Kitchen 2020: Pops of colour & textures

The top trends expected to dominate the makeover include bright, colourful accents, textured countertops and splash backs and quirky styling

Anya Cooklin-Lofting

The kitchen is often the first place homeowners look to change when the urge to renovate kicks in. Survey about popular home improvements found that kitchen refurbishments were the most common improvement carried out over the past five years. The new season kitchen trends for 2020 will see consumers opting for colour over the black cabinetry that characterised 2019, textural finishes over smooth worktops and splash backs, a return to country working kitchens and quirky styling touches to give such intrinsically functional spaces a design-led edge. So, here are the top trends expected to dominate the market in 2020.

First up is colour, and this year, I’m not just talking about forest green. There are zesty oranges, sunflower yellows, emeralds, delightful pinks and, of course, electric blues. Blue in particular will prove a popular colour for your kitchen cabinetry, aga or island, as forecasted by Pantone. Its 2020 colour of the year is classic blue, which, according to international colour institute, “[instils] calm, confidence and connection,” as well as “[highlighting] our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”

With this surge in colour also comes an influx in textural surface options like tongue and groove panelling, smoked, grainy woods and fluted glazing. Brookmans by Smallbone is pioneering this glazed kitchen cabinetry trend by showcasing a delightful combination of bright-painted external shaker-style cabinetry with a painted carcass (the inside of your kitchen cupboards) in a contrasting colour which shimmers through fluted glass windows in the cupboard door. This glass option obscures the contents of your cupboards, providing the essence of open-shelving without the harsh reality of exposed stacks of Tupperware.

The shaker-style kitchen is a trend itself. For 2020, expect to hear more and more about the “below stairs” style kitchen. The comforting heft and weight of a Georgian or Victorian working kitchen (as opposed to the show kitchen or complete lack of kitchen space in the above-stairs living quarters) is making its way upstairs. Bevelled painted wood cabinetry and simple, pared-back worktops and weathered metal handles are the style’s defining characteristics, as seen in much of Tom Howley’s bespoke kitchen offering.

Authenticity of style, look and feel is crucial to fitting a below-stairs style kitchen, says Howley, the design director of the eponymous kitchen brand. He adds: “We prefer to keep things simple and traditional, and advise against fitting anything in your shaker-style kitchen that distracts from the weight and quality of the cabinetry.

Finally, 2020 will see the kitchen adopting stylistic details reserved for living rooms and bedrooms. Design-led accessories have found their way into the kitchen with the rise of wide island counters and open shelving, both of which support the addition of decorative vases and ornaments, as well as an increased use of bold lighting and artwork.

Sandrine Zhang Ferron, founder of online vintage marketplace, Vinterior, says: “The kitchen is an underused room in the home for dramatic personal touches. For example, kitchen lighting doesn’t always have to be the safe option! I would always recommend a series of three industrial enamel lights over the island for maximum light with a stylish, edgy finish. Look out for models from the 1960s for authenticity. You can also accessorise with vintage crockery or cookware displayed on the stove. An antique copper teapot on your stove top will certainly give your kitchen a vintage, eclectic feel, which slots in nicely with the current trend for below stairs-style working kitchens.” — The Independent