The kitchen has transcended straightforward culinary utility: it is the nucleus of the home, where most of waking life happens.

Now we’re making visible what was previously hidden, showcasing cookware and produce, bringing the outside in with houseplants, or using raw, sometimes industrial materials for units. Read more, ‘Inside Some of the World’s Best Kitchens and Everything to Steal Their Style.’

Now we’re making visible what was previously hidden, showcasing cookware such as in  Zara Home’s new Kitchen collection just released, ‘A Life in Simplicity’ 2019 Range.

AGAINST THE GRAIN: 

It’s worth considering seemingly humble natural materials, whose rawness is often part of their visual appeal. Think pine plywood open shelving to stained cupboards to architectural studded beams, which run the length of both walls and extend up to double-height ceilings. Read more, ‘What’s Hot and What’s Not In Kitchen Design Right Now.’

HEIGHT OF STYLE:

Contemporary kitchens are employing all kinds of creative solutions to reconquer dead space, and in particular the ubiquitous gap between wall units and ceilings. 

Image via Zara Home ‘A Life in Simplicity’ FW 19 Range

INDUSTRIAL HEART:

Modern materials can add edge to a space, while being easier to maintain than their more coarse counterparts. Instead of technical elements, people want to see the objects that give colour and atmosphere to their lives. 

The kitchen is the most important living space in a house.

CONTRASTING COLOUR:

Sometimes innovation can be found in unlikely places in the kitchen, such as ceilings, skirting boards or the finishing touches. 

Image via Zara Home ‘A Life in Simplicity’ FW 19 Range

CRISS-CROSS PURPOSES:

While they’re a core ingredient in any conventional kitchen, inventively used tiles are reaching their peak, both in terms of placement- in living rooms, bedrooms and on ceilings- and the tiles themselves (think artisanal hand-glazed options, rounded edges and asymmetrical shapes.) Read more, ‘Benchtops 101: A Guide to Seven of the Best.’

TIME FOR RECESS:

Make a modest nook into a thing of beauty- and utility – by transforming it into a statement or washing-up area.

You can use back-lighting to give a sense of depth and maximise vertical space, while illuminating all goings-on in the sink area. 

DIVIDE AND RULE:

Larger spaces can benefit from extra structure at their centre, where a rectangular unit might look lost. Monolithic kitchen island separates functions as they divide the room – like the ultimate culinary meeting point, to distinguish between cooking and dining areas. Read more, ‘7 Ways to Save on Your Kitchen Renovation.’

Image via Zara Home ‘A Life in Simplicity’ FW 19 Range