10 Lessons in Good Kitchen Design I Learned for 2025 — From Reviewing Hundreds (and Hundreds) of Kitchens in 2024

2024 was a year of good kitchens — well, from my perspective at least. I love to pull together these annual debriefs on my favorite kitchens our editors have featured over the past 12 months. Not only does it help to clue in on the impactful trends that are shaping kitchen design, but also offers some design lessons for those looking to undertake a remodel in the coming year.

After looking at hundreds of kitchens over the course of 2024, editing down to 10 of the best isn't an easy job, but these are the projects that stick out in my mind for one reason or the other. They may do something bold and unexpected that set them apart, including a clever modern kitchen idea that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, or have just taught me something about how a kitchen can work that I'd love to re-impart to our readers.

For me, these have been the most defining kitchens of the year — but here's why they're important for the projects we're going to see in 2025, too.

1. Temper Down Luxury Materials With a Contrast

Featured in our article about an emerging trend for tiled range hoods, this kitchen designed by Jaqui Seerman struck a chord with me for a few reasons. Let's face it, luxurious materials — think brass, marble, and wood — aren't going out of style any time soon, but I've seen an approach come through that adds some grit.

It's an idea we're calling 'rough luxe' — grounding those materials with textures that stop them from feeling too blingy. In this kitchen, swathes of marble slabs, flashes of brass, Shaker cabinetry, and a classic checkerboard tile bring an elevated, grand look, while preserving the home's rustic wooden ceiling and introducing Zellige tiles add that much-needed contrast.

2. Make Special Moments in Functional Spots

Kitchens are practical spaces, yes, but even their most functional areas can be made into design moments, as this design by Banner Day Interiors goes to show. Demonstrating a kitchen trend for arched doors, designer Clara Jung made this coffee bar idea, a part of the owners' morning routine, into a centerpiece for the room.

"We knew that this wall would be the focal point since it's the first wall you see as you enter through the door into the kitchen," Clara says. The clever integration of an arch into the door brings a feature to the simple light blue kitchen, that ties other materials throughout the space together.

3. Embrace the Hidden Kitchen

'Invisible' kitchens, which see cabinets and appliances disguised in open-concept spaces, are an enduring modern kitchen trend. Often, this takes the form of kitchen countertops hidden behind doors camouflaged in with walls, while still incorporating an island for practicality and entertaining.

With architectural features this glorious, it’s no surprise the owners wanted to conceal their kitchen’s practical side. The working components were hidden behind folding doors designed to look like wall paneling, leaving all eyes on the marble unit. "The floating island required significant structural modifications, including reinforcement of the floors," recalls Oslo-based interior architect Hanne Gathe of Gathe + Gram. The Collier De Perles chandelier from Invisible Collection completes the space.

4. Turn Small Spaces Into Jewel Boxes

Created for a showcase house in San Francisco, this luxurious kitchen with a dark red and brass material palette is something a little different than what we're used to seeing in this space within the house.

While colorful kitchens aren't a new idea, you'll often see schemes that are more on the bright side, using uplifting, fresh shades — however, this design by K Interiors, brings to life the idea of the 'jewel box kitchen', filled with rich materials and colors.

"Surprise and delight abound with every surface, material, and texture chosen to evoke excitement," Kristen Peña, the founder of K Interiors, told me earlier this year. "We transport you back to the days when the home was built originally while embracing modernity. The jewel box draws you in, makes you feel as beautiful as you are, and entices you to stay. Whether spending time intimately chatting, mixing a cocktail, or hosting the most lavish of soirees, the jewel box is where you want to be.”

It also picks up on one of the biggest color trend predictions for next year — oxblood.

5. Have a Little Fun With Color

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The most exciting kitchens I've seen this year take a bolder stance with color, in one of a variety of ways. However, you'll notice that a few kitchens in this round-up include an appliance which becomes a focal point for the space.

