7 Kitchen Renovation Design Trends Experts Can’t Stop Talking About

Kitchen renovations are rated amongst the best ways to add value to your home. It’s believed that renovating this room creates more benefits than renovating any other room in your house. The transformation you get from taking an older kitchen and bringing it into the present world is quite staggering. 

That being said, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with your kitchen remodel as it’s common to feel unsure about where to start or what to add/remove. One big question you may have: What’s considered essential in a kitchen these days? We’ve got you covered: Here are some of the hottest kitchen renovation design trends that the experts can’t stop talking about: 

Built-In Feature Spaces

2026 seems to be the year of built-in feature spaces. Homeowners love creating little areas that are dedicated to one or two things. Some of the hottest design ideas within this category include: 

• Walk-in pantries or pantry cabinets
• Coffee and tea stations
• Concealed bins & recycling boxes

People want their kitchens to have a few statement areas, and built-in feature spaces are perfect for this. They usually go unnoticed until you make the grand reveal, which is why they’re such a big hit in kitchen remodeling right now. 

Freestanding Kitchen Islands

Fitted kitchens have been all the rage for a few decades, yet people want to break up the fitted nature of their kitchen spaces with some freestanding furniture. As a result, the freestanding kitchen island has become an absolute must. Designers point to this as one of the biggest trends in the industry today because it adds some boldness to a fitted kitchen—while also bringing practicality. 

An island sits on its own and provides a lovely visual element that also includes extra cabinets or work space. You’ll see these in lots of kitchens that want to create a sense of character, but they’re also a practical choice in homes without a dedicated dining room. 

Better Functionality & Storage

It goes without saying that you want your kitchen to be functional and practical. Unfortunately, many kitchens are originally built without this in mind. You might have hardly any countertop space to prepare your food—and the electrical sockets are in awkward places, so you have to plug your appliances in annoying spots. 

As such, there’s a big kitchen renovation design trend that’s built around adding more functionality to this space. Kitchens are being designed with ample work surfaces and plenty of electrical connections. Shelving is being used to bring layers to kitchens and allow for certain items to go on shelves instead of taking up countertop space. And let’s not forget the most important part of a kitchen’s functionality: storage. 

Smart storage is now a thing; homeowners want to add as many cabinets and storage spots as they can, which can involve getting creative. Expect to see taller cabinets, cabinets split into two or three layers, and so much more. 

Blue As The Main Color

You don’t normally come across color trends when looking at kitchen renovations; for the most part, gray and monochrome kitchens have been the industry standard for years. So it’s not that surprising to finally see a shift away from this, especially after so many years of gray. Blue is now being thrust into the limelight as the go-to color for kitchen cabinets. More and more homeowners are picking some shade of blue for their kitchens—even if and nobody really knows why. 

All we know is that this is a big trend at the moment, so perhaps you’d like to add a splash of color to your kitchen? Or, you could copy the trend partially and introduce a different color that’s more in line with your tastes—green, perhaps? That’s another growing kitchen renovation trend: personalization. It’s all about adding your own style personalizing instead of copying what every other new kitchen looks like. 

Energy-Efficient Additions

People also want energy-efficient kitchens. After all, a kitchen can substantially add to your rising energy bills, just behind the heating/cool system in your house. You use up a lot of energy cooking and washing the dishes, so it makes sense to implement a few features that bring your bills down and make the entire kitchen more efficient. 

Some of the most popular ideas here include: 

• LED lighting
• Cookers with good energy ratings
• Smart plugs to control when appliances are turned on
• Water-saving faucets

Underfloor Heating

Following on from above, underfloor heating is another kitchen upgrade that can loosely fall into the energy-efficiency category. Depending on who you consult, underfloor heating can be 25-30% more efficient than the alternatives. Not only that, but a kitchen is the perfect place for this type of flooring. It makes total sense to heat up the floor—you don’t normally have other heating choices in a kitchen anyway – so it makes sense to make your kitchen a more comfortable place to walk around. 

Underfloor heating also lets you save space in the kitchen as you don’t need to install other heating solutions on walls or in the ceiling. This leaves more room for cabinets and other fun ideas. 

Separate Laundry Rooms

While not technically a kitchen renovation trend, laundry rooms also deserve a mention. The “trend” is more in line with people wanting to make their kitchens bigger. They extend the space, and then use some of the extra space as a dedicated laundry room. In doing so, they can remove washing machines and dryers from the kitchen, creating room for an extra couple of cabinets. 

There’s also something enjoyable about keeping the kitchen as a space to cook and eat. You don’t want to do your washing in the same place, which is why kitchen extensions blended with laundry rooms are one of the largest trends to keep an eye on. 

You’ll find dozens more trends where these came from, but there’s one thing to remember before you remodel your kitchen: think of the future. Most of these trends are popular because they help you design a kitchen that’s trendy now and will continue to be so in the future. Steer clear of the trends that seem like they’ll only be popular for a couple of years, as you’ll soon regret them!