Wood, quartz, statement lighting: Designers give the lowdown on the latest kitchen trends | Home/Garden

Stuck homes during the pandemic last year, many homeowners turned their attention to their kitchens, giving those tired rooms a makeover and attacking the rooms that just stopped working.

“More and more people are focusing on the functionality of the kitchen because last year they were stuck at home and using their kitchen and seeing what they didn’t do,” said Chris Licciardi, designer at Marchand Creative Kitchens. “People realized how old, outdated and not working their existing kitchens were and wanted to get better.”

As homeowners try to address the issues uncovered during the quarantine, they are also updating their kitchens with new appliances, finishes, hardware and colors.

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Angela Poirrier, owner of Acadian House Kitchen & Bath, even redesigned her own kitchen. Before the pandemic, Poirrier realized, like many of us, that her kitchen was more of a stopover than a meeting place for her family of five.

“Our after-school activity schedules were insane,” she said. “One child got off at 6 p.m., one at 5 p.m. and the baby eats at 5.30 p.m.”

When the pandemic brought these activities to a standstill, the Poirriers had time to dine together every night – noting all the unresolved issues with their kitchen.

Working with two designers from her company, Poirrier doubled the footprint of the kitchen and removed a 4 by 2 foot central fireplace to give it a sense of spaciousness.

The trend towards wide-open kitchens is still going strong, designers said, adding that their customers are creating rough edges elsewhere in the house for privacy.

“Everyone is looking for bigger, open spaces,” Licciardi said. “‘We want to remove the wall’ is the first comment from 95% of people.”

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Removing kitchen walls often means removing cabinets so that islands fill in the storage space. At Poirrier, she added a second island with built-in benches as part of her kitchen renovation. She topped the counters with quartz and a matching quartz backsplash. Because it’s antimicrobial and fools more expensive, high-maintenance natural stones like marble, quartz is a top choice for countertops.

“Many beautiful imitation marble quartz crystals are great alternatives to real marble – they are pore-free, durable, maintenance-free and do not need to be sealed,” says Logan Wheeler Ramirez, designer at Ourso Designs.

She suggests honed marble that has an unpolished, matte appearance for customers who want natural marble without it having to be serviced or scratched.

Another big trend for kitchens is wood floors – or surfaces that look like wood. Today you get the wood look with porcelain floorboards or waterproof laminate.

“With all the flooding, something wakes up that can be removed, dried, cleaned and put back down if water gets under the covers,” said Poirrier.

The impulse for wood is part of a design aesthetic that Poirrier describes as “atmospheric” and is characterized by matt black tones, natural materials and textures that are achieved with materials such as reclaimed wood surfaces or woven lights.

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Strong in closets for years, Marine has been replaced by what Poirrier referred to as “billiard green”.

But the light and airy look – white cabinets and lots of natural light – is still great, though Ramirez said more heat is injected into the palette.

“Everything is still very white, but I’m seeing a gradual shift from white to white to cream and gray cabinets,” said Ramirez.

She said she brightens kitchens by layering the lighting – with pendant lights that make a statement, and then adding work lighting and recessed box lighting.

Don’t be afraid of mixed metals and wood stains, she advised. For example, it’s okay to combine polished nickel plumbing fixtures with gold hardware.

“Mixing metals is absolutely fine as long as the design and style are consistent,” said Ramirez.

Ovens with mixed metals are popular, such as a French series made of stainless steel with gold buttons. Microwaves are relocated from above the stove to lower cupboards and are often housed in drawers, making them more accessible to children and people with disabilities.

Stacked ovens have taken the route of the wall-mounted phone, and convection steam ovens are “on the rise,” Licciardi said.

“(A steam oven) does everything a normal oven does, including regular convection baking,” said Licciardi, who has a Wolf convection steam oven in his kitchen. “It doesn’t grill, but I can put a piece of rib in it and in an hour and a half I’ll have tender ribs off the bone.”

The ability to cook as a family without meeting each other is one of Poirrier’s favorite things about her redesigned kitchen.

“We’re all in the kitchen – someone is making breakfast, someone is cleaning, someone is doing homework, and we’re all fine,” said Poirrier. “I stop, look around and notice how nice it is that we all cook together.”