In this kitchen by designer Zoe Feldman, a neon yellow range cooker and hood make a striking impression in this otherwise neutral design scheme. There's an idea that has just, quite literally, hit our radar called 'Strategic Neon' — the idea that a single neon accent can elevate your decor. For me, it's more an idea that doing something unexpected and conversation-starting is a way to make your home more interesting, artistic, and remarkable, even if it's a little divisive at the same time.

6. Balance Your Contrasts

Talking of color, this kitchen by interior designer Victoria Maria incorporates a few of the biggest design trends for the coming year, especially in the contrast between the architecture, cabinetry and the brightly-colored countertops and backsplash. It talks of the balance between rough and luxury, seriousness and fun.

The surrounding 20th-century Brutalist interiors served as a source of inspiration for this Zurich project by the designer. "I was captivated by the unapologetic use of raw, industrial materials and the monumental scale of Brutalist structures," she says. "They resonated with me."

Thus Maria curated a palette that celebrated earthy tones and rich, deep hues, complemented by unexpected bursts of vibrant colour – the latter supplied via zesty green Pyrolave, a brand of lavastone countertop. Anissa Kermiche’s Love Handles vase adds a sculptural touch.

7. Play With Tonal Color Families

There was something special and unusual about the kitchen color ideas used in this home by Regan Baker that made me want to feature the home straight away. "The color palette creates a moody contrast with the rest of the house and infuses traditional elements," interior designer Regan Baker explained to us, but it's symptomatic of a wider approach to color we're seeing come through.

This kitchen design doesn't rely on starkly contrasted colors, nor does it go all in on the color drenching trend — instead, it uses an easy-going 'analogous' color palette (which basically means, neighboring colors on the color wheel). It's an idea that we've explored in the last year through evolving trends such as 'double drenching', and in the case of blue and green working together specifically, we've seen this pairing emerge as a designer favorite in recent times.

8. Don't Be Afraid of Mixing Woods

Is 2024 the year that butcher block countertop ideas were put back on the table for serious design savants? I'd argue so. Where wooden countertops often felt like an afterthought when paired with the likes of a painted Shaker kitchen, they've become more of an option paired with wooden cabinets. "A new trend for countertops is matching it with the surrounding cabinetry in the kitchen," explains Tina Schnabel, head of interiors at Barlis Wedlick who designed the kitchen above, told us.

It's a phenomenon we're calling 'wood drenching', whereby we're seeing schemes go all in on timber finishes, even skillfully pairing different tones and textures to add real depth and interest.

9. Know The Beauty Is in the Detail

Even more so than the grand sweeping features that make a space — think wow-factor kitchen island ideas, or creative paint schemes — the most luxurious kitchens of the last year have introduced smaller details that elevate the general sense of the space.

The directive for this kitchen in Sydney was to make the home feel concentrated, dense, comforting, and richly detailed, with a mood like that of continental parlors and hotels. "The owner was seeking a sanctuary from a very busy life, so it needed a little escapism," explains interior designer Tamsin Johnson. "I love the deep rust red of the cabinetry, which grounds this space."

Luxurious details, like the vintage Italian 10-arm chandelier by Barovier & Toso, the intricately-lipped countertop, and honey marble architraves respond to the call for boutique hotel-inspired grandeur.

10. Embrace the Power of Bespoke

Sometimes, the right answer for your kitchen layout means going beyond buying off the shelf when it comes to elements such as seating and dining tables.

For this Upper West Side apartment, New York’s General Assembly balanced heavy and light elements (not to mention sharp and soft shapes) to construct a two-tiered island to incorporate a casual dining space. "For the kitchen, we wanted to pair the very solid, grounded stone island with a more lightly structured wood kitchen table," says founder Sarah Zames. "The two pieces are built into each other, and create a nice balance in the room."

Yes, while a small round table could have worked in the space, this custom-made table, integrated into the island, changes not only how you move around the space, but gives the design a more streamlined intention.

So, what are the big takeaways from the kitchens of 2024? Thoughtful design elements and experimentation with color and material is high on the agenda for spaces being designed next year, it seems, and I for one can't wait to see the kitchens these ideas go on to yield.