What are stylish kitchen designs?

To come up with a truly stylish kitchen design, you should think beyond trends. While trends are a great way to get ideas and inspiration, if you’re looking for a stylish look, then it’s important to find a balance of trendy and classic. Of course, style means something a little different to all of us. It, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. So it’s worth outlining what we mean here when we talk about stylish. Stylish kitchen designs should be elegant and intuitive, with a feeling of luxury and high quality. 

Layout

The most stylish of kitchens are the most useable. Flexibility in a kitchen is here to stay, and so stylish kitchen layouts should be planned with this in mind. A stylish kitchen needs to enable a person to move seamlessly and comfortably around the space. This means plenty of accessible storage, zoned areas and practicality.

Broken Plan

These layouts mean that you can benefit from loads of functionality without compromising the feeling of space. Your dining area, for example, will be marked out using furniture rather than walls. By installing a food prep sink in a kitchen island, this zone remains distinct, and everything you need is within reach.

Breakfast Bar

Whether attached to a kitchen island or at the end of a stretch of worktop, breakfast bars are back and rising in popularity. This space is perfect for informal dining and entertaining and fits seamlessly into our busy lives. A stylish kitchen should always have the capacity for entertaining, and a breakfast bar is the most versatile way to achieve this. Even better if you have a wine fridge under the quartz worktop!

Kitchen Office

With hybrid working very much becoming the post-pandemic norm, many of us have to allocate working space in a kitchen. Especially if there is more than one working person in the house! When planning a kitchen, it’s important to do this stylishly. Make use of an alcove, or integrate space for a laptop and storage within a kitchen island to keepclean lines. The key is to be able to hide it all away at the end of the working day.

Colours

While on-trend colours for kitchen  will undoubtedly look great, choose colours with a classic edge, and you’ll get more longevity from your decision. Cupboard fronts and walls are fairly easy to repaint if you want to refresh your scheme in time. This is why it’s important to choose other aspects of your kitchen, such as worktops and flooring, that will fit with a variety of schemes. Granite, neutral marble and quartz are ideal materials as they tone and reflect the other colours in the kitchen. 

Green

Shades of green continue to be top of the trends this season. If you’re looking for an elegant and stylish interpretation of this, look towards classic muted sage or shining emerald rather than vibrant lime. If pops of colour are your thing, temper them with natural marble or bright quartz. 

Neutral

At the moment, neutral means grey tones. This colour palate is a pretty safe bet for a stylish kitchen design. To elevate a grey kitchen scheme, be sure to include a lot of natural greenery and metallic accents. These give your kitchen a sense of character and depth, which is crucial in the most stylish of kitchens. 

Dark

Popular in current kitchen design trends, dark colours such as burgundy and navy blue bring gravitas and formality to the room. The key for a stylish kitchen is to not overdo it. Separate navy floor cupboard fronts with lighter wall units, perhaps. Or, balance a burgundy feature wall with light wood flooring and furniture.

Textures

Stylish kitchen designs tend to include a variety of textures to create depth and character. This increases the feeling of comfort and luxury in the room. You can achieve this effect with soft furnishings, statement pieces or contrasting materials. In addition, make sure to include levels of lighting. 

Tiles

Tiled splashbacks are a simple way to create texture in a stylish kitchen design. Use this technique to inject some pattern amongst blocks of colour, for example. Or contrast a matte granite worktop with shiny glazed tiles. 

Fabrics

As our kitchens move to become more spaces of leisure than working rooms, it’s important to include the softness of fabric as part of a beautiful kitchen design. Think about how a comfortable seating area might work in a broken-plan kitchen layout. Or set plush floor-length curtains at a patio door.

Lighting

A statement light pendant is important to create a focal point and depth in a room. The pendant itself should be interesting to look at and create harmony with the worktop below. By installing lighting that combines pendants, ceiling LEDs, under cabinet LEDs, and even under worktop LEDs, you can adjust the lighting depending on mood and practicality. 

Materials

The most stylish kitchen designs use materials that are carefully considered. Your priorities may include sustainability, durability and aesthetics. While hardwoods are striking to look at, they may not always be the most appropriate for cabinets, for example. 

Stone

For worktops, no material beats stone for timeless elegance and durability. Whether you prefer the perfection of quartz or the unique grains of granite or marble, there’s a style to suit any kitchen concept. These materials tend to transcend any surface changes to a kitchen, so it’s a sustainable and economical choice. 

Glass

Current trends are all about visibility. However, open shelving can be high maintenance to tackling dust and accumulated grime. This is why glass-fronted cupboards are so popular for stylish kitchen designs. Glass-fronted cupboards also break up sections of cabinet front, preventing the room from feeling flat.  

Bespoke

The wonderful thing about bespoke furniture is that you choose the shape and materials. Custom-built cabinetry can make use of every inch of space and offer you the exact functionality that your lifestyle demands. This is why you’ll see it in the most stylish kitchen designs. Think about integrated booth seating, floor-to-ceiling pantry cupboards, or a hidden home bar. There’s fun and style to be had here!

The most stylish kitchen designs are both inventive and functional, using classic high-quality materials. Contact us to browse a world of stone worktops that fit right in.