We opted for a matte black ladder style handle to add some contrast against the cloud grey painted doors. It also adds a contemporary flair on a more traditional cabinet door.
Concealed Storage
The aesthetic of modern design is heavily dependent on crispness, cleanliness, and an inherently decluttered style. Only thing is, modernism can be cold, inaccessible, and intimidating – especially in the kitchen where ideals like closeness, family, and entertaining are often at the forefront of our minds.
To satisfy the linear lines of modern design, and the bubbly, contemporary energy of the modern kitchen, we’re predicting that concealed storage will be a major hit of 2019. Getting rid of the handles and knobs in a kitchen space may seem trivial, but its effect is widely noticed.
Further to concealing obvious drawers and cabinets, we expect cabinetry trends to showcase more slab fronts, eliminating a lot of routed edges, recessed panels, and ornate design work found on many traditional cabinet doors.
The designer of this home finished off the kitchen space by adding a raw wood dining table to bring back some of that rustic charm into this newly designed space.
Retro & Vintage Elements
We’ll probably continue to see elements of traditional kitchen design be intertwined with retro and vintage design elements into 2019. This style first became popular as an alternative to more classic contemporary and eclectic styles by accenting spaces with specific features like chairs or bar stools, rather than an all-out mash-up of styles.
Vintage lighting is a great way to spice up a contemporary or modern kitchen design. We expect to see much more pendant lighting about islands in 2019, as well as undermount cabinet lighting to add a zest of ambiance to darker spaces. More organic materials and warm colours in features like sinks or faucets will also help pull out a more playful and up-cycled style (bronze or copper, anyone?)
This photo is a beautiful representation of the combination of modern design & rustic log cabin aesthetic.
Wood
Connection to nature is quickly growing as a powerful motivator for many discerning homeowners. While access and views of the outdoors are a staple of bringing more natural spaces into the kitchen, use of wood within the space itself continues to be a popular choice.
Wood helps create a warm, inviting, and welcoming space for guests and owners alike. It’s a forgiving and versatile material to work with from a design perspective and helps open spaces to achieve more accommodating and airier spaces. But, oak and maple aren’t the only woods we expect to see.
There will likely be a push to utilize more exotic and dynamic woods, like teak, bamboo, and even rustic features like butcher block island countertops to draw emphasis to pattern and texture. This furthers our inclination that modern design will seek to pare down and allow more natural elements to shine through. In modern spaces, expect to see more wood accents, like mantles, beams, shiplap, and even flooring.
Creating this appliance wall was tricky, as we needed to get a TV that would fit in line with the appliances and become built into the cabinetry.
Integrated Appliances
The new ideal of luxury is a kitchen space that needs a little cleaning, intervention, and attention as possible – doing so allows homeowners more time for socializing with guests and family; but it’s a kitchen after all – the space needs appliances to accommodate cooking and refrigeration.
Cue concealed or integrated appliances, a convenient way to not only include new and modern appliances but also as a way to move towards a more streamline design influenced by simplicity and minimalism.
2019 will inevitably see the trend of concealed cabinets expend to include the concealment of more and more appliances – namely the fridge, microwave, and dishwasher, but also will have an impact on the styles of ranges and ovens people buy. Expect to see more infrared and induction cooktops that are more subtle and seamless in appearance.
Range hoods will be slimmer and less invasive to the eye of most people in the kitchen, and appliance garages that hide the more acute mechanisms of cooking – like blending, or toasting – will continue to gain popularity.
Colour Trends
We can’t talk about kitchen design trend predictions without discussing new and emerging colour trends for the year. With both clean-cut spaces that depend on the cleanliness of modernism and warmer more organic and natural spaces on the rise – we predict that forest green and matte black hues will dominate the kitchen landscape.
Forest green can cover territory ranging from classic to contemporary, to modern, organic and warm. It pairs well with both white and off-white accents like ceramic tile and marble countertops, as well as warm natural elements like wood, cork, copper, and stone.
Matte black is a more dramatic extension of the forest green trend we anticipate for 2019. Black is a crisp way to halt the onslaught of colour and texture in many modern kitchens and is a fabulous way to provide a solid finish in millwork, fixtures, hardware, and handles.
Digital Tech
Design trend predictions aren’t valid without mentioning modern kitchen appliance technology. We predict an upswing in buy-in for futuristic and efficient appliances that cut down cooking times and maintenance, while ramping up environmental consciousness, efficiency, and convenience.
Imagine the pleasure of activating your espresso machine via your smartphone before you get out of bed, or being able to boil a pot of pasta water in a minute flat, or cooking a steak perfectly via the sous-vide method – or the ability to have your fridge show you what’s inside via a screen, or prompt you to make a grocery list.
Aside from appliances, undermount cabinet lights will inevitably become more and more efficient and varied, providing a multitude of lighting options using a fraction of the electricity, and high flow faucets and fixtures geared to boost efficiency will reign supreme; these are the advances of modern appliance technology in 2019, and we don’t see this trend slowing down anytime soon.
The cabinetry surrounding this incredible cooktop area was designed with glass fronts for a luxurious way to finish off this statement piece.
Tall Backsplashes
Elegant and sophisticated, the growing trend in backsplash considerations will continue to be tall, full-wall marble, quartz, and ceramic solutions. Expect to see mirrored marble and engineered stone veneer in higher-end designs and kitchen with elevated budgets, and the eloquence and allure of herringbone ceramic tile design as a powerful textured, relatively maintenance-free alternative to natural stone.
Subway tile will always be a timeless staple of the kitchen backsplash conversation but expect homeowners to experiment with size, opting for larger tiles, and even installing them vertically, instead of their classic horizontal layout. Expect to see mosaic stone take a backseat in 2019 as designers and owners revel in the grandeur of size and impact, rather than meticulous detail.
Backslashes are beautiful and provide much more than food splatter protection – homeowners understand the backsplash is an immense focal point that draws the eye upwards, allowing a taller full-wall backsplash to make a powerful statement.
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Tagging the freshest and most impactful kitchen design trends and predictions for 2019 is all about pooling the outgoing styles from the previous year and making bold, instinctive predictions about what’s next.
Elevating our current path to test our creative limits is what gets us out of bed every morning – and we suspect these design tips will get you out of bed too when you find them waiting for you in the kitchen.
Let’s work together! Book an online consultation with our award-winning kitchen specialists to build the kitchen of your dreams.