A Beginner's Guide To Modern Kitchen Design

A Beginner's Guide To Modern Kitchen Design

In recent years, homebuyers have been rediscovering the charm of the modern kitchen. With this space becoming more function than form, homeowners are able to create a modern look with simple details and subtle touches. If you’re looking to update your kitchen with a modern design, here is everything you need to know about the trend.

What is Modern Kitchen Design?

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Traditionally, the kitchen was a space dedicated solely to function. Home cooks would stock their cabinets with pots and pans, store food in the pantry, and keep everything tidy with a set of utensils stored neatly away in a drawer. A modern kitchen, on the other hand, is a place of beauty as well as utility. It’s also more than just a room for cooking – it’s an entire design aesthetic. 

Modern kitchen design is sleek, clean, and functional, and is characterized mostly by a focus on simplicity. With modern design, you’ll find a few decorative elements, clean lines, and bold colors. 

One of the most important aspects of a modern kitchen is the functionality of the appliances and storage items that are used in it. Because of this, you’ll likely find stainless steel appliances and clean, white cabinets.

Streamlined: Stainless steel appliances and cabinets with clean lines will be the focal point of a modern kitchen. The best way to highlight these features is to keep the walls as clean and white as possible. While we don’t recommend a completely white kitchen, a combination of white cabinetry and a light-colored wall will draw attention to the cleanliness of your kitchen.

Easy to Maintain: With their mostly stainless steel appliances, modern kitchens require little maintenance.

Includes Plenty of Storage: With fewer decorative elements in a modern kitchen, the emphasis is on storage. You’ll likely see cabinets that have been designed with additional shelving and drawers to increase storage space.

Minimalistic: When designing a modern kitchen, less is more. You don’t want to go overboard with decorative items, as this will only distract from the clean, streamlined look.

How Modern Kitchen Design Affects Different Components of a Remodel

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Doors: In modern kitchen cabinets, the doors are generally flat and horizontal in design. This simple design is intended to enhance an open feel and make the room appear uncluttered.

Hardware: Many modern kitchen cabinets feature cabinet hardware that extends almost the full length of the drawers and doors.

Under Cabinet Lighting: You can add a shadow effect to your kitchen using under cabinet lights, which are a bit more unconventional than traditional kitchen lighting. You can also add some visual appeal to your backsplash design with under-cabinet lighting.

Ceiling Lights: Ceiling lighting comes in several different styles, but they all provide an uplifting atmosphere. In a larger kitchen, downlighting will add a customizable touch that will enhance your beautiful kitchen design.  Flush-mount lights are a great choice for smaller kitchens if you're looking to add a more stylish touch to the cooking space. Flush-mount kitchen light fixtures typically look like a dome and are flush with the ceiling.

Accent Lighting: Accent lighting is the perfect way to highlight your favorite kitchen features, just like adding a pop of color to your favorite furniture.

Floor, Tile, and Countertops: Modern kitchen flooring, tile work, and countertops either complement or contrast the overall aesthetic of the kitchen. The most common materials used for tile floors and backsplashes are slate, granite, and quartz. Geometric patterns within the tilework are also common in a modern kitchen.

The Most Popular Materials For Modern Kitchens

While there is no specific kitchen design that is better than another, certain materials do tend to be more popular among modern homebuyers. 

If you’re looking for the materials that are most commonly used in modern kitchens, you’ll want to focus on stainless steel appliances, white cabinets, light-colored flooring, neutral countertops, and clean, minimalist lighting. And while these materials are likely to be found in most modern kitchens, you can also mix and match several of them to create a look that is truly unique.

How to Create a Modern Kitchen With Small Changes

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Here are a few tips to create a modern kitchen with small changes:

• Keep the walls clean: Even if you don’t go with a completely white kitchen, light-colored walls are a great way to keep the space open and clean-looking. You can also use bold colors, like red or yellow, to add a pop of color to the room. 
• Keep the cabinets white: Even though you don’t have to use white cabinets, a uniform color scheme is a major characteristic of modern kitchen design. If you want your kitchen to look modern, select white for the cabinets. 
• Use clean-colored, neutral lighting: Lighting is one of the most important features in any room of the home. When designing the lighting in your kitchen, select clean-colored, neutral lights.
• Clear your countertops: Modern countertops should be simple, clear, and clean. Quartz or Marble tops work best in this style. For a modern kitchen, choose countertops with neutral colors. A neutral modern color scheme doesn't necessarily work with anything too bold in color or too veiny.
• Choose a matching backsplash: People often use backsplashes to give their kitchens a pop of color. But in a modern kitchen, simple tiles in neutral colors are best.
• Maximize lighting: Lighting is one of the most important elements of kitchen design and aesthetics. Make navigating the kitchen easier in the dark with a dimmer switch or under cabinet lighting. This will also improve visibility for cooking and entertaining.
• Update flooring: Older floors with damage or outdated flooring are the most obvious signs of an outdated kitchen. Besides structural damage such as unevenness or sagging, a damaged floor may also have scratches, dents, and other aesthetic issues.

Need Help Creating Your Modern Kitchen?

Now that you know what modern kitchen design is and how it affects different components of a remodel, you can decide whether or not it would be a good fit for your kitchen. If you’re looking to create a sleek, clean look, the team at McManus Kitchen and Bath can help you turn your dream kitchen into a reality. Contact us today for a consultation!

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