Kitchen Design Trends for 2021

The recent pandemic has caused a fundamental shift in the way families use their kitchens. Not only is the kitchen used for food preparation and dining, but now also acts as a home-office and a space to teach children whilst they cannot attend school. The kitchen is truly the “heart of the home”, serving multiple functions.

Kitchen appliances and products have changed following Covid-19. For example, touchless taps have increased in popularity in an effort to maintain good hygiene. Large and flexible fridge freezers are also crucial as many homeowners are bulk-buying fresh and frozen food. 

Let’s take a look at some kitchen design essentials for 2021!

1. A space that is both beautiful and practical

One day your customer’s kitchen may be used simply to store and prepare food, but on another day it could be used as a home office or somewhere to wind down or socialise after a difficult day.

How to achieve this:

Our kitchen design software allows you to easily add and move catalogue furniture within the room. The software also provides accurate measurements of the “free space” in a room, helping you to assess if it’s feasible to add in a table or a breakfast bar without cluttering the area.

Go the extra mile and think about things such as storage. Does your customer require additional storage to file office materials or do they need large surfaces for drawings and documents? 

Adjustable seating is also essential if your customer is doubling their kitchen as a home office. There’s nothing worse than sitting on an uncomfortable chair for hours on end – choose your chairs wisely! We also recommend choosing lighting that caters for both your daily home life and your work life. Fluorescent lights are best for those working on computers for long periods of time as they offer a softer, less harsh light.

2. A dining space for the family

Following the pandemic, more and more people are cooking at home or ordering takeaway. With this in mind, your customers need a space dedicated to dining.

How to achieve this:

With Winner, you can simply drag-and-drop your chosen appliances, cupboards, surfaces and fixtures into your design to create the perfect dining space for your customer.

Choose from a range of large dining tables, foldable/flexible dining tables, breakfast bars, a range of seating and under-counter storage solutions from the latest product catalogues.

Create a large open plan space that is adaptable so that, if in the future, your customer wants to transform their dining area, they can!

3. A clean, open plan space

Once you have covered functionality for your customer, it’s time to incorporate the styles they like. Do they prefer a modern style or a classic shaker style kitchen? Maybe they like a bit of both. 

Although homeowners might not be having guests as often as we would like to at the moment, friends and family are certainly still visiting even if it is virtually! It remains just as important to impress your loved ones with your kitchen even if it’s just being featured in the background of a Zoom call.

As of right now, there’s a growing popularity for a clean, tidy and minimalistic style kitchen – incorporating greige, beige and natural tones that give off a cosy, comforting vibe.

How to achieve this:

Get to know your customer before starting the design process. Create a bespoke kitchen rather than a kitchen from a predetermined range. With an extensive list of catalogues available, your customer can simply choose their favourite kitchen elements, and then you can quickly and easily drop them into the design.

If your customer is undecided, you can easily duplicate your room layout and switch products so they can visualise all options. Best of all, using Winner, your quote and products list is generated automatically as you design.

As things continue to change, your customers’ requirements will likely be different to what they were before the pandemic. Keeping an eye on both current and upcoming design trends will help you create beautiful, yet practical kitchen spaces that your customers will love.

For more information on creating easy-to-use, practical kitchen designs, download our Kitchen Design Top Tips Guide.

Interested in seeing our award winning kitchen design software Winner in action? Watch our 4 minute demo here.