How to Design a Unique and Stylish Kitchen

Your dream kitchen should be something unique and functional to your needs. Designing a kitchen that meets both those standards can seem tough and daunting, especially if you’ve never designed a kitchen before.

Many homeowners have an idea of what they’re looking for, but they’ve got no idea where to start. Here are some tips for designing a unique and stylish kitchen that works best for you!

Decide Your Budget

One of the first things you should do is decide your budget. Your budget will guide many of your decisions, such as ordering wholesale kitchen cabinets instead of splurging on designer ones.

It will also help you decide the places you’ll shop or what areas of your kitchen to prioritize. A budget is your guiding principle throughout your entire renovation project.

Without a budget, it’s easy to go beyond your means or end up with incomplete tasks because you ran out of money for the project overall.

Setting a budget before even starting to choose elements of your kitchen will ensure that you complete your kitchen design on time and come away from it with a kitchen that looks phenomenal. 

Decide Your Style

After determining your budget, determine your style. Here are some common design styles:

• Farmhouse: Farmhouse kitchens have a mix of traditional and contemporary items. Typically featuring white cabinets, lots of natural light, and contrasting black hardware, farmhouse kitchens have become increasingly popular over the past few years. If you’re interested in a farmhouse kitchen style, you’ll want to incorporate lots of white and blacks into your style. Your color palette will probably be muted because farmhouse kitchens prioritize function over style — they’re modeled after kitchens used on farms, after all!
  Farmhouse kitchens often incorporate various rustic elements, such as exposed beams, ceramic tile floors, and vintage hardware. To complete the look, consider adding kitchen accessories that fit the farmhouse aesthetic. For example, teaware consisting of double-walled glass cups and teapot placed on the kitchen shelves can add a touch of elegance to the space, while a set of enamel canisters would be right at home in a country kitchen. With a little bit of effort, you can create a truly one-of-a-kind farmhouse kitchen.
  
• Industrial: An industrial kitchen takes mixed metals to transform them into a unique design aesthetic. Typically utilizing darker hues, an industrial kitchen has a lot of brass, copper, and gunmetal in it. Industrial kitchens have penny tile and other metal accents in them, typically using dark stainless steel appliances to ensure the industrial aesthetic shines through.
• Retro: A retro kitchen can go one of two ways — vibrant and eclectic or classic and antique. A vibrant retro kitchen combines bright colors and patterns, whereas a classic retro kitchen gives more of a Victorian vibe, with simple lines and glass knobs. A retro kitchen usually incorporates retro kitchen appliances as well, so if you live in a home that currently has older appliances, you should consider getting them refurbished from a local professional to use in your new kitchen! It’ll be a great value booster to have the original appliances in your space, especially if that matches your style.
  

  

• Contemporary: Contemporary kitchens prioritize efficiency and minimalism above all. Typically featuring monochromatic schemes and seamless designs, a contemporary kitchen is one that makes you feel like you’re in a movie. If you like simple lines, minimal colors, and a kitchen that feels crisp rather than cozy, a contemporary style might be the best option for you. 

Choose Your Larger Items

For the next step in your kitchen design, focus on your larger items. Will you be looking to replace the cabinets, countertops, and appliances, or are you just replacing some?

Maybe you like your current setup and don’t want to do much beyond painting and retiling the backsplash. Either way, designing a unique kitchen means that you decide what larger items will need to be added.

Of course, if you’re starting from scratch, then you’ll be adding all the larger items to your kitchen space!

Deciding the colors, styles, and layout of these larger items will ensure you get items that match your desired aesthetic. Here are a couple of tips for choosing larger items in your kitchen!

• When in doubt, choose neutrals. If you’re hesitating to go bold with a cabinet color or appliance, choose a neutral option instead. You can find ways to use color as accents later on, but once those larger items get installed with bright colors, it’s difficult to go back and change them.
• Focus on practicality. While that smart fridge might seem cool, consider whether or not you’re actually going to use the features that often. If not, then save yourself the money and go for a step-down model that still has most of the features you’re looking for.
  

  

Choose Decor and Accent Items

Once you’ve chosen your larger items, you can now focus on the fun items! Use the money you have left in your budget to choose unique seating, lighting, and accent items, such as shelving decor or dishware.

Table runners, hardware, and bar decor are also items to consider as you design your space.

What makes a space unique is that it’s filled with items that you enjoy using, not just the overall features it has. Here are some additional items to put in your kitchen space.

• Open shelving: Consider adding open shelving to your kitchen design. This allows you to use the shelves as decor. If you’ve got special china or dishware, adding it to your open shelving can continue to create a unique design style for your space.
• Lazy Susan: A lazy Susan is a decor feature that allows you to put a variety of items onto a plate or platter. Place a bowl of fresh fruit, a vase with flowers, or even some necessary coffee bar items to a lazy Susan and feature it on one of your kitchen counters. If you like to feature seasonal decor, a lazy Susan is a great way to do that!
• Transparent organizers: Use candy jars to organize some of your kitchen items! Whether you place cereal, oats, candy, or any other non-perishables into candy jars, they’ll add a unique flair to your kitchen design. Finding ways to incorporate items in different ways is the mark of a unique and stylish kitchen.
• Penny tile backsplash: Penny tile isn’t just for a bathroom floor! Instead, use it as your backsplash for a unique kitchen design. With so many ways to layout the tiles, you’ll have a truly unique piece of art in your kitchen!