Kitchen Design 2022: Countertops and Cabinets

In our previous blog, we revealed some of the kitchen design 2022 trends that we spotted at EuroCucina Milan. In that article, we discussed how the kitchen has become more important over the past years, resulting in unconventional kitchen layouts and designs.

Kitchen design today is more focused on human interaction and how people use the area. We saw many examples of how this approach is translating into innovative use of materials on countertops and cabinets.

Modern kitchen design has evolved to allow families to spend more quality time together in the kitchen. The main reason for an open, attractive and functional kitchen instead of the traditional enclosed layout, is so families can gather and interact with one another.

Designers are creating kitchens to encourage people to interact in an easy and casual way, such as kids doing homework on an integrated wood table, while a parent is cooking, with the other one perhaps sitting at an integrated “bar-height” counter enjoying a cup of coffee. Place this image in the middle of a living room and compare: is the kitchen now on the same “quality of life” level as the living room? Perhaps it is, and that’s where materiality comes in.

At Salón del Mueble, we witnessed how kitchen companies are coming up with new ideas about which materials can be used for countertops and cabinets, leading trends that encourage beauty, functionality and comfort. Here, the three that stand out:

COMBINATION OF COLORS AND TEXTURES OF ALL KINDS

At the show, we noticed that a combination of colors and textures of all kinds was one of the main design features. Kitchen and bathroom design incorporated many strong contrasts, such as between fluted panels and smooth surfaces, slats and stone faces, or wood colors and polished marbles.

TOQUES VERDES

Yes, the trendiest color seen at Salone del Mobile made an appearance in the kitchen too. Different shades of green were predominant in all the booths. We saw green used in furniture pieces, stones, lacquered carpentry items, etc. The color green was also combined with walnuts, wenges and bleached oaks.

CONSTRUCTION DETAILS ADDED

Countertops with a wide variety of construction details were evident everywhere. We saw some countertops that were thick and others that were thin. Also, we saw many designed with the well-known miter edge, combined with different carpentry surfaces. Take a look at some examples: