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Kitchen Trends For 2021/2022 & Why Going Vintage Means You Tick All The Sustainability Boxes
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Interiors

Kitchen Trends For 2021/2022 & Why Going Vintage Means You Tick All The Sustainability Boxes

Kitchen trends tend to go in cycles, from full-on gloss to uber minimalism and back through to traditional. But what doesn’t change, is quality. Investing in a quality kitchen not only means you’ll see the benefit yourself but that many others could also benefit if you ever choose to sell your home or even, just sell your kitchen. Quality cabinetry can be re-finished or re-painted bringing new life back into your initial purchase.

For autumn/winter 21/22 two trends are coming through and luckily, they’re ones that you can easily, and more importantly sustainably, incorporate into your future or existing kitchen. Here Looeeze Grossman, founder of The Used Kitchen Company takes a deep delve into these key trends. 

New to me trend

The first trend is sustainability. With consumers, retailers and manufacturers becoming more eco-savvy, design and trends have followed. The ‘need for new’ is being replaced by ‘new to me’ which was hugely accelerated during the national lockdowns of 2020 and early 21. With everyone stuck at home it was easy to find fault in the room you use the most, your kitchen. But it was also easy to find inspiration from the endless social media channels and TV shows dedicated to restoration. It wasn’t possible to order and have installed a new kitchen, but what was possible was restoration or buying a used kitchen that could still be delivered efficiently.

The nation found a love of upcycling, from painting out their existing cabinets to buying a ‘new to them’ kitchen and finishing it with unique hardware.

The energy efficiency standards for appliances and water-saving initiatives now available to most, for free, mean consumers are far more aware of all the items in their kitchen. If your appliances are out of date, refreshing with super high-end ex-showroom stock will deliver on sustainability credentials, two-fold. One with a higher energy rating certificate and two saving it from landfill. High-end appliances are built to last and can instantly upgrade a kitchen.

There are now sites, like The Used Kitchen Company where you can buy ‘new to you’ kitchens, ex-showroom styles and even appliances saving a huge amount on a brand-new kitchen while still retaining huge ‘bang for your buck’. Designers often out of the reach for most budgets become affordable, appliances from the kitchen of dreams can be included and styles which grace magazines are instantly available without a six-to-twelve-month lead time.

It’s great to see sustainability becoming so ‘chic’ in the kitchen industry which did have a tendency to be wasteful and consumers getting on board with protecting the planet in new and innovative ways.

Dark tones and texture

The second trend is darker tones and texture. Deep blues, greens and graphites are making their way back into showrooms and into consumers homes. A stark contrast from beaming white, the new colours provide a level of depth and warmth we haven’t seen for some time. They’re also hugely practical, easy to keep clean and have the benefit of looking effortlessly chic when teamed with neutral worktops in striking marble finishes or stark stainless glossy steel.

The stark contrast of dark with white and neutral tones thanks to the resurgence in black Crittall style windows and doors has meant that cabinetry needed to step up and stand on its own against these striking and industrial yet warm finishes.

Industrial elements are still important and the trend for golds, brass and black taps and hardware make this darker look current. Even chrome hardware is coming back to add pops of added texture and gloss to the darker tones.

Texture is also coming back with cabinets feeling textured to touch with either a grain or a full-on pattern. Such a difference to the sleek handless cabinets we’ve been seeing for the past few years. The texture brings a modern twist to wooden doors and teamed with the deeper tones in the natural wood grain, creates a chic, contemporary finish.

Texture, when teamed with striking stone worktops or steel gives the kitchen an almost reflective quality. Lighting, when having a textured kitchen is key. Pendants and lighting which can be positioned to really show off the texture create shadows and depth which recess lighting just can’t provide. This also allows for added drama with striking light fittings creating chic shadows and beams of light around the walls.

The dark and storm tones and texture are bringing kitchens bang up to date and allows for touches of old school glamour with lighting, hardware and accessories.

Minimalism can still have a place with handless darker doors still making a resurgence if decadent finishes aren’t for you, the beauty of darker tones is that it looks chic with or without hardware.

 

Images: Unsplash