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Successfully planning a kitchen that will work beautifully for you and other family members well into later life comes down to a number of factors. Considerations include safety, functionality, ease of use — and sustainability, because you’ll be building something that will last.
“We are frequently considering how things will work in 20 years’ time and all that’s in between,” says designer Steve Root of Roots Kitchens, Bedrooms and Bathrooms. “That means thinking about how the homeowners’ needs might change, how lifestyles may develop, how things will wear and break and, thus, how they can be maintained.”
But that doesn’t means a kitchen without character. Because when form and function work hand in hand, you’re winning at design.
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7. Multiple Seating Areas and Furniture Pieces
Giving guests options for gathering and relaxing is important for facilitating an engaging party atmosphere. So pros recommend creating multiple seating areas that allow for intimate conversations or larger chats, both inside and out.
Mixing seating pieces like sofas, love seats, chaise lounges, accent chairs, swivel chairs and movable footstools can make numerous arrangements possible.
“We like to provide multifunctional pieces to our clients who love to entertain,” designer Robin Violandi of Violandi + Warner Interiors says. “It might be occasional chairs or upholstered cubes that are easy to move to different rooms to provide additional seating. Multiple small side tables are great for providing a place to put a drink or a small tray for guests. All of these items are easy to move from room to room and can serve double duty.”
This Dallas living room by Delaney’s Design is a great example. It features a casual seating area near a limestone fireplace with a sofa and two armchairs. The armchairs can swivel around to face a second seating area with a sectional sofa and two movable ottomans in front of a large-screen TV.
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1. Create a ‘Love It!’ Ideabook
Whether you’re looking to spruce up a specific room or decorating an entire house from scratch, a good first step is to create an ideabook filled with photos of spaces you like.
Sign into your Houzz account, then head over to the Houzz photo feed, where you can find millions of photos. If you wish, you can refine your search by choosing a specific room from the options just under the “Home Design Ideas” heading at the top of the page. Now look for a little pull-down menu on the right, just above the project photos, labeled “Sort by:.” Choosing “Newly Featured” from the pull-down menu will show you the latest high-quality images uploaded to the site.
Scroll through the images until you find something you like, then click the heart symbol to save the photo. When the box pops up, create a new ideabook by selecting “Create New and Save” and typing your new ideabook title. As you save additional photos, choose that folder title from the “Recent Ideabooks” list. Add a note to each photo specifying the elements you like.
At this stage of the game, save as many photos as you want, but prioritize rooms that have an overall style that appeals to you versus a single element. (Those photos can go in a separate ideabook.)
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Furniture by Lewis Fleming
3. Combining of Past and Future
While technologies such as 3D printing and AI open the door to new possibilities in product design, there remains the question of how we can also retain traditional craftsmanship. PR agency Informare hosted a discussion, The Heritage and Futurism of Design, at Soho Lighthouse to look into the issue.
A panel of design experts talked about how contemporary design is influenced by historical principles and how we can find a balance between preserving traditional skills and embracing cutting-edge technologies.
An exhibition in collaboration with the British Council, Jhuley Lal: Crafting the Contemporary, fused the work of emerging UK and Pakistani designers with local craftspeople from Khairpur, Shikarpur and Karachi to highlight how traditional skills and contemporary aesthetics can merge.
Meanwhile, in Chelsea’s Design District, visitors could take a look at Gaze Burvill’s Woodland seat, an outdoor bench made from a mix of old and new techniques. Complex parts have been manufactured using CNC machining, while the traditional skill of steam-bending has been used to finish off the product.
At the Material Matters exhibition, an example of this melding of old and new could be seen in Lewis Fleming’s furniture and lighting designs (pictured), which use a mix of Japanese craft and modern manufacturing techniques.
5 Big-Picture Design Trends Popular Right Now
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Energy savings and CO2 emissions reduction. Closely linked to the issue of water consumption, the energy savings needed to heat the bathroom today is another key topic. With its CoolStart technology, for example, Hansgrohe makes it possible to start with cold water. Thus, when the mixer handle is in the central position, no hot water is added to the flow as is often the case with standard models, limiting the energy consumption of the bathroom and therefore CO2 emissions.
Limiting greenhouse gas emissions also involves a wise choice of materials, many of which consume energy during production. On this subject, French brand Gwilen was at the show promoting its wall and floor tiles (pictured), as well as its sinks, countertops, trays and small objects (soap dishes, toothbrush glasses, light fixtures) for the bathroom. Made from 100% minerals, without resin and petrochemicals, they also contribute to creating healthy interiors without VOCs.
