

photo credits: Ikea, House Beautiful