The kitchen has come a long way in the past few decades. Look at any kitchen from the 1950s or 1960s, and you’ll see an odd mix of antiquated styles, outright baffling design choices, and a handful of design breakthroughs that have carried through to today in some form, including built-in appliances.
Today, homeowners have a variety of new appliances, new styles, and new trends to capitalize when building a new home or renovating an old one. But how are those available and in-style trends going to change in the near future? What about the distant future?
The kitchen isn’t done evolving, so if you want to make a great impression on your guests, improve your home’s value, and just make life more convenient for yourself, it pays to know how the kitchen of the future will change.
How the Kitchen Is Going to Change
These are just some of the ways the average kitchen is going to change in the next decade or so:
- Smarter appliances:
First up, appliances will keep getting smarter—and keep getting new features that make them more attractive. For example, most modern refrigerators have adjustable shelves, multiple doors, ice functions, counter depth, and high energy efficiency. Smart refrigerators can even keep track of your groceries, and offer digital assistance for some basic cooking tasks. In the near future, more kitchen appliances will get the “smart” upgrade, and soon, the entire kitchen will be part of one high-tech, interconnected network. - Hidden appliances: That said, hidden appliances will be the way to go in the near future. Appliances that stick out or look obvious will fall to the wayside in favor of ones that blend in with the scenery, tucked in under counters and flush with the other fixtures of the kitchen. In other words, the less conspicuous they are the better.
- Organic colors and styles:
Next, we’ll see a move toward more organic colors and styles. The look of natural hardwood is becoming preferable to the artificial allure of stainless steel, or black countertops. People have started preferring their kitchens to be warmer and more natural—which is somewhat ironic considering the other high-tech trends focusing on the latest in IoT gadgets. - Handle-free cabinets and drawers: Handle-free drawers and cabinets are already having a moment, and it’s only a matter of time before they completely take over the modern kitchen. If designed correctly, this layout doesn’t offer any reduced functionality, but makes the kitchen look sleeker and cleaner—with less space occupied by handles. Chances are, this will become the new standard in relatively short order.
- U-shaped layouts:
Many homeowners in North America already prefer the classic U-shaped kitchen layout. It provides more counter space and gives the kitchen a slightly more enclosed feel than the L-shaped layout that has more popularity overseas. In the next decade or so, preferences for U-shaped layouts will continue rising in popularity until it becomes the new standard—at least for a time. - A focus on efficiency. Modern kitchen designers love efficiency. In some cases, that means strongly preferring efficient appliances, which consume fewer resources and offer as much functionality as possible. In others, that means offering as much practical functionality in the smallest space possible. For example, including more drawers and cabinets with hidden storage in a kitchen island would be an efficient use of that space—preventing the need to add more storage elsewhere.
- Better-integrated lighting.
We’ll also see a trend toward better-integrated lighting. For some kitchens, that means “hiding” lighting under cabinets or in the ceiling, where it’s less noticeable. For others, it means installing lighting fixtures that fit in with the overall aesthetic of the kitchen.
Planning for the Future
Though we can study current kitchen trends, research upcoming technologies, and project consumer preferences based on the past and present, no one can accurately predict the future. Accordingly, the vision you have for the ideal “kitchen of the future” may look nothing like the kitchen that’s actually in style or in circulation in 2025. That said, it’s still a good idea to think ahead on your remodeling or construction choices and capitalizing on the likely developments of the next several years.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
