During the pandemic 91% of Brits said that they wanted to do much more cooking at home. Regardless of whether or not that became true for individual households, the fact is that the kitchen remains a very important – if not the most important – space in the house. It is the beating heart of a family home, and for that reason, it is somewhere many of us like to adjust and decorate to keep it functional, beautiful and up-to-date.
If you’re thinking of updating your kitchen in 2022, we’ve got just what you need – lots of great improvement ideas. From biophilic design to colourful ceramics, here are the stylish kitchen ideas you need to consider for 2022:
Planet-Conscious Design
“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” – Henry David Thoreau
Sustainability is a big deal when it comes to kitchen renovations in 2022. This influence is far reaching, from sustainable materials being sourced for cupboards and worktops, to eco-friendly paint being used to bring colour to the walls, which also reduces indoor air pollution too.
Every little helps when it comes to doing your bit for the planet.
Smart Furniture & Storage
Smart furniture and storage is where the item or feature is easily hidden, used in multiple ways, or it holds extra space or uses within its design. These kinds of features may have been a novelty once. But now, with space at a premium, they are a smart choice and in some areas, where the average value of a square foot of space can top £550 pounds, they are essential.
Cute-No-More Clean Cottagecore
Clean cottage core or modern country are a modern twist on whimsical, cosy, comforting British country cottage styles that are a bit of an obsession for many decor fans at the moment. Whilst, cottage core itself can be a bit too floral and soft for some, modern country allows the perfect mix of stunning thick wooden beams, raw brickwork and open aga cooking with rich dark neutral shades, flashes of clean whites and metallic accents.
It’s a way to mix the old and the new together to create a gorgeous nod to timelessness and classic styles, whilst keeping things fresh and modern at the same time.
Strawberry Ceramics
“Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.” – Paul Gauguin
Ceramics in the kitchen, like the sink, are seeing a bit of an update with a splash of colour. Strawberry pink is popular, but in reality, anything a little different to white or off-white is a great choice if you want to introduce colour to this space in a way that is different from the norm.
If you want to do the same sort of thing but in a less permanent way, white goods are also seeing a splash of colour in what is being offered by manufacturers. Washing machines, dishwashers and other white goods are having a jazzy moment, so if you are due an upgrade of these kinds of items, be brave and consider colour.
A Gentleness Amongst Clean Lines
Kitchens often have a lot of clean lines with cupboards, worktops and sinks often being rectangular or square shapes. A modern touch is a gentle curve of often straight lined features, such as worktops, islands, sinks and tables. It’s a gentle and minor feature with a huge impact on the overall textural look and feel of this important space.
Zoning Is Essential
Open plan has been a popular choice for kitchen layout designs for a while, but since around 50% of the population worked from home at least a bit during the pandemic, and many still do, totally open plan kitchens are not as popular as they were.
Zoning helps to split the space up so one person could be cooking, another could be working at the table and there could even be an area to be social or relax too – all within the kitchen area.
Lighting, screens, multifunctional furniture, design and even different levels of the floor can all combine to create zoning in a kitchen if this kind of adjustment takes your fancy.
Japandi Brings Zen To The Kitchen
Japandi is a mixture of Scandinavian and Japanese design that can be used to inspire the aesthetic of any space in the house, including the kitchen. If you fancy cool, relaxing tones, clean lines, a nature-based theme, and tranquil atmosphere, this could be a great path of inspiration to follow.
Plant-Conscious Design
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” – William Shakespeare
Biophilic design is everywhere, and makes a lot of sense in the kitchen. From hydroponic herb gardens, to beautiful terrariums made from washed out jars, there are so many ways to include plants in your kitchen.
Whichever ways you choose to integrate plants, though, the fact is that this trend is set to last, so any greenery will bring your kitchen right up to date.
Outdoor Kitchens Extend The Heart Of The Home
Do you want to extend your kitchen space without extending your home? An outdoor kitchen is a great way to do this, and it’s a big aspiration for house design improvements in 2022.
Rather than just a covered patio space or decking with a table and chairs (or egg chair if you’re fancy), this year these areas are extending far beyond the indoor kitchen and stretching out the overall space and it’s usage possibilities.
Where this isn’t possible in the way described above, instead, some people are building entire entertainment areas at the bottom of the garden, in sunken garden platforms or even extending out from summerhouse spaces.
An outdoor kitchen could be as little as any covered space with a pizza oven and serving worktops, or as much as an entire working kitchen with sinks, barbecues, storage, lighting and pretty much everything an indoor kitchen has but with the benefits of an alfresco setting.
“The essence of meaningful design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, civilised, meaningful environment.” – Albert Hadley
Your kitchen is an important space for nurturing family life, and how that looks to you, will be different from the next person, and the next person after that. However, if the 2022 trends above can inspire you to be more creative with your kitchen and design a space that you love, then they’ve been used in the best possible way.
