Multi-purpose, minimalist, and high-tech are buzzwords that all manage to co-exist this decade as kitchen design evolves to match post-pandemic lifestyles.

By Donna Heiderstadt

As NKBA celebrates its 60th anniversary throughout 2023, we’re excited to look back at the kitchen and bath trends that have influenced design in the seven decades since our founding. We’re kicking off this retrospective with what’s happening right now in kitchen design in the 2020s and we’ll work our way backwards decade-by-decade until we share the top trends in the kitchen and bath spaces in the 1960s.

We may only be a few years into the 2020s, but one thing is already certain. It hasn’t been a particular color or material that has had the greatest impact on kitchen design this decade but rather a word: multi-purpose. If the global pandemic gave the design world a gift, it was the realization that the kitchen truly is the heart of the home as it became the space for not only cooking and dining but also gathering and gaming and Zooming and remote learning. This decade signals a functional and aesthetic sea change for both designers and homeowners.

 Kitchens are larger, clutter-free, and minimalist.

This wave of design innovation has been propelled by a need to make the kitchen space as large and as multi-purpose as possible. Flexibility and open layouts (many involving taking down walls) have been key, with features that include larger islands and conversation areas, easy-to-clean surfaces, better storage solutions, a focus on clutter-free minimalism, and a desire for organic or natural materials that echoes the biophilic influences of the late 2010s.

 Smart technology aids everything from cooking to communicating.

Technology, too, has had a major impact, driven by a new generation of smart appliances — embraced by a new generation of Millennial homeowners — and the consumer’s need for dedicated device charging/viewing and seamless video communication. About 30 percent of homeowners are opting to equip their kitchen space with technology such as app-controlled refrigerators featuring multiple freshness zones, touch-free faucets, and voice-activated lighting. It isn’t hyperbole to say that designers have been busy with remodels that completely reimagine the kitchen into a sleek and photogenic 21st-century work-play-enjoy space. 

 Homeowners are embracing indoor-outdoor living.

Seamless indoor-outdoor living, another major trend born of pandemic-era practicality, has also inspired homeowners to want to bring the outdoors in via large kitchen windows and folding or sliding doors and the indoors out with patios or decks featuring kitchen set-ups that rival those inside. These transformations reflect a desire to create a welcoming and safe environment for in-home entertaining, as does the trend of home bars — whether for coffee or wine and spirits — incorporated into kitchen design. 

Design buzzwords include modern, organic, and not always white.

The ubiquitous white, gray, and stainless steel palette of the past decade is fading in favor of more natural and organic materials, notably lighter wood tones, and the embrace of colors such  as blues, greens, and golds. European-style flat-front cabinets and large-format stone and porcelain slabs offer a more modern look and matte and brushed finishes are replacing shine in hardware. Integrated LED lighting for sustainability, a focus on lower cabinets for aging in place, and matched panels to seamlessly blend large appliances into cabinetry complete the look of the early 2020s kitchen. The result is a more natural-feeling space: warm and cozy yet still light and bright.