Open shelving in kitchens has been gaining in popularity over the past several years. Substituting some shelving for upper cabinets, can really open up your kitchen and make it feel more spacious. The trick to making it work is to style the shelves with kitchen essentials that are regularly used and to be vigilant about keeping free of clutter ~

Lin Ellis is one of the principals of Running in Stilettos, a full-service lifestyle management, personal concierge, event planning, home organizing & design & property care firm covering the southern Lake Norman area. Running in Stilettos is proud to be members of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce, National Organization of Professional Organizers & the International Concierge & Lifestyle Management Association.

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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