Kitchen Transcendental.
These are exciting times for high-end kitchen design: open-plan spaces allow for zoned, sculptural arrangements no longer confined by four walls, while creative ways with colour and texture bring an artistic edge to functional surfaces.
Sculptural asymmetry
Broken-plan is the kitchen trend for free thinkers: with modular arrangements that rebel against conventional layouts, it opens up the market to new and exciting designs with a greater emphasis on furniture pieces that might once have been consigned to the peripheries: think room dividers, display cabinetry and multipurpose workstations. German brand Rotpunkt’s Zerox kitchen, with its clean lines, wood worktops and patinated umbra marble finish, cleverly groups these elements to create a sculptural centrepiece that brings functionality and form together beautifully.
From £20,000 + VAT (rotpunktuk.com)
Utilitarian focus
Today’s kitchens have to work harder than ever, and that’s no more apparent than in an open-plan arrangement. Royale, designed by Marco Fabrizio Corti for Italian brand Rastelli, allows for a completely custom format, and in doing so, rebelliously breaks all the rules, not only blurring the lines between kitchen and living spaces, but between kitchen and living furniture, too. Functionality takes top priority in this no-frills yet super sleek kitchen with its open storage units facing outwards into the living space, designed to display eye-catching accessories, just as you would a living room cabinet.
POA (rastellicucine.it/en)
Dark materials
Kitchen colour trends move over to the dark side; black surfaces are offset with rich coffee browns and softer shades of charcoal grey and muted taupe. It’s a daring progression for an area of the home so often associated with the most clinical of bright whites. Accessories and appliances follow suit (think powder-coated matte black taps and sleek and shiny black fridge-freezers). Kitchen Noire is the handiwork of DesignSpace London’s Gary Moor, who was tasked with creating a bold architectural statement of a kitchen in this west London warehouse. Featuring handle-less cabinetry and hidden-away appliances for a super-sleek aesthetic.
From £25,000 (designspacelondon.com)
The raw edge
‘High texture’ is one buzz phrase for kitchen design in 2019. Unconventional glass, metal and marble finishes, as well as masonry-style effects, all bring an inviting tactility to the otherwise sharp lines of the contemporary kitchen. Inspired by the lean towards raw materials in interior design, CRL Stone has added six new colour stories to its Ceralsio ceramic surface collection, including the luxurious Cervino Satin with its soft to the touch marble patina. As a porcelain surface Ceralsio is utterly impermeable, as well as being stain and scratch resistant, thermally stable and shock resistant, too.
Worktops from £350 per sq m (crlstone.co.uk)
Two tone
Gone are the days of strict uniformity in the kitchen, with less emphasis on matching units and more on bespoke cabinetry with character. Striking colour contrasts allow for a contemporary, design-led aesthetic – and a cheeky twist to the traditional. Two tone kitchens are big news this year. In this super sleek design from Hub Kitchens, an accent shade in the upper cabinets draws the eye upward and highlights its clean, modern lines with a bold stripe of colour. With its convenient push-to-open fittings and high gloss finish, those lines are pleasingly uninterrupted.
Bespoke kitchens from £40,000 (hubkitchens.com)
