LIFESTYLE// KITCHEN TRENDS THAT ARE TRANSFORMING OUR HOMES

Our kitchens are the heart of the home where families and friends can gather as well as being a functional space for cooking. They also served other multiple purposes from working or simply relaxing to being the social hub for all family gatherings.

Throughout 2022 our kitchens will continue their role of being a hybrid space, as we are now more inclined to introduce permanent solutions to home working. With wellbeing being at the forefront of design we are taking a fresh look at the flow and layout of our homes. From last year’s design forecast for 2022, we have seen a number of trends already making their way into our home from deep blues and forest greens colour schemes, accented with brass hardware to feature flooring and new approaches to kitchen lighting.

The Kitchen Larder

With our longing desire for a more organised home life Kitchen Larders and Breakfast Pantries are now becoming a staple in the modern-day home. The breakfast pantry is an immensely adaptable addition solution to any modern kitchen, incorporating this design feature ultimately frees up space to add more decorative touches, which in turn makes for a homely feel.

A number of kitchen designers and retailers have launched butler’s pantries and corner larders to meet new demands for better storage. In essence, this design feature is all about turning the clutter of our kitchen cupboards into a stylish and well-organised display. For open storage areas or glass-fronted units, decanting your dried goods into trendy glass jars and containers is the perfect solution, removing all of the bulky packaging freeing up space whilst also keeping everything looking beautiful whilst also being easy to find.

Metallic Accents

In the latter part of 2021, Google reported a huge 90% increase in searches for brass homeware and lighting, so there’s no surprise as to why our social media feeds have been full of this leading material in the past few months. Brass finishes are great attention grabbing accents for our cabinetry, they created a sense of warmth, especially when paired with a dark paint colour such as deep blues and forest greens. A cohesive design can be created with the use of brass hinges, handles, taps and even bold statement lighting. Using brass and antiqued metals in traditional settings adds an element of sophistication and age-old character to your space.

Kitchen Zoning

Sectional living has made a return to accommodate our new hybrid working schedules. Zoning informs the layout whilst also creating a gentle flow throughout the multifunctional space. The pandemic changed the way that we lived, slept and worked creating a move to incorporate zoning within our homes and creating different areas for each component of our lives. Forecasts predicted the creation of Marco areas within the kitchen, as more people are working from home there is a need to create workstations and zoom friendly areas that can also be multifunctional. This translates to the addition of small desks, with thoughtful decorative touches like table lamps, a stack of books, or houseplants, to make homeworking feel more intentional, and cosy corners sectioned off with occasional chairs, soft furnishings, and rugs for moments of relaxation.

Hues of Blue and Green

Rich blues and forest greens were predicted to be the most popular kitchen colours for 2022, this prediction has definitely come to fruition. Wellness and sustainability have been at the forefront of interiors for the past year and have definitely been prominent over the past few months as seen in our feature on ‘How is Self-Care Impacting Our Interiors’. Whilst we continue to move in this direction we are also becoming increasingly braver with the use of colour, opting for adventurous earthy tones and brilliantly bold hues. Green colour schemes are definitely having their moment this year and are being incorporated into our bedrooms and kitchens. As a colour we associate primarily with nature, this grounding shade has an incredible way of reconnecting us with our surroundings, creating moments of calm and positivity. Blue and green colour palettes work cohesively with the growing trend of metallic accents. Both colours are perfect for adding a bold yet sophisticated statement to the kitchen and they work well with all finishing touches, but as mentioned previously they work extremely well with brass and copper elements.

Layered Lighting

In 2021, we quite literally saw our kitchens in a new light - as we spent more time at home we started to gain a better understanding of how our lighting worked for us throughout the day. In 2022, we have translated this into a new layering approach to lighting, introducing spotlights for focused working, and soft mood lighting to transition us from work to home life. Multifunctional spaces call for multiple types of lighting which is the best way to create the right light for such a demanding space.

Feature Flooring

Kitchen flooring in 2022 calls for durability without jeopardising the element of design. The kitchen has become even more high-trafficked leading us to search for a more hardy flooring solution that doesn’t compromise on style. The classic flagstone tile and intricately patterned vinyl are what are now leading the way. Flagstone flooring’s hardwearing characteristic and classic appearance has stood the test of time, originally used for centuries in estates and country homes it is now in high demand as people are wanting to create this timeless look in their kitchens. Patterned vinyl is an inexpensive design solution which is seeing an increase in use within family homes, Vinyl flooring is a great way to add character, colour and personality to a room without compromising on safety or quality.