5 Current Kitchen Trends Now

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Kitchen trends for 2020 and the next decade.

I am still keeping a close eye on kitchen trends despite my kitchen being (basically) brand new!  So many new and fun kitchen designs are hitting this new decade, and I think you will find some you love and want to incorporate too!  

The way I see it, trends are the best way to get inspiration on keeping your home fresh. Try not to feel offended if the things you love are suddenly considered dated.

The point is, you should think of trends as just a starting point for coming up with your own ideas and figuring out your own style as the times change! Let trends inspire you, not command you.

We finished our new build towards the end of 2017. After building a custom home, the last thing you want to do is change anything. After all, you built it exactly to your liking (hopefully) so the home should be pretty close to perfect in a homeowner’s mind!

Kitchen Trends in 2020 + and Keeping Our New Kitchen Relevant

Update: If you are looking for kitchen trends in 2021 specifically, you can pop over to Kitchen Trends in 2021 You Need To Know About.

I try not to get too bogged down with “the next big thing” or else I would always be unhappy with my home. But I do love to make small tweaks every year so that we keep it current, but also continue to love our home as much as the day we moved in. 

You don’t always have to spend a lot of money to keep your kitchen looking fresh. So many little projects are doable and budget-friendly!

What To Expect For Kitchens + Colors

In just the few years since we built, so much has changed. If you were a hater of all white kitchens before, this is your decade!

Pops of color! Earthy tones! Wood is cool again! (FYI, wood has always been cool). 

I, for one, was (still am!) the biggest lover of a white kitchen but I found so many new moodier kitchen color trends I am excited about. I bet there is something here you will love too! 

1. Kitchen Cabinet Trends: Dark And Moody

Bold and interesting paint colors are coming to kitchen cabinets trends this decade. White kitchens aren’t outdated and are still popular, but they aren’t the coolest kid on the block anymore.

I love a white kitchen (I think most people still do!) and I like the idea of having it both ways. No need to paint your white kitchen. Just try mixing a wood island, or just paint your lower cabinets.

Want to tiptoe into the water instead of diving in? Try painting your bottom cabinets only, or just your kitchen island a dark color. Hunter green, navy, black, anything with drama is in! 

If you are going dark and bold on your cabinets, make sure your counter and/or backsplash are light enough to reflect light. In the below photo the island might be a navy blue, but the fresh white of the walls and countertop keep the room feeling light.

In fact, you’ll notice in a lot of these photos there are other white elements so that the room stays bright.

These kitchen cabinets trends might surprise you- but the more you notice it around you, the more you’ll start to get on board!

Photo via: Andrea McQueen

Photo via: Emily Henderson

Photo Via: London Painting Group

2. Greige Kitchen Cabinets

Cool grays that are overdone in the room have reigned supreme for this past decade, but they are trending away currently. It’s all about the warm, taupe colors… with grey undertones. That would be, the greige kitchen cabinets. 

I see these trendy muddy greige kitchen cabinets all over Pinterest right now. They look great with black or brass hardware!

(And by the way – brass isn’t going anywhere! If you have been hesitant to use it based on fear it’s a passing trend – stop that!)

Photo via: Studio McGee

Photo via: Amber Interiors

3. Rattan, natural wood and woven materials

Photo via: Home Bunch

Photo via: Studio McGee

We saw a lot of woven and wood furnishings that looked like they weren’t stained last year. In the kitchen, chairs and barstools with caning will continue to rise in favor.

Woven pendant lights, and hold the paintbrush – natural and raw wood looking cabinets are in. Yes, wood cabinetry! Absolutely!

Nothing stained too dark – it’s all about wood looking as if it’s in its raw, natural form. Which brings me to my next trend…

4. Black, black, black

Black cabinetry, black hardware, honed black marble, black furniture… it’s taking over. Modern and usually done in a matte finish, it’s the complete opposite of the crisp white on white on white, and I am loving all these black kitchens.

Check out these chairs with natural caning, mixed with black!

