The New Year has arrived and with it discussions of the latest trends. Our top 5 ways to update your kitchen in 2017 are:
1. Add color and texture
White remains the most time-tested color for kitchens, and other neutral colors like cream, grey, and black continue to be popular. But color is coming back (copper, green, and blues), with designers incorporating multiple colors within the kitchen space or in the cabinetry. Here in South Florida, a contrasting color with white is very on trend, with blue/white and coral/white combinations seeming to be most popular.
Photo: Elle Decor
Floor – look for gorgeous cement tiles (encaustic) that liven up the kitchen. Wood grain dark tile is also very on trend.
Counter – quartz is in demand, and sales of marble have also increased. Thick butcher block style tops on a kitchen island or next to the cooktop add to the mix of colors in the room and can be very practical.
Backsplash – subway tile is still au courant, but colorful encaustic tile is trending.
Cabinetry – maple and cherry still predominate in cabinetry; however, pecky cypress and walnut are becoming popular alternatives that add visual interest to cabinetry.
2. Get organized
Increase your storage space with frameless cabinets (or European style cabinets) rather than framed cabinetry. Frameless cabinets allow full access to cabinet interiors and are increasing in popularity in US markets. Replacing your lower cabinets with drawers also makes good sense as drawers make lower storage much more accessible, allowing you to stay organized. Rollouts (trash rollouts, pantry pullouts, and corner organizers) are also great ways to make the most of your space. Other ways to get organized including grouping items by task – a bar area with a mini-fridge and glasses or a coffee bar with everything necessary for a morning brew – reflecting the way people work in a kitchen.
Photo: Porcelanosa
3. Revisit your style
Transitional style kitchens remain the most popular, with contemporary having just surpassed traditional for the second spot. Other trends to explore include Industrial, Mountain Modern (but maybe not in Florida?), Mid-Century Modern, Farmhouse, and Coastal styles. In terms of actual cabinet door styles, the Shaker remains extremely popular for our clientele as it works for Transitional, Farmhouse, and Coastal styles. But slab style doors for contemporary kitchens, often in exotic woods or high gloss finishes, are a fast growing segment of the kitchen cabinetry market.
Photo: Burnham Design
4. Go high tech
With all the high tech gadgets we have today, it makes sense that some accommodation is being made in the heart of the house for storage and charging. Dedicated drawers for phones and iPads contain tangles of cords and hide items away when not in use. Standard incandescent lighting is being replaced with more environmentally friendly LEDS, which make great undercabinet lights. Items like pop-up outlets streamline the kitchen as they disappear when not in use. Finally smart appliances allow you to communicate with them through Echo or Alexa (imagine asking the oven to raise or lower the cooking temperature) and can reorder items before they run out, but not all manufacturers offer their full product line as smart appliances. Right now the leader in home appliance integration appears to be GE, which offers more than 70 large smart home appliances.
Photo: Docking Drawer
5. Open things up
Open floor plan kitchens remain big. As we all know, everyone congregates in the kitchen when we’re entertaining, so it makes sense that the hub of the house is connected with other rooms, instead of being shut off. Another great way to open things up in the kitchen is to use open shelving, which continues to be a prevailing trend.
Photo: Iverson Signature Homes