New Design Trends for 2023
Are trends important? No, not really. No matter what’s in style or what’s out, the best kitchen style for you is the one you’ll enjoy for a long time and will serve your family well. So, what are trends good for?
Most importantly, they make for good inspiration. Sometimes you don’t know what you like until you see it in another home. The people who start or popularize trends often do this for a living, so they have a good eye for what looks aesthetically pleasing or what makes your home feel a way that you may want to emulate. Trends can also help you know what may resell well if you’re looking to sell your home in the future. And even if you want nothing to do with trends, taking them in and enjoying them is still fun!
So, with all that in mind, what are some of the great trends we’re looking forward to in 2023?
1. Functional and multifunctional spaces
A major emphasis in recent years has been the functionality of a space. Gone are the days of sterile, stuffy rooms that look more like display showrooms than actual homes. Homes, including more minimalist ones, look best when they’re being the most useful. This usually means much more specific storage, putting more things out on display or within easy access, and designing each room explicitly for the purpose it serves.
Additionally, with the dramatic rise of remote work and homeschooling, many families have been spending significantly more time at home than ever before. When this happens, the inconveniences that come from less-than-functional design become much more bothersome. People have realized that fully open-concept homes have their downsides, or that their kitchens have way too little storage space. Putting functionality first mitigates many of those problems and makes your home one that you actually want to live in.
This trend especially takes its form in multifunctional spaces. Well-designed spaces that serve multiple purposes and are seamlessly integrated into each other have taken the world by storm. Particularly in the age of home offices, people working from home may not have the space for an entirely separate home office room. This desire for home offices led many to integrate on into their existing space, some with better results than others. The best ones made spaces that seamlessly blended rooms into one, combining them with living/family rooms, bedrooms, or even unused closets and nooks.
Your home is meant to serve your family’s unique needs. A space that is primarily functional does that well.
2. Emphasize outdoor spaces
For many families, much of their outdoor space is wasted. As more people have noticed how that space is underutilized, they’ve begun to carve out a portion of their outdoor space and curate it for a more specific function. Most commonly, people have bought together their indoor and outdoor spaces in the form of sunrooms and patios. This gives you a great space for warm-weather hosting, and the wide customizability of these outdoor spaces lets you build a good flow with built-in places for grills, fireplaces, seating, and drink bars. Instead of placing all your items on a blank concrete slab, build your space around the pieces you hope to use. If you have the space and really want to go all out, full-on kitchenettes built into stone walls look phenomenal and give you an amazing hosting space. No matter how small or big your outdoor space is, a bit of care and work in the space you do have will certainly pay off.
3. Anti-minimalist
Minimalism has been all the rage for the past decade or so, and now the pendulum is beginning to swing in the other direction. Maximalism has begun to go full steam ahead in the design world, with many people embracing the full-on pattern, texture, and color craze. Even for those who don’t want to commit to the full thing, the more mainstream style has still shifted towards embracing more warm, textured, and colorful things. Sterile grays are truly becoming a thing of the past.
The philosophy behind the movement is similar to the functionality movement. It's your home - it should serve you, not a design ideal. So personalize it! Chose design pieces for their personal memory of their uniqueness rather than their cookie-cutter “trendiness”. Homes using this style philosophy tend to be much more unique to their owners' individual quirks, personalities, and tastes. And even if I’m personally not much of a maximalist, this philosophy is certainly one that I can get behind.
4. Big windows
Windows have always been an important design point in any space, but massive bay windows with large window banks are becoming even more of a style point recently. Especially if you have a great outdoor view, large windows add a major touch of character, and a wide open, airy feel to even smaller spaces. They look high-end and elegant and let you emphasize the gorgeous outdoors.
5. Hardworking functional storage
Also within the functionality design philosophy is the increasing desire for hardworking storage that’s designed to store specific items. Instead of making a system and then jamming in whatever fits, storage instead is built around whatever it’s designed to store. Built-in dividers, pullouts, and designated storage spaces have been major in this trend. Custom cabinets, in particular, are perfect for creating a hardworking storage system.
Of course, the drawback here is the lack of flexibility. Many people instead strike a good balance between designated and flexible space. Instead of making every drawer specific and rigid, they focus on a few specific storage items and make the rest of their storage flexible. Even if the storage unit isn’t fully customized, high-quality storage is always worth the investment.
6. Natural themes
This was a trend in 2022, and it’s shown absolutely no signs of slowing down. Natural (or biophilic) design is here to stay, and for good reason: it works well and looks incredible. As many people look to a slower pace of life, and others look to shift away from a hyper-technological lifestyle, homes that reflect a slower, nature-focused lifestyle have become increasingly popular. Even if you’re not planning on changing your lifestyle, the calming effects of natural themes and decor can also be a wonderful addition to your home.
The main themes of the biophilic design movement are open rooms, plenty of natural light, greens, warm whites, and earth tones, and natural materials like raw wood and textiles—and of course, plenty of plants. This style is great no matter where you are on the minimalist design spectrum because it can accommodate both extremes very well. The natural tones add warmth to cleaner, more simple designs, with the many textures adding coziness and contrast to a style that may feel too sterile. On the other hand, it also adds height and elegance to more busy designs that may struggle with feeling claustrophobic or cluttered. Either way, these natural styles look wonderful and are a great addition to your home.
8. Spa bathrooms
Bathrooms, particularly higher-end ones, tend to be a quiet haven away from the hustle and bustle of normal life. Even as one of the smallest rooms in your house, it gives you a slice of rest and relaxation. This design trend expands on that idea and hopes to make the entire experience feel like a spa. Jacuzzi tubs have been a trend for years now, but now even more amenities like heated floors and infrared saunas have grown in demand.
Even without a full-on spa in a bathroom, you can still invoke a spa-like, luxurious feel with certain design choices. Soft whites, highly veined marble, and natural materials are musts for this theme. Additionally, focusing on natural themes and earth tones, using curved designs, and even placing plush seating in your bathroom also invoke that spa-like feel.
9. Islands
Kitchen islands have been a staple of kitchens for a long time now, but their flexible functionality in our functional style era has made them even more essential. The kitchen is the hub and center of the home, and the kitchen island is essentially the “hub of the hub”. It serves as a sitting area for breakfasts and snacks, as a prep space for making big meals, and often as the place where the family gathers to chat. It’s a wonderful way to make your home flow nicely, look amazing, and yet still be functional.
So if you were deciding whether or not to go for the breakfast bar/island, combo, I’d say go for it! Its functional, hardworking, and looks great. Who would want it?
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