A kitchen island brings functionality and style to your space like no other home fixture. However, in addition to providing additional workspace and storage, and Making a design statement, a kitchen island acts like a magnet. It essentially attracts families and friends to gather, have conversations, and enjoy snacks.
“Functionally, the kitchen has always been the heart of the home, but people are getting back to hosting big parties, and the kitchen island has become the center of that activity,” says Denver-based Interiors. says designer Jess Knauf. Representative of Jess Knauf Design. “These days, we're seeing more casual, interactive entertainment focused on the kitchen and family spaces than in the past.”
Want to know which kitchen island trends experts say will be big in 2024, and which ones are on the way out? Here's what designers are predicting.
1. Custom is king
The overall trend Knauf sees in kitchens is that they are moving away from being completely utilitarian spaces. Instead, it's dressed up like the rest of the house, with wallpaper, semi-precious stones, and custom light fixtures. As such, the island is treated like a piece of furniture, with wood, lacquered finishes and custom hardware.
Knauf says that with a smaller budget, a degree of uniqueness can be achieved by differentiating the island with different colors. For example, companies like Semihandmade allow homeowners to order custom fronts of their IKEA cabinets based on their IKEA cabinets to achieve a unique look.
2. Double Island
“Double-island kitchens are a dream for chefs and entertainers alike,” says Gideon Mendelsohn, founder and creative director of the Mendelsohn Group.
One island typically includes a built-in sink or stove, Mendelsohn said, and the other island has space for entertaining and bar stools. This saves countertop space for plating appetizers or letting the kids eat at the island while you work in the kitchen. If you're a home-based chef, adding a kitchen island gives you plenty of counter space for food preparation and baking. Of course, double islands work best in large open kitchens, says Mendelsohn.
3. Waterfall countertop
Seamless and sophisticated, waterfall countertops are a contemporary design trend that continues to gain momentum. These countertops have a flat top that continues seamlessly to the floor on one or both sides of the countertop, or at the back of the countertop, explains Bob Bakes, director of design at Bakes & Kropp Fine Cabinetry. Masu. The horizontal and vertical parts are perfectly joined at 90 degrees, he says, so the seams are invisible.
“While stone is often used for waterfall islands, you can just as easily create the effect with wood,” says Bakes. They usually don't do much for storage, but they do have a nice design.
What are the kitchen island trends for 2024?
Bakes says two-story kitchen islands are becoming a thing of the past. As with his two-story breakfast bar, which is also being decommissioned, the different heights can severely divide counter space and be inefficient in terms of storage.
Instead, people are choosing a single height and two different surface materials, such as stone and wood finishes, Bakes says.
Another kitchen island trend that's going out of style is oversized kitchen islands because they feel like kitchen space is wasted, Mendelson says. “With oversized kitchen islands, homeowners often can't even reach the center of the countertop,” says Mendelsohn. “This minimizes the most important feature in a kitchen design.”
What kitchen island trend do you think will be next? Let us know in the comments below.
This post originally appeared on The Kitchen. See: 3 Kitchen Island Trends Interior Designers Love (And 2 You Should Skip)