 

Photo via: Home Bunch Design by: @pikeproperties

See how the black cabinets here don’t make the space feel or look dark? Between the white countertops, sink and the backsplash they have enough white to keep the room not feeling dark and heavy. I never thought I would love a black kitchen so much as I am today.

5. Hey overdone subway tile- the least you can do is stack yourself!

Photo via: Emily Henderson

I have subway tile ALL over my house. But although subway tile is a classic, more alternatives are popping up as people want something similar to subway with a twist. Handmade, longer, bigger, anything that is just a twist on the conventional.

And when it is used, we will see it stacked some places. This is a fun and modern twist. I love it! 

More Kitchen Trends To Lookout for

• more mix and match metals
• colorful and bold ranges
• no “designs” in the tile above the stovetop
• Shaker style cabinetry will continue to be a trend
• hidden appliances with cabinet fronts

Our Current Kitchen and Changes Since Move In Day

(Update: See our kitchen, mid 2020!)

This is our all white kitchen a few months after move in day in 2017. You can see we have already changed a few things here and there (Remember my house tour a few summers ago?)

And now here we are with some cell phone pictures I took this January of 2020.

We made changes with paint, new furniture, and I installed new brass hardware! 

The biggest change to our kitchen was taking the island and the pantry door from white to Sherwin Williams Krypton. I painted the door myself, and we had professionals tackle the island. You can read all about the before and after here!

Paint makes a huge impact, and is the cheapest upgrade you can do as everyone knows.

We also decided to use everyone’s favorite barstool at the island, which was my husband’s idea.  I love these stools and don’t be fooled – just because they are white and beautiful doesn’t mean that they aren’t family-friendly.

You can actually take them outside and hose them down if need be. I just clean them with a rag, and a bamboo bristle scrubber every now and then.

The legs are also already nicked up just a little, so NO – they are NOT too precious for your children! 

Last winter we took the subway tile up to the ceiling around the two doorways. This was a surprisingly affordable upgrade! This particular beveled subway tile was priced at $2.79/sq ft – at that price why not take the tile to the ceiling?!

We also added that fun vintage-inspired runner. A vintage or vintage-looking runner in your kitchen is certainly on trend. Ours is just made out of polyester, so I don’t have to worry about dropping spaghetti sauce on it.

(This is the exact sentence I tell everyone about the runner, which is hilarious because I probably make spaghetti once a year.) 

Looking for a kitchen runner? I have 25 of my favs rounded up here!

I finally made the plunge and bought the Downing Table I had been eyeing for years! This is our breakfast nook now:

We brought the grey chairs in to contrast the white table. The table has been holding up well (and of course, 2020 has us all home and using it more than ever).

The top is heavy duty and doesn’t scratch, but I am aware that the white surface could eventually be worn down by constant washing several times a day. So with the kids out of school now, I throw a tablecloth on it half the time. It’s just as beautiful in the space as I hoped!

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Which current kitchen trends will affect our still new kitchen?

We planned our kitchen out thoughtfully so that it would last for many years. And I know I want to keep loving it too. We won’t be doing much but we do have a few ideas, because I  want to keep things fresh of course. I also like small, easy updates with impact. There are just a few small ideas that I have up my sleeve to keep it current with kitchen trends.

1. Furniture Feet

Not a trend, but an update. We are adding furniture feet onto our kitchen cabinetry around the island for a more finished, polished look.  This isn’t an expensive project – and is something you can do in a small amount of time.

2. Greige

As far as greiges, I still love a crisp white. No greige cabinetry for me, I love the blues and whites. But I am using the color! We are replacing our crisp white chairs with some smaller, greige chairs. We still love these crazy affordable Amazon white chairs we have, and I highly recommend them if you have kids or are tall!

>>(See our finished blue living room here)<<

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I hope you enjoyed hearing about current kitchen trends. Remember, while trends are fun and inspiring, don’t let them make you feel negative. Find something you love about what’s current and let it inspire you to try something new in your own home. 

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