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Style trends change annually, often only in rhythm with the seasons. What applies to clothing and shoes is not much different with kitchen trends. However, there is a difference: When it comes to kitchen design trends 2025, you usually commit yourself for many years.

From the customer’s point of view, kitchen trends should remain up to date for several years

In order not to chase the general kitchen trend of the coming years, a little foresight and serenity is the order of the day. Not every short-lived trend can prevail. Nevertheless, if possible, you want to design your kitchen equipment so that the expensive purchase will not look outdated and completely absurd even in two, five or seven years.

Considering that given the high purchase price for the kitchen equipment, many people only think about a new kitchen every ten years (some even less often), this is not an easy task. However, it does not always have to be a new purchase, because nowadays the kitchen design can be cleverly renewed for renovation measures with comparatively little effort.

But first, let’s take a look at a few numbers that show what standards we’re talking about.

• Total market volume for kitchens including electrical appliances (2016): 9.5 billion euros
• Market volume only for kitchen furniture (without electrical appliances) (2016): 5.7 billion euros
• Market leader: Ikea, XXXLutz group, Porta, Höffner
• Annual sales of Ikea kitchens: approx. 500 million euros

The cake to be distributed is therefore very large and it is no wonder that the furniture stores want to make the decision more palatable to their customers with ever new kitchen trends and design ideas. The proportion of designer kitchens has increased significantly in recent years.

There are still great kitchens that can be designed in candy-like, intensive colors such as red, yellow or blue, but at least in the contrasting color accents, dark colors and natural tones are increasingly seen in the current kitchen trend.

Kitchen designs present new kitchen trends with unusual surfaces

If you look at modern design kitchens, you will find that the classic materials that you would expect from kitchen fronts, worktops and appliances have now been replaced by very unusual building materials. Of course, this is always a question of the wallet, because some surfaces are more expensive than others. Nevertheless, the kitchen trend towards unusual choice of materials continues to prevail.

Four materials in particular are preferred:

• marble
• hardened glass
• concrete
• ceramics

This sounds unusual at first glance, because ceramics are more likely to be found in the bathroom and concrete in the basement. But at second glance, the use of the current kitchen trends makes sense. The classic marble is not only characterized by a very high-quality look that can no longer be used only on the worktop. Tempered glass surfaces give the entire kitchen a glossy finish and, in conjunction with coordinated lighting, can create great color effects. In addition, the glass surface is very insensitive to scratches and is easy to maintain from a hygienic point of view.

Concrete is also very insensitive to scratches and heat. It is also easy to clean. Depending on the use of this material, you can choose between a robust industrial look and a modern art-house elegance. Last but not least, ceramics can score with their variety of design options.

The very high-quality appearance of the surfaces is only surpassed by their easy-care properties, since ceramic has no pores. The use of such materials is primarily reserved for design kitchens. In country house kitchens, classic wooden surfaces are still used for the kitchen fronts and worktops. But of course the country house kitchens can also be distinguished from the standard range by a skillful color scheme.

Concrete is also very insensitive to scratches and heat. It is also easy to clean. Depending on the use of this material, you can choose between a robust industrial look and a modern art-house elegance.

What colors kitchen shape trends this year?

The color scheme of kitchens is always a difficult question. At a time when open kitchen areas are increasingly merging with the living area, this is all the more important, because such a kitchen must of course also be compatible with the rest of the interior design in the long term – both in terms of color and the materials chosen. In the past few years, the kitchen trends for coloring were no longer focused on the bright colors of the past.

There are still great kitchens that can be designed in candy-like, intensive colors such as red, yellow or blue, but at least in the contrasting color accents, dark colors and natural tones are increasingly seen in the current kitchen trend. Although natural colors are becoming more popular again, there is a predominance of dark tones that include gray, brown, and even black. This may also be due to the fact that they come into their own with some of the new materials.

If you don’t want to choose one or the other, you can, for example, design the surfaces of the kitchen fronts largely in a bright color such as red and contrast the rest (frames, handles, worktops etc.) with a clear contrast with black. Lighting is also becoming increasingly important, because modern LED lighting concepts can work wonders in the kitchen. The right lighting can make the difference between “coherent and cozy” and “too much of a good thing” when choosing a color. By the way, if you can’t make friends with the dark colors, you’re in good company.

