The kitchen cabinet has had a long and storied place in the kitchen. From the time of the Tudors in Europe spanning all the way to the great kitchen of the American frontier, cabinets have played their part in helping us store, find and use the essentials of our kitchen space. But homes are changing and kitchen cabinets can no longer just be a source of storing the odd utensil; they have to conform to the modern aesthetic demands as well as the function of modern life. From this perspective, you have to think long and hard about creating some synergy between modernity, form, and function. Here, then, are the key considerations for upgrading your kitchen remodel to the flow of modern design.
Efficient Management of Space
Kitchen cabinets take up the bulk of a space inside a kitchen so there is often very little you can do to wrestle some of this space away and repurpose to other areas. But proper selection of cabinets can ensure that your modern kitchen cabinets take up no more space than they need to. In many instances you can select cabinets that make better use of height than they do with width. Broad sprawling kitchen cabinets were once the vogue but the modern trend is to make them justify their space beyond just storage function.
Open and Closed Storage Spaces
A long time ago you had to open your cabinets to see what was in them. Naturally you get used to particular cabinets and their contents, but in an age when storage cabinets become multi-purpose, it becomes even more important to have some sort of open access. That is one of the design trends built up around modern kitchen cabinets. The traditional close system involves solid doors with handles while the open storage concept involves cut-outs that display the items stored. These open storage spaces are best suited for large items such as wine, plates and certain cooking utensils.
Layered Cabinet Layouts
The traditional kitchen cabinet layout sees a row of cabinets sitting next to one another, typically running from one wall to onto another. This design is still around, but the modern design trends are starting to take radical layout shifts. One modern design trend is to have the cabinets sit in rows on top of each other. These are then staggered to create additional storage space for items such as wine bottles and other large freestanding kitchen items.
Lighting Effects
In most kitchens the lighting either comes from outside during the daytime, or from a lightbulb at night. In modern kitchens the cabinets themselves are now offering some of that lighting. Whether it’s a row of lights on the underside of a row of cabinets, or the lighting motif that runs along the side or top of cabinets, lighting is now a permanent and functional part of modern kitchen cabinet design. Another modern lighting trend is to place lighting inside the cabinets themselves. This practice is especially popular in cabinets that have deep and expansive design size. The extra lighting offers the practical benefit of helping you locate that one thing you are looking for.
Kitchen Island Cabinetry
These days, homeowners that have the space are opting for kitchen islands, those freestanding additions that sit smack in the middle of kitchen. These islands are usually the focal point for sinks and stove tops, but in the modern sense, they are becoming a practical solution for storage and cabinets. The ultra-modern kitchen islands have distributed the foci of their design across storage and on-top function. This creates the functional space for homeowners that want to concentrate their kitchen cabinets away from the traditional wall. Indeed, there are some kitchens where cabinets are placed exclusively within a kitchen island. This has freed up Wall Space for more artistic ambitions.
These are of course just a few of the many modern design trends in kitchen cabinets. But these are the essentials and they are continuously evolving. The pace of the evolution means that what is considered chic and modern today can be outdated months from now. The key to navigating this dynamic design space is to tap the expertise of interior decorators and designers that have their eyes and ears to the ground. These 5 modern kitchen cabinet design trends act as the perfect jump-off point for initiating that conversation with your interior designer or decorator.
