Terry Watson, planning expert at Moben, tells us about the upcoming trends in kitchen design in 2010.
1. Brighten up your kitchen with strong colours
The new Studio range at Moben © Moben
Integral to the ‘staying in is the new going out’ craze, the kitchen is no longer just a place to cook. With the average UK homeowner spending more and more time in the kitchen, expressing our creativity and individuality has never been so important.
Colour is the ultimate means of expressing your personality, and at the beginning of 2009 Moben led the market with its Cortona range, incorporating 2009’s must–have colour for the kitchen – aubergine.
Whilst Moben’s customers typically prefer to opt for neutral whites, creams or timber finishes, the introduction of Cortona (see left) saw sales of this on–trend kitchen colour soar. Lively colours are still expected to take over the kitchen market in a bright and bold way in 2010.
2. Bring it back to nature with wood finishes
People are experimenting more and more when it comes to kitchen design, and if neutral schemes just aren’t your bag, striking wild–wood effects bring waves of colour to the kitchen. Dramatic grains make a great focal point, and are turning out to be a popular trend for the kitchen in 2010.
Offering the best of both worlds, and ideal if you really want an eye–catching zebrano– or olive wood–effect veneer but don’t want to cover your whole kitchen, the latest design combines a striking grain–effect veneer with a backdrop of black gloss units. The mix–and–match combination makes for a dramatic designer look that's sure to attract attention.
3. Update surfaces instantly with textured veneers
When produced to a high–quality, wood–grain can look like the real thing, but for 2010 veneers will start feeling like the real thing, too, as texture is set to be a rising trend in British kitchen design.
Tactile qualities are increasingly important to the homeowner when choosing a kitchen. Bringing visual interest and sensual contrast, textured units can be used to soften a kitchen and inject the room with a little life. Plus, when combined with focused lighting, a strikingly textured unit can create dynamic silhouettes, giving a sophisticated yet natural feel to any kitchen.
4. Get technical with appliances and gadgets
Reinvented as a second living room in most modern UK homes, there is a growing demand for kitchens to integrate an array of gadgets and multimedia, with everything close at hand. Ideally, gadgets are camouflaged, hidden, or minimised, so as not to lose the overall ambiance of the room.
Glossy black fascias are ideal, showing that ‘white goods’ no longer have to be ‘white’. Black glossy appliances combine design, sophistication and flair, creating a real statement. Appliances with a chic black satin finish look set to be amongst the top five kitchen trends of 2010.
5. Invest in functional furniture that offers stylish storage
There’s nothing more important in the kitchen than plenty of storage space, with the typical UK household still being super organised in 2010.
Every nook and cranny now has a function, maximising every inch of available space. This not only creates a stylish look and streamlined finish, but also makes the room more practical and ergonomic. Expect to see traditional cupboards replaced with well designed interior units, such as drawer combinations of varying depths and styles, or bi–fold wall units that open upwards allowing people to move about the kitchen without hinged doors getting in the way.
Since one of the goals for today’s spaces is a neat and uncluttered look, drawer interiors will also continue to be customised to hold all our common utensils and accessories. Essentially, it will mean that there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.
In addition, with the rise of the modern man for whom cooking is a hobby rather than a chore, ‘man–gadgets’ are set to become an integral part of the kitchen in 2010. Not concerned with the style of the kitchen or the storage it offers, men are expected to be more focused on making sure their kitchen has all the state–of–the–art ‘tools’ needed to make their time more enjoyable, so ladies had better start making way for Teppanyaki grills and iPod media centres.”
