Everyone wants to stay on trend, right? The best way to do so within your home is to keep up with the ever-changing styles of kitchen design. Kitchens are often the first thing people look for in a home. A new, renovated and modern kitchen with modern appliances are sure to grab your attention more than an old, 80’s style layout (unless that’s your thing, in which case, power to you!)
On today’s blog, we’ll take a walk through the changing kitchen trends from the 50’s to now, and how styles have changed because of what we deem chic! Take a look below.
50’s kitchens were often L-Shaped, with large cabinets on both top and bottom, and a colorful paint job on the walls or the cabinets themselves. Women in this time were the main users of the kitchens as they prepared the meals for the family every night! While this might look completely crazy to some, some of these design elements are still used today. Check out the bar-style kitchen counter! You see that more and more in the current decade. You can also see the fridge is made to look like a cabinet in order to blend in better with the rest of the decor, which is often a luxury feature now, made in very modern-esque kitchens.
60’s kitchens were exciting. Bright colors, hardwood cabinets and very little counter space (in most homes). The more colorful it was the more it stood out, and colors definitely stood the test of time into the 70’s as well.
The 70’s; a time of change in politics, pop culture and yes, even kitchen design! While many of the colors we saw in the 70’s were muted yellows and oranges, sheen and shine became a symbol of class and sophistication. Instead of traditional wood cabinets, the shine from gloss became a staple.If the colors in your kitchen were more than just black and white, you had a 70’s kitchen to die for.
As we move on to the 80’s, it’s important to note the fashion trends of this era as well. The bright colors, exercise revolution, and the kitchen design moved from intense colors to wallpaper. Now, wallpaper certainly isn’t all bad, but the overwhelming and busy patterns we thrusted on to our walls definitely made a statement. We also brought back the wood look for our cabinets, and tiles as countertops instead of slabs of granite or marble. Because everything was supposed to be uniformed, it was hard to keep the light within the kitchen. Once you put in a dark wood or tile, that was the theme of the kitchen with the exception of a white wallpaper and intense patterns. Nowadays, the lighter and brighter the better!
As we move onto the 90’s, I’m sure you’re all picturing one thing. Cabinets. The cabinets from the 90’s were a trend that has only recently been shaken. White cabinets with wood trim was an essential part of the 90’s era kitchen, and continued on to the early 2000’s without a hitch. It wasn’t until granite, marble and light kitchens became popular that the wood-trimmed-cabinets became an ugly sign of a simpler time.
The 2000’s brought a whole new slew of kitchen decor trends. People started to install islands and utilized them as tables. Everything became about function combined with fashion, instead of the usual trendy things that go out of style quickly. If you had a house renovated in the 2000’s, chances are you wanted every appliance to be stainless steel. This was the most popular craze of 2000’s kitchens, as well as kitchen tile on the floor instead of the previous cheaper alternative, linoleum. People began prioritizing their kitchens in their home searches, as it was finally realized that the kitchen is the most popular place in a home! Having somewhere to cook with enough storage and counter space while you can watch your kids play in the next room (thanks open floor plans!) became the norm.
Today, we are nearing the end of the 2010’s. The trends now are large open floor plans, islands, large amounts of counter space and slabs of granite or marble as your countertop. The current trend is really the bigger and brighter the better, with top tiered appliances and ample seating. There are different styles you can go with, such as modern, barn, even retro (some of the 50’s style) is back in today. What the future holds, no one knows. We just hope it gets better and better!