Don’t Regret These 10 Kitchen Trends
A kitchen renovation or remodel is one of the biggest projects and investment you can make for your home. With a room that sees such a large amount of use its important to take everything into consideration. An idea that may have seemed good at the time might be something you regret in the future. To help you not make this mistake, look at these design trends that have come out of style.
Over the Range Microwave
Installing the microwave above the range has become common over the years to save valuable countertop space. Recently there has been a shift in mentality in favor of accessibility. More families are choosing to make modern necessities accessible for the entire family. Consider having the microwave installed under the counter in nooks or drawers if space allows.
Under-Counter microwaves are a great way to save countertop space and allow everyone in the family to reach it.
Pot Racks
Pot racks allow dust to settle on pots and pans.
Pot racks were in style for several years but having a large rack over the kitchen island is more of a thing of the past. Instead of having all your pans out in the open for all to see and for dust to collect, the modern solution is to store pans neatly in drawers. Not only will this give your kitchen a sleeker and more minimalist look, but it will also keep your cookware clean.
Using a drawer eliminates the accumulation of dust on pots and pans.
Kitchen Desk
With the increased amount of days spent working from home, it might be tempting to have a desk installed in your kitchen. Unfortunately, such a desk ultimately ends up with stack papers and clutter that can be an eyesore. It’s best to leave such tasks to their respective rooms, keep the paperwork and desk for the home office.
Kitchen desks might sound like a great idea, but are often an eyesore after occasional use.
Distressed Cabinets
Distressed cabinet finishes can be seen in many country style kitchens. In the last decade distressed finishes have risen in popularity but have fallen out of fashion in recent years. Bright colors or natural wood tones are a safer bet when choosing a finish for your cabinets.
Distressed cabinet finishes, like any trend, will eventually fall out of fashion and may not be the best option if your looking to sell.
Appliance Garage
Appliance Garages can eat up valuable countertop space.
While an appliance garage may be nice to hide your small appliances, it still requires valuable countertop space. Having additional countertop space will never go out of style so ditch the appliance garage and use a large cabinet drawer to store small appliances. There are also specialty cabinets for heavier appliances such as a retractable shelf to store your Kitchen Aid (or equivalate) appliance which eliminates heavy lifting every time you want to use it.
Retractable shelf to store your Kitchen Aid (or equivalate) appliance.
Tiny Backsplash
Mini and half backsplashes are on their way out and for good reason. Spills and messes won’t always go where you want them, so a kitchen is better off with a full backsplash. Having a backsplash that goes up from the countertop to the bottom of the cabinets ensures messes are easier to clean.
Half backsplashes can become an issue when things get messy in the kitchen.
Tiled Countertops
Big in the 70’s and 80’s, tile countertops have made a comeback as it is often cheaper than a solid natural countertop surface. What might save you some money up front will become a maintenance nightmare because of grout lines. Grout lines can become a real pain trying to keep clean, especially if they are not periodically resealed. Once grout lines are neglected for long enough, they will begin to absorb any stains that may occur from spills on your countertop. Stick with a solid surface when picking a countertop, such as quartz or granite.
Tiled countertops require more maintenance than solid countertops like granite.
Bright Appliances
There has been a slew of brightly colored appliances that have began to trend to replace stainless steel that has been the go-to choice for years. Beware that a trend is still a trend and eventually will fall out of favor. Keep this in mind if you plan to sell your home soon, as you may want to keep with conventional choices to make selling easier.
Bright appliances have made a come back but stainless steel will always reign supreme.
Open Shelves
Although recently trending, shelves and the items placed on them will collect dust requiring cleaning on a more frequent basis. Unless you’re okay with having to dust your kitchen on a regular basis we would recommend keeping your cooking and decorative items put away. An alternative if you want to display items, without the excessive maintenance, would be to use glass cabinet doors. Glass doors can come in many different shapes and colors to complement the look you’re going for.
Open shelves will collect dust and require frequent cleaning.
Not Having Enough Lighting
The importance of having a well-lit kitchen cannot go overstated. When your cutting, cooking, and cleaning in your kitchen, you will want ample lighting without shadows being cast because of improper lighting arrangement. Start with good overhead lighting that will brighten the whole room and then add supplemental lights to illuminate workspaces and other features you would like to highlight.
Having enough lighting is an important factor when designing a kitchen.
Keep in mind when designing your kitchen that all trends come in and out of style and that at the end of the day if your kitchen is being designed for your use, the most important person that has to like it is you. If your planning to redesign your kitchen, INK Design Concepts can help make your dreams into reality!