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2. Hardworking Sink
Designers often recommend giving extra consideration to elements that you interact with the most. In a kitchen, that can be a lot of things, but the kitchen sink is one area that always sees a lot of action. So it makes sense to put a little more effort into designing the sink area and choosing components.
These days, many sink manufacturers offer designs called workstations, which feature add-ons such as cutting boards, strainers and prep bowls. “I always recommend a sink with gadgets,” designer Brittany Steptoe-Wright of BSW Design says. “For example, the sink in this project [shown here] is a single, large undermount sink, but it has a colander, cutting board and drying rack that sit inside on a small lip and provide so much function. It’s a game changer.”
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Photos by Adam Rouse Photography
ADU at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their three children
Location: Silicon Valley, California
Size: 1,592 square feet (148 square meters); two bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Architect-builder: Principal Stephen Shoup and project designer-manager Hideaki Kawato of building Lab
After long delays during the pandemic and its resulting supply chain issues, the ADU was finally completed. Shoup and his team delivered a serene, modern home built for a sense of well-being, with traditional Japanese elements that include smooth lines, airiness and a connection to nature. The design includes an undulating roof with skylights that bring in light and a sense of the outdoors.
“The series of skylights in the main space that denote the main flow offer an abundance of light and a proportionally unexpected architectural and spatial experience,” Shoup says. “On clear nights, one feels as though they can reach up and grab the stars.”
The couple and their children ended up moving in themselves. They especially enjoy the quality of light and the kitchen and bath spaces in the new ADU. The main house is now used as study rooms and play spaces for the children and for relatives when they visit. There’s a large asphalt play area directly outside the ADU. The homeowners park in the relatively long driveway, part of which is covered.
Find an architect on Houzz
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8. Light It Right
Lighting can make or break the mood in your kitchen, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. A layered lighting scheme that includes a mix of task, ambient and accent lights will create a warm and inviting environment that’s perfect for socializing, whether you’re hosting a large-scale festive get-together or an intimate meal.
Think about adding undercabinet LEDs to brighten your work surfaces, a pendant light on a dimmer over the kitchen island so it can transition smoothly from prep zone to meals area, and wall sconces or directional downlights to highlight special features such as art.
How to Properly Light Your Kitchen Counters
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Photos by Alyssa Lee Photography
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Woodland, Minnesota
Size: 348 square feet (32 square meters)
Designer: Colleen Slack of Fox Interiors
Before: The forest setting in Woodland, Minnesota, was a big influence on the design. “Even though it’s located just outside the Twin Cities, it feels like you are way out in the deep woods somewhere,” Slack says. “This area is heavily wooded and trees are sacred here.”
The house had lots of large windows that brought the woodsy feeling indoors. “We all loved the up-in-the-trees feel,” Slack says. “But a large vent hood over the island was a headbanger and it blocked all the sightlines across the kitchen.” The left side of this photo offers a glimpse of this 90-by-36-inch vent hood, which hung over the entire kitchen island. The kitchen also felt enclosed and cut off from adjacent rooms, Slack says.
Most of the finishes in the room dated back to 1978, so they showed the wear and tear of almost half a century of use. “The floor tiles had humps to them, which made it so uncomfortable to walk around or stand in here,” Slack says. “They had so many grout lines. No matter how much my clients tried to get the grout looking clean, it was a huge job and it was impossible.”
The designer used Houzz photos to communicate ideas to her clients. “I create an ideabook for all my clients to fill up with ideas,” Slack says. “Or if they already have an ideabook, I ask them to add us to it. I find this helps them think about the details, and I love to use them for sharing specific storage ideas. Some things I show clients they have never seen before.” For example, she showed these clients a Houzz photo of corner-shaped drawers that are a good alternative to a lazy Susan. They wound up installing them in a corner of their kitchen.
Find a local kitchen designer on Houzz
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Pros are excited about a rising interest in organic modern style, which happens to embody a trend toward warm and welcoming colors. As the name implies, this style encompasses natural (organic) materials, colors and shapes used in a modern way. Think natural stone and wood, creamy off-white tones, natural upholstery such as linen and rounded shapes like arches and curves.
This combination creates a warm and welcoming look that feels comfortable and relaxed. In 2024 on Houzz, many search terms associated with this style increased year over year, including “organic modern bedroom” (up 245%), “organic modern dining room” (146%) and “organic modern kitchen” (97%).
This Austin, Texas, living room by Cedar & Oak embraces an organic modern look with curved architectural details, rounded furniture forms and organic colors and materials. Searches for “organic modern living room” were up 66%.