EuroCucina: Highlights and Kitchen Trends from Milan
I start this post with a sincere thank you to Blanco for generously sponsoring our trip to Milan for Design Week’s Eurocucina — one of the most important kitchen trade shows in the world where European kitchen manufacturers gather and share inspirational interior design and furniture trends. Ken and I traveled with fellow Blanco Design Council members and were fully immersed in EuroCucina’s grand-scale design experience. We took over a thousand photos and will be sharing thoughts and highlights throughout the coming months. Be sure to read my fellow bloggers posts as they will be sharing their photos and perspectives as well. Marilyn Russell (DesignMagnifique), Kelly Morisseau (Kitchen Sync), and Gloria Graham (Kitchens for Living)
Here are 15 design trends from EuroCucina we spotted in Europe…
1. Today’s Kitchens Are All About The Kitchen Experience. The kitchen has clearly become the most important room in the home, so the design focus is on lifestyle and enjoyment. Yes, the space is about cooking but it is also about atmosphere, socializing, and beautiful, functional design.
2. Mixed Kitchen Materials and Mixed Textures. We saw artistic combinations of glass, stone, rare marbles, wood, metals, porcelain, laminate, and concrete. The mixing of materials brought an energy to the space. Some of the timber textures were just brilliant when combined with non-scratch/non-stain metals like Blanco’s new Steelart countertops and integrated sinks.
3. Nature-inspired Design. There was an infusion of nature and earthiness within the kitchen design. We saw herb walls and in counter herb planters with long troughs allowing you to place chef’s seasonings at your fingertips. In counter or on-counter composting systems are also being incorporated in the kitchen.
4. Outdoor Kitchens and Living Environments. There is growing interest in bringing the comfort and hominess we love indoors outside. At Kitchen Designs we are also noticing a major upswing in demand for creating outdoor environments, especially outdoor kitchens as seen in an increase in sales for our Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet line of grills, pizza ovens, and outdoor cabinetry as well as in our SubZero Wolf grills and outdoor kitchens.
5. Innovative Interior Storage with Illuminated Cabinets and Drawers. Interior options were limitless, and most of the cabinets were illuminated with LED lights that automatically come on when the cabinet door or drawer is opened.
6. Hidden Sinks, Hidden Storage, and Hidden Cooktops. Streamlined looks were created with sliding counters that fit over cooktops and sinks to hide kitchen elements. Kitchen island lifts raised the counter to reveal hidden shelving storage underneath. Appliances hid behind sliding doors and clever cabinetry. Caesarstone had a remote-controlled sliding countertop in their booth. There were plenty of designs to make things disappear. Ken is demonstrating a sink cover below.
This video illustrates some interesting features we saw:
7. Open Kitchen Layouts and Interesting Room Transitions. The lines are being blurred between the kitchen and living space as larger multi-purpose rooms are being created. Combining the kitchen and lounge areas resulted in a fluid transition between the spaces. We saw several kitchens designs that included couches, comfy chairs for reading, and televisions.
8. A Blending of Vintage and Modern. Contemporary looks were blended with antiques and retro decor to intentionally age the space incorporating vintage elements into a modern design. The top photo is a retro aesthetic from Marchi Group.
9. Personalization: Spaces and fixtures that reflect individual personality and wish list items such as graphics on door panels or sinks with custom-selected inserts like the Blanco One.
10. Technology in the Kitchen: Home automation systems included in-counter touch-screens with internet connections. These high tech countertops doubled as built-in tablets shown here on the Toncelli booth.
11. Cubbies & Open Shelving: I saw open shelving being not only being used in the kitchen, but also being used to connect the kitchen, dining, and living spaces. There were interesting suspended room dividers made of metal cables and glass that beautifully connected the spaces.
12. Handleless Doors: Handles and in many cases groves are omitted in the cabinetry design for a seamless, streamlined aesthetic. We saw plenty of push touch technology or finger grips for opening and closing cabinet doors. Here Ken is pushing in at the top of the vertical door panel so his fingers fit inside to pull the cabinet open — a sleek minimalist look.
13. More Matt than Glossy Finishes: Cabinet finishes were more matt than glossy this year and included cabinets with glass fronts.
14. Kitchen Island Pendant Lighting: Artistic kitchen lighting pendants over the island created a particularly wonderful ambiance–especially the ones that varied height placement.
15. Splashes of Bold Color Against Neutral Backdrops: The natural color combinations and even the tone-on-tone designs were elegant and warm when splashes of bold color were thrown in the mix.
Here is our impromptu ‘Design Council’ video Lori Dolnick shot at the show.
and some of our candids in Milan…
More “Hottest Trends” posts here…
Posted by Grace Kelly in Learn, Trends, Kitchen Design | © Kitchen Designs by Ken Kelly, Inc, Showroom: 26 Hillside Avenue, Williston Park, NY 516-746-3435 | Editors’ Finds for your kitchen