The majority of Germans also prefer bright colors in the current kitchen trends, which have the advantage of being able to enlarge them, especially in small rooms. Because kitchen trend or not: Of course, you always have to take the spatial conditions into account when furnishing the kitchen. If you don’t want to be as gaudy as in pop art style or in an American diner from the 1950s, pastel colors are recommended. These are really on the rise as a general kitchen trend.

From pastel colors is called whenever strong primary colors are mixed with a relatively high proportion of white. From light beige and egg shades to fresh spring colors such as pink or turquoise to darker autumn tones with brown and gray, the entire color range can also be represented in pastel shades. In this way, despite their rustic overall design and traditional materials, country house kitchens can be quickly transformed into a modern cooking landscape that doesn’t look old-fashioned.

Incidentally, this is also a tip for all those who do not want to or cannot buy new kitchens and are only thinking about a new color scheme. Whether with a brush and paint roller (or professionally with a spray gun) or by using self-adhesive decorative foils: You can also show the current kitchen trend on a small budget when renovating.

From light beige and egg shades to fresh spring colors such as pink or turquoise to darker autumn tones with brown and gray, the entire color range can also be represented in pastel shades.

Kitchen living room trends: cosiness and functionality

The usual spatial structures, according to which the kitchen and the rest of the apartment were separated optically and functionally, are long gone. And if we’re honest, that’s actually nothing new anymore – real life has always played out in many German households, especially in the kitchen. Who does not know the saying that a good party always ends in the kitchen?

Today, you no longer have to decide in which room to receive the guests, because modern kitchen concepts with free-standing kitchen islands, bar counters and comfortable furnishings make your stay in the kitchen as pleasant as in the living room on the couch. The residents are increasingly coordinating their furniture from the living area with the kitchen design, so that a tasteful overall concept is created.

With all the love of the kitchen trend, functionality should not be neglected. Anyone who works and cooks in the kitchen wants cupboards and drawers that are as practical as possible, and which, despite the comfortable look, also offer the required efficiency. If you are not cooking, appliances and cooking utensils should disappear from view and take the cozy living appearance into account. Relaxation also means that you are not constantly reminded of your work.

With all the love of the kitchen trend, functionality should not be neglected. Anyone who works and cooks in the kitchen wants cupboards and drawers that are as practical as possible, and which, despite their comfortable look, also offer the required efficiency.

Technology determines the current kitchen trend towards more electronics

Anyone who believes that electrical equipment is only used for lighting and kitchen appliances is wrong. Modern kitchens have more and more electronic gadgets, which are sometimes gimmick rather than functional, but sometimes they are also very practical. Roller shutter cabinets, for example, are very popular and can complement or even replace the usual kitchen fronts. Of course, these can be driven and controlled electronically.

The presence of flat screens, smart home fridges and other technology is no longer an exception. The classic extractor hood is also increasingly giving way to modern design solutions, in which exhaust air systems are integrated into the work surfaces and the vapors and odors that arise are extracted directly downwards. This is particularly advantageous for kitchen islands where you could not install a classic extractor hood or only with great effort.

The biggest changes are certainly in the lighting. The kitchen trend goes from the pure illumination of the work surfaces to the selective accentuation of certain areas, which can be harmoniously integrated into an overall concept – especially in kitchens that overlap with the living area. In fact, lighting is considered an essential feature in the design of modern kitchens. So-called floating components can be indicated, for example, by letting LEDs illuminate certain areas indirectly.

For example, you can let a kitchen island “float” optically just as much as the worktop, which illuminates the edge towards the cabinet. However, the greatest advantage of modern lighting concepts are certainly the possibilities for free choice of color and brightness, with which the lights can be adjusted as required. If you work concentrated, you can use the pure white work light that completely illuminates the kitchen.

For a cozy get-together, the lights are dimmed and accents are set in the areas in which the guests sit at the counter. The common meal can then be taken with another lighting variant.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of materials, because in addition to lighting and the inclusion of modern technology, it is probably the most important point in current kitchen trends.

Conclusion: The kitchen trends change with the choice of materials and colors

The standstill of the past few years in the kitchen trend seems to be over for good. The bright colors are still not out-of-date and are still popular, but they can increasingly be contrasted with the rest of the furnishings by darker accents and contrasts.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of materials, because alongside lighting and incorporating modern technology, it is probably the most important point in current kitchen trends. Pastel colors are also on the rise for all those who cannot get used to the extremes when choosing colors.