Kitchen Trends
Forecasts from interior designer Sarah Stacey
Words by Ashley Locke
Sarah Stacey worked in advertising, but she left that life behind after building her first home in south Louisiana. She’d discovered her calling—interior design.
Today, Sarah runs a successful interior design business in Austin, Texas. In the last year, she’s loved working on kitchens—a room that more people found themselves using than ever before, thanks to the pandemic. “The importance of kitchens has changed so much in the last five years! I definitely think the pandemic had a lot to do with this. It forced even the most unlikely of cooks to use their kitchens, because it was the only option for entertainment!” she said. “It is where so much natural gathering happens, and a room that makes even guests feel comfortable and right at home.”
“I love designing kitchens because there are so many design options to be made! From the type of countertops to the finishes of them, to the types of appliances and layout—the possibilities are limitless, where no two kitchens are the same,” she said. “This gives me great freedom to customize every part of space specifically for the client and really make a statement with the finished design.”
She shared with us a few kitchen trends she’s been enjoying in her design.
- I love leathered stone—granites, marbles, and quartzites. The matte and slightly bumpy texture tends to hide messes, which is both a pro and a con! But it is great for people like me who don't necessarily want to clean their countertops all of the time.
- I love butcher block countertops as an accent on an island because it’s soft looking and warms up a kitchen. Materials in a kitchen are typically hard and cold.
- Darker and moodier colors are becoming even more popular. You can really play around these shades in paint throughout the kitchen. When using darker colors, always use a matte finish—because the sheen in even eggshell looks too shiny on darker colors. Also, black is a hard color to choose! Blacks often have an undertone of a color, be it green, blue, or purple, and it will show when it’s covering a wall. Choose a black that has no undertone, such as Tricorn Black from Sherwin-Williams.
- Natural wood stains are big! You’ll want the wood to look as natural as possible. When a stain or sealer is applied to white oak, it turns it a little more yellow or orange—so, make sure you find a combo that would knock those colors out, such as a white wash with a small amount of purple.
- Fluting is huge right now, and will continue to be so in kitchens. Instead of incorporating it into a fixed object such as cabinetry, you can select pendant lights that have fluting around the perimeter.
- Beveled shaker cabinets are making their way again! Shaker has been all the rage for so long now; however, the trend is to move away from a standard shaker and instead focus on beveling the shaker styles and rails for a unique look.