Design Your Dream Kitchen with EVA

The Characteristics of Modern Style Kitchens

Modern-day kitchen design is about creating a comfortable, functional, and personal space. A new kitchen can be designed in traditional or modern styles, and choosing the style direction for your project is one of the first design decisions that you will make. This decision will be influenced by a number of factors, including your preferred style and the architecture and decor of your home. While it could be assumed that traditional kitchens would be better suited to period homes, and contemporary styles to modern homes, this isn't necessarily the case. With the right design approach, both traditional and contemporary kitchens can look perfectly at home in modern or character properties.

Cosy & Family Friendly Modern Kitchens

A common misconception is that contemporary style kitchen designs can be clinical, cold, and lacking in character; however, this could not be further from the truth. Contemporary furniture enables designers to create a kitchen that is in harmony with the current architecture, interior design trends and everyday living habits. The versatility of modern kitchen design paired with advancements in manufacturing offers additional flexibility and durability benefits, expanding the design genre beyond just the textbook examples of contemporary design style.

Clean Lines

When looking at modern kitchens, you can see an emphasis on linear designs favoring clean straight lines. Clean, uninterrupted lines within a design have an impact on both aspect and depth perception. As a result, there are numerous ways to incorporate lines into a kitchen design depending on the space, design brief and kitchen layout.

For example, kitchen designs that use strong horizontal lines widen our field of view whilst vertical lines within a plan can make a space seem taller. Using a mix of tall cupboards, wide drawers, and thin-profile work areas help create seamless lines that can accentuate the size of any room whilst creating a minimalist look.

Slab/Flat Panel Cabinetry

Modern style kitchen cabinetry tends to take a minimalist form, favoring flat panel doors over more traditional designs such as Shaker. Often a design will feature two or more cabinetry finishes, to create zones and depth. These doors can be handleless or paired with modern handles, depending on the desired look.

Some transitional kitchen designs feature both slab doors and traditional doors, adding a traditional twist to a modern design.

Handleless Designs

Handleless designs enhance the linear aesthetic. In smaller spaces, handless kitchen designs can make a room feel bigger whilst in kitchens with a lot of cabinetry handless designs create an unfussy and modern look.

The handleless look can be achieved by incorporating handle rails into the design. Alternatively, push-latches enable handleless doors and drawers to be opened without an integrated handle rail.

Modern Appliances

Appliances in a contemporary kitchen design can be integrated, hidden or celebrated. Minimalist designs will keep sightline clear by hiding as many appliances as possible. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as integrating appliances behind doors, positioning appliances at low level on the reverse of islands and designing hidden utility and larder spaces.

For appliances that can't be hidden, many modern appliances are available in a range of finishes such as stainless steel, black or anthracite to complement the design scheme and maintain a contemporary aesthetic. Alternatively, contemporary kitchens with a rustic or industrial style may lean into a more eclectic look with a traditional or commercial-style range cooker.