Whether you’re a keen home cook, or rarely touch a stove, your kitchen plays an important role in your home.
The kitchen is where we catch up with our partners after work, where our families prepare and eat dinner together, they’re our favourite remote working spot, where we help the kids with their homework, the place where we gather our friends for drinks, and the central hub of summer garden gatherings.
These spaces say a lot about our homes, so if you’ve been putting off ‘project kitchen’, dive into our list of the key considerations of modern kitchen design, to inspire your renovation.
Modern Kitchen Design Ideas to Kickstart “Project Kitchen”
In this blog we explore tons of different kitchen design ideas categorised under 6 key categories.
1. Layout
Before getting into specific elements of design, it’s essential to first establish whether you’ll be designing your new kitchen inline with its existing layout, or whether you’ll reimagine your space with a brand new layout.
Explore the 6 most popular kitchen layouts found in homes today, and consider which one is most appropriate for your available space, and aligns with your picture of the perfect modern kitchen design.
- One Wall/Straight
- Gallery/Parallel
- Peninsula
- Island
- L-Shaped
- U-Shaped
2. Cabinetry & Storage
Most households accumulate a large amount of kitchen appliances, utensils, cookware, dinnerware, and accessories, and the way we store or display these items, via cabinetry or shelving, contributes in a large way to lending the space an aesthetic identity.
Choice of cabinetry and shelving is a key touchpoint of modern kitchen design, so it’s key to establish if you want to achieve a sleek, tidy, contemporary look where cabinetry plays a big functional and aesthetic role, lean on open shelving to make a feature of your kitchenware, or a combination.
Decide between wall-to-ceiling cabinetry to maximise your storage space and achieve a sleek, organised and contemporary look where even large appliances like fridges and freezers are hidden, or a more traditional design which leaves a soffit (a little wall space) above your cabinets.
Consider flat-panel, shaker, louvered, breadboard, inset, glass cabinet doors, or those with grilles that strike a balance between open and closed storage, depending on the aesthetic you’re looking to achieve.
While bespoke kitchen furniture like ours, offers cabinetry tailored to your most exacting requirements (both in the visual design, the orientation of drawers and cupboards, and the internal features of your cabinets), you could also consider incorporating storage units commonly found elsewhere in the home, as these can create a beautiful focal point, and offer a practical way to incorporate your dinnerware, glassware and small appliances into your kitchen design.
Contact our team to discuss how we can create the perfect bespoke cabinets for your kitchen, and check out point 4 in our list of key considerations of modern kitchen design, where we touch more on cabinet design.
3. Kitchen Islands
If you close your eyes and think of a dream kitchen worthy of the glossy pages of interior magazines, it probably features an island.
Islands are a modern kitchen design essential – whatever school of design you’re looking to harness – helping to elevate your layout by adding a stunning focal point, creating an extra zone for food prep, cocktail making and entertaining, offering an additional worktop space, providing additional storage and beyond.
At Parker Howley, we manufacture bespoke kitchen islands in our Yorkshire workshop, and offer a range of designs which you can tailor to your taste, or support you to create the island design of your dreams from the ground up.
Consider island designs featuring open storage elements like our Helmsley, Clayton, Malham, Haxby and Bolsterstone models, which are great to store and display wine bottles, cookware, dinnerware and small appliances, or closed storage designs like our Harewood, Hunmantly, Grantly, Scotton, and Foxholes models, before working with us to choose:
- The size of your island.
- Between a plain oak design or a model with a painted finish (Choose from 48 Rubio Monocoat stains or we’ll match any colour of your choosing).
- A plain/painted wood countertop, or one made from hand selected quartz stone.
- Between plain, reeded, shaker, and fluted doors.
- From a wide variety of knobs and handles to give your island the perfect finishing touches.
We can also tailor your island to include pull-out bins, drawer separators for cutlery, wine racks, and removable plinths or legs for ease of cleaning.
4. Design
Let’s get to the heart of modern kitchen design, the decorative features that help to create the visual identity of your space.
When it comes to your colour scheme you should first decide whether you want to opt for bold, warm or pale/muted tones, before exploring popular kitchen colours like:
- Black and white (often paired with grey tones)
- Sage green, and deeper darker greens.
- Pale pink, barbie pink, and peachy pinks
- Pale, warm and bold and bright yellows
- Navy, turquoise and baby blues
Next, consider if you’ll be painting your walls, incorporating a papered feature wall (using floral and botanical prints for a timeless traditional look, or culinary themed, geometric, striped or prints featuring abstract shapes for a more contemporary look), or leaning on wall tiling to create your chosen look..
Say no to whites and neutral tones and opt for coloured cabinetry to create a strong aesthetic that transforms your kitchen and the rest of your home. You could also paint inside your cabinets to make an even greater visual statement. Similarly, consider a matching oven hood cover to make every possible surface contribute to your kitchen’s aesthetic.
Your splashback is more than merely practical. Make it count with feature tiling, use glass-covered statement wallpaper, or get creative with splashback shape. Similarly, draw the eye with deep swirled marble/stone worktops, bar-style countertops or island counters.
Your kitchen flooring can truly transform your space. Consider whether you’ll opt for traditionally patterned, chequered, or geometric tiling, clay or cobblestone tiling, stone or concrete flooring, water resistant engineered wood flooring (including parquet designs like herringbone, chevron, chantilly, versailles, chequerboard, basket and double basket weave, mosaic and other designs), bare or painted floorboards, coloured rubber flooring and painted screed.
No list of key considerations of modern kitchen design would be complete without smaller design elements, so be sure to consider adding aesthetic interest via stools and seating upholstery, rugs, plants, wooden ladders for kitchens with wall-to-ceiling cabinets, kitchen towels, additional seating, wall art, and mirrors.
5. Zone, Zone, Zone
Zoning is how we create dedicated spaces within larger spaces. To wring the most from your modern kitchen design, consider creating different kitchen zones with:
- Floor tiles
- Rug choices
- Different countertop designs
- Different splashbacks
- Alcoves (for your cooking appliances)
- Recessed shelving
- Islands
- Tables (and tables as island extensions) bar-style countertops
- Wheeled bar carts
6. Texture & Ambience
Texture and ambience are created in the small details of modern kitchen design.
Create texture with wall art, wall coverings, printed blinds or curtains, lower cabinet or island curtains, textured tiling, textured oven hood coverings, rugs, tea towels, flowers/plants/herbs, and by hanging pans and utensils.
Lighting is key to creating ambience and setting a vibe. Start by considering where you’ll need lighting across your kitchen, and explore whether you want pendant lighting, traditional ceiling light fittings, spot lights, or wall lighting in each spot.
Don’t forget undercounter lights, low-level plinth lighting and decorative lighting like lamps and string lights, to set the desired mood.
We hope we’ve sufficiently inspired you to kickstart ‘project kitchen’. Contact our team today to discuss bespoke kitchen cabinetry, and kitchen islands, to bring to life your image the perfect kitchen to life.
