Are you keeping up with 2024 kitchen design trends? You may not need a full makeover to catch up. New Home Inc. builds modern homes for sale near Raleigh, so we’re always watching how home design is evolving.
What has changed in kitchen design?
The kitchen is the heart of the home. People naturally gravitate to the source of food, snacks, drinks, and meals. And no matter how enticing you set up a buffet or serve food in another area, guests just seem to flock to the kitchen.
That focal point hasn’t changed. In fact, it has become even more important, serving more people and more functions. What are designers looking at when planning kitchen design this year?
An extra pantry
With more people working from home, the kitchen gets more use—trips to the coffee station and for snacks and meals that would otherwise have occurred near the workplace. Well, your home IS your workplace now.
With more meals comes the need for more storage. A definite shift in home design is a larger pantry to expand storage. New Home Inc. saw that homeowners need more than a larger pantry though. We’ve also included a service pantry (also known as a “butler’s pantry) in our homes, what we call a “messy kitchen”. This separate nook is adjacent to the kitchen and pantry. It can be outfitted with cabinetry, a sink, dishwasher, mini-fridge, wine fridge, and just about anything you can think of! Imagine having an extra space where you can store items you need only once in a while—like small appliances, holiday dishes, servingware, the “good” stemware and dishes. Keep them in your messy kitchen so you can keep the main area organized and uncluttered..
Does the traffic suddenly get heavier in your kitchen when you’re trying to prepare a meal? Consider the benefit of converting part of your messy kitchen to a beverage and snack station. Set up your coffee machine and stash the snacks, drinks, napkins, cups, and some cutlery in here to divert traffic from your kitchen. Bottleneck solved!
Conversational island
Kitchen islands have become absolutely essential. As a workspace, dining area, and place to enjoy conversation, this multi-functional feature has also experienced an improvement as one of the 2024 kitchen design trends.
That breakfast bar—the elevated edge at the end of the island that is just too narrow to be useful—is gone. The island is one flat plane, which makes it much more useful. And homeowners are using it more often for casual dining, so it makes sense to have more seating.
New Home Inc. met this need by expanding the overall size of the island top, extending it beyond the base, and creating seating on 2 or 3 sides. You now have double or triple the seating area!
Drawers instead of cabinets
If you’ve ever had to stretch, bend, or twist in order to rummage around in the depths of a kitchen cabinet, you can appreciate the value of having drawers in place of some of them. Pull out a vertical cabinet that holds your spices and maybe small items, like cans and small non-perishables that you use frequently (thus saving a trip to the pantry).
Kitchen drawers are great for trash cans, pots and pans (especially lids), and dishware. Tiered drawers can conveniently organize and store silverware, table linens, and utensils. Kitchen drawers save time and effort, and prevent damage that can happen when breakables are stacked out of easy reach.
Smart kitchens
Smart home automation is another must-have for today’s homes. The kitchen is no exception. From smart lighting to smart appliances, the ease of controlling the various functions from your smartphone cannot be undervalued.
Use the smart kitchen technology in a smart oven to preheat, set the timer, change the temperature, and turn off without entering the kitchen. Find out what’s in your smart fridge or about to expire while you’re out shopping. Small appliances—air fryers, coffee machines, and toaster ovens—are now moving toward smart technology, too. Look at all the possibilities to see what a smart kitchen can do for you!
Green isn’t just eco-friendly
There’s no hard and fast rule for the color of your kitchen. The walls, cabinets, and backsplash can be customized to your personal taste. If you’re on track for keeping up with 2024 kitchen design trends, green is the color. And it can be any shade of green: mint, sage, emerald, hunter…and anywhere in between. It only takes a coat of paint to apply this trend to your home.
Layered lighting
Layered lighting is the combination of light fixtures: pendant, overhead, sconces, and lamps (table and floor). It combines task lighting (functional) with style. One of the 2024 kitchen design trends is applying layered lighting to enhance what has ordinarily been considered a purely functional space. Under-cabinet lighting is a must-have feature. But then you can have fun with adding your choice of fixtures. Maybe sconces on one wall or either side of your kitchen sink. Explore the many creative designs for pendant lights to hang over your kitchen island.
But layered lighting doesn’t end there. Choose the right bulbs for the effects you want, from warm to cool.
Quartz overtakes granite
Granite and quartz have been battling as the top choice of kitchen countertops for years. Granite has always had the edge—until this year. Purists liked that granite was 100% stone while quartz is engineered with 93% to 95% stone that is held together with resin.
Although both are durable surfaces, granite requires annual resealing, while quartz needs no maintenance. Combine this benefit with the multitude of choices for colors and patterns in quartz (because it’s manufactured), and this countertop has overtaken granite as the surface material of choice in 2024.
Decorative range hoods
Every space in your kitchen presents a design opportunity. The range hood has been long overlooked for its aesthetic potential. That limit has changed.
Keeping up with 2024 kitchen design trends commands that you take a different view of this feature. From the choice of metals or woods (maybe both?) to the color and design, you have countless options for making a statement over your cooktop.
Do you need a bigger kitchen or just a better one?
Who wouldn’t want a bigger kitchen? One look at the expansive gourmet kitchens you see on television or in magazines and your own kitchen suddenly seems inadequate.
What we learned at New Home Inc. when creating new home designs and planning kitchen design is that we simply needed to put more thought into the floor plans. What goes where and why? The size is important, but so is the placement.
The kitchen is perhaps the most functional space in your home. Think of all the activity here. You start your day in the kitchen, making coffee or breakfast. When any family member returns home, they seem to head straight for the kitchen. Whether to grab a bite or drink or see who’s home, the likely destination is always the kitchen.
When designing and building new homes for sale in Raleigh and the Raleigh suburbs, New Home Inc. studied the functions and the flow of every space. While planning kitchen design, we looked at how the various uses could happen in harmony. How can someone who is cooking work easily without bumping into people who want to get into the fridge or spread out their work on the island? What do you do with someone who is hanging out, going through mail and taking up space in a busy kitchen? And if you’re trying to work remotely, using your kitchen island, while also getting a meal prepped, could you accomplish both successfully without weaving through people or trying to maneuver through a cluttered kitchen?
Future-Proof home design is here
New Home Inc. takes a different approach to new home design. We call it “Future-Proof”. We did extensive research into what homebuyers need and want in their new homes. Lifestyles have changed, and that means the homes we build need to keep up. Better yet, we are a step ahead.
Future-Proof design includes such innovations as an enclosed, secure area for home deliveries. The Smart Door Delivery Zone protects your packages with a smart lock that can only be accessed with a code.
Every aspect of home design is reflected in every one of New Home Inc.’s new homes for sale in Raleigh and the Raleigh suburbs. We’ve researched, designed, and included energy efficiency, indoor air quality, an electric vehicle charging station, and even a place for your pets! We looked ahead at how smart home automation is evolving. Our new home designs reflect the latest in technology so you can move in and instantly take advantage of these advances.
When you choose one of our new homes for sale in Raleigh and the Raleigh suburbs, you’re keeping up with 2024 kitchen design trends and beyond. We want your home to have lasting value, and that only happens when you choose a builder with this vision.
If you want to see what’s coming in new home design, let New Home Inc. give you a tour! Contact us to learn about the communities of townhomes and new homes for sale near Raleigh, including Lillington, Fuquay-Varina, Smithfield, and Willow Spring.
