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Heading off towards what may very well be the end of a two-year pandemic, we all had to relearn a lot of common customs. Inventing a new form of greeting was quite uncommon, and the mask was either uncomfortable or a way to hide when out in public as we became uncomfortable with the outside world. Things changed, and we can not say that these changes won’t leave a long-lasting impact on how we interact with each other.
While some things changed, others remained the same, and we discovered a new kind of awareness and longing for simplicity. We crave a return to life but a more comfortable kind of life. Stress levels are at an all-time high, and our desire to be comfortable outside borders on life-threatening needs. We want to be comfortable wherever we are because we learned what it means to be uncomfortable in every environment.
Kitchen trends, like any other kind of trend, are ever-changing. There will always be something new that sparks outrage and awe, but current kitchen trends aren’t as easy to fade out. Interior design trends lean towards more comfortable styles without overlooking our planet’s needs. They are based on logic and respond to the ever-growing environmental awareness trend.
Should Kitchen Trends Last Longer?
A simple question requires a simple answer. Environmental awareness demands more sustainable approaches to consumerism. That would mean that we will not renovate kitchens every 5 to 10 years but may be painted and refinished when needed. You will no longer replace kitchen cabinets, islands, tiles, and flooring every time a new trend comes around.
Sustainable options, trends, and styles are up and coming that take into account previous trends, mix patterns, reinvent styles and make sure that we are comfortable with everything in our homes. These trends are long-lasting because they go against bold designs that don’t work with anything else and try to include heart within the style. Something old is restored, not thrown, something resilient is maintained, not changed, and something tattered is refinished, not sent to the landfill.
As we become more aware of our environment’s needs, we become aware of our possession and our lifestyle’s impact on the environment. We want to conserve, grow, maintain, repair, and reuse as much as possible. The economy is another motivator as kitchen remodels are exceptionally costly and more luxury than a need.
Long-Lasting Kitchen Trends of the 2020s
As we move forward with our lives, albeit tentative at first, we consider our kitchens and our current needs. The need for a more conscious lifestyle can be seen in current kitchen trends and not only. More and more people desire reconnection with nature after staying indoors for a long time. Comfort through application, accessibility, and design is a focus in today’s kitchen trends.
Light and color have new meanings, and they are more important than ever because we use indoor spaces much longer than before. We need our kitchens to take care of us in more ways than before because the kitchen is, after all, the heart of every American household. The following long-lasting kitchen trends consider what we learned from the previous two years and what we need from the future that’s slowly unveiling itself to us.
Colors of the World
A home is colorful and lively, so why should the kitchen be monochrome or all-white? White will remain one of the most used colors in kitchen designs for its clean aspect and light reflectance factor. However, all-white kitchens are a thing of the past. More colors are being integrated into the kitchen trends pallet, and this will increase your kitchen’s homey feel.
There is a tendency for warm neutral colors (beige, grey, brown) as we desire more compassion and comfort, and we’ll see plenty of combinations of greens and wood tones as we long for more outdoor time. Blues, yellows, purples, and pinks will find their way on cabinetries, while tiles will mimic patterns, woods, or be as natural as possible (terracotta, ceramic, stone). Contrasting colors will be the go-to option for minimalist design styles, with darks and lights forever remaining favorites.
Organic Aesthetics
Aside from natural color schemes, we can expect to see more nature, overall, in future kitchen trends. Organic styles that remind us of the natural world will take over in 2022, and the Biophilic style is the trendsetter. From Biophilic, we will see influences in everything from the contemporary style to transitional kitchens. Indoor plants will get a whole new meaning, and our space will be split into a small indoor garden on our counter or window sill and other ornamental plants to infuse nature within our homes.
The warmth and texture of natural materials will shine from the flooring to the countertops, cabinetry, stone, quartz, and many others, but more on that later. Rattan light fixtures will bring a warm glow inside our kitchens, and wooden elements will be visible throughout the space. Kitchen utensils will turn away from plastics and lean towards organic and natural materials as we pay more attention to our health, given the previous two years. It’s a natural response to want to be as close to nature as man is to live in balance with the natural world. Nature gives us a sense of calm and comfort that has severely decreased over the past couple of years. This is one way to bring nature back into our homes to comfort our weary souls.
Storage Options
This major kitchen upgrade came at the perfect time. Our kitchen cabinets are usually packed to the brim with pots, pans, jars, and containers of all shapes and sizes. The long-awaited revolution in storage alternatives finally came, and it was worth the wait. Depending on how much space you have, storage is essential, and knowing how to organize your storage can be tricky. The lucky ones can go as far as having a pantry right by the kitchen. That’s the kitchen equivalent of the walk-in closet.
However, space is of the essence because if you don’t have the space for a walk-in pantry, you won’t be able to use one. As prices per square footage continued to grow and affordability decreased, we needed alternatives, and they came. Pull-out drawers provide ample space for storage of different shapes and sizes and easy access to the pot at the back of the cabinet. For the minimalists out there, there are two opposing options. We can either go for complete minimalism where we hide the whole kitchen in the cabinetry, or we have open shelves, which only works if you are organized and clutterless enough not to have those shelves overflowing with cups, plates, and mason jars.
Natural Countertops
As we already mentioned countertops, let’s see what long-lasting kitchen trends we have to get excited about. We already know what the most sustainable and resistant options are. We are also aware that countertops need to be as durable as possible, so we’ll go straight to the hardest and strongest materials available in nature. We’re talking marble, of course, stone, quartz, and … albeit a bit unorthodox, wood.
Anything coming from nature is welcomed in the shades, colors, patterns these materials come with naturally. We don’t need artificial, man-made tones, and we don’t need the chemical treatments they come with either. Well, most of the time. When it comes to marble, stone, and quartz, we know them to be durable and highly shock-resistant materials. However, wood has another story. Wood is in and will always be in as one of the most sustainable materials available on the planet. With a carefully selected stain and some strong protective layer, even the most flexible wood can become countertop strong.
Conclusion
While what we mentioned above are some of the most long-lasting and sustainable kitchen trends, there will always be something that swims against the current. However, seeing as those trends change with the seasons, we should consider how our climate’s seasons change and less how seasonal trends change. The fewer seasonal trends we apply in our lifestyle, the lighter the seasonal changes will be for the environment. With fewer resources used, less waste is produced, less pollution, and less environmental harm is caused.
