In most homes, the kitchen is one of the hardest working rooms. It’s usually the central location for meal prep, family gatherings and more. So, accordingly, these cook spaces deserve lots of love, including custom storage solutions, an intentional layout that maximizes function and thoughtful decor. All-white kitchens with minimalist additions and open-concept floor plans used to be the gold standard, but as Kathleen Walsh, standout designer at the New York Design Center, notes “all-white everything” is out. “Full stop.”
That sentiment applies uniquely to kitchens in 2024 because these rooms are full of life. It’s only right that the decor and color schemes in the heart of the home complement that. Walsh also mentions that bold colors can “bring a lot of energy and personality to a space.” And while vibrant colors are a popular trend in kitchens for 2024, we also notice other standout features. Think statement-making appliances, unique faucets and customized additions that work exactly how you need them to.
Ready to spice up your kitchen with a few new touches? Here’s how to do it with ease.
2024 Kitchen Design and Appliance Trends to Look Out for
Colorful Appliances
Image courtesy of True Residential
Appliances are slowly but surely becoming the biggest stars in the kitchen—a transition that makes sense considering how much square footage they use and how big an investment they can be. One of our favorite ways to inject personality and color into the kitchen is to go for a freestanding appliance that packs a colorful punch, and the most innovative brands in the home space seem to applaud that approach as well.
Take luxury home refrigeration brand True Residential. All of its kitchen appliances tend to make a splash (even mega momager Kris Jenner uses the brand’s standout fridge stack in her massive cook space). However, it’s True Residential’s vibrant kitchen must-haves that have people drooling. A sorbet-hued two-door refrigeration unit, for example, was the star of the show at 2024’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show.
Brand manager for the family-owned and operated appliance company Chelsea Bothe noted that “customers and designers [are] electing to have their appliances be the focal point [and complementing] those colorful pieces with softer cabinetry, paint colors and other fixtures.” If you choose a similarly bright appliance, try keeping the other accents in your cook space softer or muted. Both suggest that “this allows for a bold pop in an unexpected, yet sophisticated way.”
Retro Accents
Image courtesy of Forbes Home
If kitchens with rainbow-colored additions speak to you, you may also be a fan of cooking spaces that feature retro touches and accents paying homage to vintage style. These spaces can feel layered, interesting and full of character. Need even more of a reason to incorporate something retro in your kitchen this year? Walsh said she believes that adding antique pieces gives “design-minded clients…access to amazing pieces that have history and feel personal” in addition to being sustainable. If truly vintage pieces aren’t in the cards for you, there are still ways to get the look.
Brands like Elmira Cookstoves and SMEG, for example, have ovens, refrigerators, countertop appliances and more that combine the aesthetics of vintage kitchens with the modernity and tech advances of the 21st century. If you want to bring on a blast from the past, try incorporating a few unexpected red appliances or accents in the kitchen.
A Mix of Styles
Image courtesy of Moen
Neither your home nor your kitchen need be limited to only one design style. In fact, incorporating multiple aesthetics can make your spaces feel all the more well decorated even if you don’t hire a professional interior designer. Customized cook spaces are becoming even more popular, and your kitchen is becoming one of your dreams, regardless of trending. That, in and of itself, is the trend.
Senior creative style manager at Moen Danielle DeBoe Harper says that one of her favorite ways to make a major impact in the kitchen is to combine “styles to create one unique design that helps homeowners encapsulate their own tastes and lifestyles.”
Want to mix styles in your kitchen with ease? Harper suggests looking “toward fixtures that lean more transitional to meld together both traditional and modern pieces for a clean, comfortable and contemporary look [or even finding] traditional fixtures and decor that have bolder color palettes to make the space more modern and eclectic.”
Since kitchens tend to be focal points in the home, Harper also notes that they can handle a bit of added flare. “Choosing statement pieces…like faucets with bold finishes or tall statures is a great way to make a big style impact,” according to Harper. In this eclectic kitchen from Moen, the brand’s Smyth faucet combines vintage accents with modern ones. The brass color is the icing on the cake.
Integrated Features
Getty Images
Well-designed kitchens come in all shapes and sizes, but certain aspects appear in so many of them. They look good and are designed even better; the form follows function. One way to make your kitchen look stunning and increase its functionality is to incorporate appliances that simply fade into the background.
Style and communication director at Italian kitchen appliance manufacturer Bertazzoni S.p.A. Valentina Bertazzoni notes that this trend can work in smaller spaces, too. She shared, “We see more and more compact kitchen spaces that lend themselves to integrated styles like stacked [appliance] configurations and built-in cabinet panel concealed appliance installations.” According to Bertazzoni, these additions can make a kitchen feel more spacious and create “custom style [and] a subliminally elegant ambiance” all while “reducing the degree of visual noise.”
For those who prefer not to have a standout fridge, for example, a design professional can help you hide your unit behind doors that match perfectly with your existing cabinetry. Want another way to make your kitchen feel incredibly custom and unique to you? Go for an integrated dishwasher that hides in plain sight or an appliance garage that conceals all of your smaller countertop appliances like coffee machines, air fryers and blenders.
Standout Moments
Image courtesy of Virginia Toledo and Jacob Snavely
Some homeowners may have unlimited budgets to remodel their kitchens. Still, even those with a tighter allowance can create a wow-worthy moment by highlighting just one particular element in their cook space, another trend we’ve been seeing. Picking a singular feature to be the star of the show will look intentional and prevent you from breaking the bank. In this dream kitchen designed by Virgina Toledo of the New York Design Center and photographed by Jacob Snavely, so many things are jaw-dropping: A sculptural chandelier over the oval dining table stands out, as does the fun pink and green color mix of the dining and counter chairs. The kitchen flooring, however, is the undeniable showstopper.
Pro tip for making a significant impact in your kitchen? Toledo suggests “picking one strong element in the room that [will play] the leading role and investing your design and financial resources to make sure it stands out.” In this space, her team “created a custom pattern of mixed marbles” for a unique look that can work in almost any style of kitchen.
Bottom Line
Kitchens are becoming more functional, more customized and bolder as we move forward into a new season of home improvement. While minimalist, all-white rooms still have a place in the world of design (as no trend ever disappears completely), kitchen designers and homeowners are experimenting more. People no longer want to sacrifice their unique tastes for muted decor, and the end result in this slow shift is colorful.
We’re making kitchen design fun again. If you’re ready to embrace the change, you can start small. Inject a bit of vibrancy with a colorful electric kettle, for starters. If maintaining the budget is of a concern, though, you can go the opposite route. Add wallpaper to your kitchen backsplash, invest in a custom faucet and sink combo that will draw the eye and replace your tile with something eclectic that makes a splash. You deserve to have a kitchen that feels like you.
