When it comes to interior design, the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the home. This is because the style cannot easily be changed after the kitchen has been built. A lot of the decor of the kitchen require installation and plumbing service. As a result of this, careful thought should be given to designing the decor of the kitchen beforehand.
While designing the kitchen, careful consideration should be given to functionality, simplicity, practicality and organization. All these must equally be combined with the aesthetic appeal and warmth that would befit a home.
As with many other things, the pandemic which raged throughout 2020, and is still with us, has informed the kitchen design trends for 2021.
Spending more time indoors, working more from home, and the kitchen increasingly becoming the centre of the home will all make the kitchen a place to soothe the mind, a place to work, and a place to dine and socialize in 2021.
Indeed, careful thought has been applied in choosing the design trends for the kitchen for the year 2021.
While certain things have been carried over from the previous year, novel and creative things have been included. The end result being a kitchen that is thoroughly fit for the times.
Ranging from materials and technology to layout plans and colour schemes, the kitchen design trends for the year 2021 promise an exciting design season, and these trends are as follows:
Smart, Compact and Simple Plans
In keeping with the currently trending minimalist approach to design, the kitchen in 2021 will have more space and less clutter, while functionality and efficiency will equally serve as core guiding design principles.
Even though we will see more sophisticated gadgets in our kitchens in the upcoming year, maximum use will be made of the little space available through the use of integrated appliances and hidden storage.
We will expect to see such creative designs as simple cabinetry that could be used to hide refrigerators and dishwashers, or hidden stations that could be used to keep the kettle or toaster out of view.
Two-Toned Colour Schemes
It is expected that the coming year will see the kitchen more frequently being designed using a combination of two colours, as opposed to just one.
In this regard, a preferred combination would be the use of a dark colour alongside a brighter colour.
Such a combination is intended to give depth and character to the kitchen space as both contrasting shades will be used together on the walls, surfaces, cabinetry and furniture of the kitchen.
Dark and Stately Colours
The current trend of designing kitchens with two-toned colour schemes will equally make the use of dark colours trendy.
The combination of dark and lighter colours creates the look of sophistication and opulence.
A possible set-up could be the use of dark-coloured surfaces together with light-coloured furniture.
Some dark colours that will be trending in 2021 include black and dark grey - which will be good on such surfaces as worktops, floors and splashbacks - and green and navy blue - which will be good on tiles and cabinets.
Colour Comebacks
The pandemic has restricted movements and caused people to forego travelling to warm Summer destinations.
In order to make up for these losses, the kitchen in 2021 will see the resurgence of natural colours that are typically associated with warm vacation spots, such as terracotta, sunny yellow, cyan and sage green.
Readily-Available Heated Water
It has already been reported that the sale of hot water taps went up significantly in the year 2020. Google's search engine also witnessed a marked increase in searches for hot water taps by up to 25% over the course of the same year.
These trends were largely as a result of people working more from home and needing to make tea or coffee while working.
It is thus expected that the kitchen in 2021 will be featuring hot water taps more frequently, by way of keeping up with this new demand.
Downdraft Extractors
The year 2021 will see more downdraft extractor fans being installed in cooking hobs.
In the past, downdraft extractor fans had been considered unreliable. However, marked improvements made to newer models have been making them more and more efficient.
With their ability to remove odours and vapours from their source during the cooking process, and their obviating the need for a visually obstructing head-height extractor hood, downdraft extractors are expected to be the extractors of choice for designers in the coming year.
Serene Colour Schemes
In 2021, dark colours are expected to continue to be the preferred colour scheme for cabinets; however, serene colours will be the colour scheme of choice for walls and free-standing furniture pieces.
The serene colours, such as dusky pink, soft grey and sage green, are supposed to have a calming effect on the mind, hence they would prove suitable as colour schemes in a kitchen that would help calm people down after a hectic day.
Soft Textures
Since one of the key guiding principles in designing kitchens in 2021 is creating a soothing environment, the use of soft textures - for example, muted matte surfaces - will be a hallmark of the upcoming design season.
Soft textures not only tend to have this soothing effect on the mind, they are quite easy to maintain, courtesy of modern anti-fingerprint technology, which would make cleaning them less burdensome.
Statement Taps
Statement taps are considered a fixture in kitchens and are expected to continue being so in 2021.
Kitchen designs for the upcoming season will see such eye-catching taps as brass taps and industrial-looking taps, both with curious and interesting handles.
Living Room Furnishings
With the growing preference for open-plan spaces, and the kitchen increasingly becoming the centre of our homes, it is expected that our kitchens will also increasingly become like our living rooms.
The forthcoming year will thus see more living room furniture and lighting come into the kitchen.
Brass Finishes
Brass finishes are featuring more and more in contemporary kitchen designs. Ranging from taps and hinges to knobs and handles, they present a look of sophistication when matched with cabinets painted with blue or green hues.
Statement Floors
Statement floors - including such abstract flooring as faux parquet and herringbone - will be in vogue during the coming season.
The aesthetic effect of statement floors will best be felt if every other part of the kitchen is designed in such a way as to have less of an eye-catching effect.
This can be achieved, for example, through the use of grey-coloured cabinets which have no handles. It will also be advisable to use open shelves on walls, instead of wall cabinets.
In-Built Handles
Kitchen designs which feature little or no cabinet handles present an interior which is easy to clean, has fewer visual distractions, causes a small kitchen to appear bigger, and conveys a sleek appearance.
This trend of using handle-free cabinetry actually gained currency in the previous season, and it is expected to remain in vogue during the upcoming season.
Multi-Functional
Modern trends and the pandemic have caused people to spend more time in their kitchens. This change in lifestyle will cause kitchen islands and breakfast bars to feature more in kitchen designs in 2021.
The kitchen islands and breakfast bars will be designed to double as places for group work or meetings, and for socializing. They could also be used as storage spaces.
Marble Makeovers
Marble surfaces have the quality of making a kitchen look more luxurious. It also makes the kitchen space look brighter and more spacious.
This carryover from the previous season is also expected to remain trendy in 2021.