Kitchen Design Trends of 2024

For many homebuyers, kitchen remodeling is a hot project. After more than two decades in the industry, we have noticed many trends. Here’s what we found.

1. Purchasing Home Appliances, Furniture, Cabinets, and Fixtures Online

It's no secret that online retail sales are the wave of the future. For over a decade, we have grown more comfortable ordering everything online. The pandemic punctuated the importance of online retail sales.

For nearly two decades, AjMadison has been helping customers shop for appliances and home essentials online. The AjMadison website is easy to navigate and shop for all home appliances and promotions. AjMadison was recently named Newsweek's top retailer for home appliances.

AjMadison operates the industry's largest delivery logistics network. They deliver everywhere in the continental US. Customers can browse the industry's largest selection of appliances with over 150 brands. At AjMadison, you can shop your way - online, by virtual appointment, or in one of our showroom locations.

2. People Want More Refrigerator and Freezer Capacity

Instead of going to the store every day, we’re buying and storing more food at home. Refrigerators are essential for short-term fresh food storage and leftovers. Freezers are important for longer-term preservation and frozen goods.

When designing kitchens in the future, we’re going to pay more attention to refrigerator and freezer capacity. Here are a few pro tips for getting more refrigerator and freezer capacity in your kitchen:

Full-depth refrigerators are freestanding refrigerators with a case depth of 28 to 30 inches. They come in popular configurations like top freezer, bottom freezer, side-by-side, and French door styles. Full-depth refrigerators can give you anywhere from 18 to 30 cubic feet of storage space. Full-depth refrigerators give you more cubic capacity than counter-depth and built-in styles, and they’re less expensive.

The only downside is refrigerator depth. Full-depth refrigerators stick out of a standard cabinet 6 to 8 inches, which can be an eye-sore. Having a lot of refrigerator depth can be a challenge as you can sometimes lose food items in the back of the fridge.

In all, I think full-depth refrigerators will become more popular in years to come. Design professionals will need to get crafty about hiding the extra depth. But you’ll be happy you have that extra capacity!

Column refrigerators are a more upscale way to add extra storage space to your kitchen. If you’re going for a luxurious look, consider these all-refrigerator and all-freezer towers that can be mixed and matched to give you an optimal amount of storage space. Install them side-by-side or separated, whichever works best with your design.

Under-counter refrigerators are tremendously popular already. Under counter, refrigerators are a stylish addition to any kitchen, pantry, living area, outdoor entertainment space, master suite, or home office. If your main refrigerator isn’t enough, you can get some extra capacity under the counter.

Getting an extra freezer can come in handy. Whether you want to stockpile extra frozen dinners, chicken, bread, ice cream, or leftovers, you can keep extra meals handy. An upright freezer or small chest freezer can tuck into a large pantry. If you need more storage space, get a bigger freezer for your garage or basement.

Many households have an extra refrigerator to accommodate extra food storage. Whether it’s your old refrigerator, or an inexpensive scratch and dent piece, adding an extra refrigerator to your garage, basement, or bonus room can come in handy.

3. More Cooking at Home

There are some positive benefits to cooking at home. Home-cooked meals can be fun and creative. Get your family and kids involved in the kitchen. Eating at home will also help you save money and possibly, lose weight.

New kitchens will be designed for healthy meals, food prep stations, and storing leftovers. You might also find yourself using those fun small appliances like your juicer, slow cooker, ice cream maker, or food processor.

Investing in a high-quality set of food storage containers will reduce food waste. Look for dishwasher-friendly, stain-resistant, freezer-safe, and even oven-safe options. Leftovers are more appealing when stored in a high-quality container.

4. Cabinet Space, Pantry, and Dry Food Storage

A well-organized area to store nonperishable items will be a top priority for remodelers. Whether it’s open shelves, extra cabinet space, or even a walk-in pantry, you’ll want to make sure you have ample storage. Dry goods such as rice, beans, grains, and oats are low-cost essentials to feed your family. Elevate your cooking game with a hidden pull-out rack for spices and dry herbs. Airtight storage containers are a great way to store baking ingredients, cereal, loose-leaf teas, and coffee.

Since the pandemic, we have been more mindful about cleaning our homes. We are taking extra time to disinfect heavily trafficked areas such as our kitchen, bathroom, car, and workspaces. We’ve been reminded that germs, bacteria, and viruses linger on doorknobs, keyboards, refrigerator handles, buttons, and knobs.

Low maintenance cabinet finishes, faucets, tile, and fixtures will be a top priority. For appliances, that means coated finishes like smudge-resistant stainless steel will become more popular. Consumers will look for countertops that are non-porous, scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, and even antimicrobial.

Whether we like it or not, technology is making its way into our homes. Before the pandemic, this trend was already on the rise for several reasons. Smart appliances help consumers troubleshoot service problems, reduce food waste, and explore new recipes.

Smart cooking appliances can be beneficial for seasoned chefs and home cooking newbies. For the experienced home cook, a smart oven can serve as your sous chef, keeping time providing guard rails against failure in the kitchen.

If you’re new to cooking, you’ll benefit from step-by-step cooking instructions. If you’re a picky eater, consider an integrated cooking app like Innit or Whirlpool's Yummly, where you can enter your food preferences. You can even connect your oven to your phone or smart speaker, order groceries online, video chat with friends and family and even share your dinner masterpieces on social media.

Some smart refrigerators give you the ability to keep a running grocery list. From your refrigerator, you can order groceries online. Your smart refrigerator can also help you prevent fresh foods from going bad. If an item expires, your refrigerator can recommend recipes to help you use it before it’s too late.

7. Sanitizing Appliances

If you can, always opt for a dishwasher, washer, and dryer with a sanitize cycle. Appliances with the best sanitation cycles are certified by the National Sanitation Foundation or NSF. A sanitize cycle is a hot water cycle designed to reduce bacteria, mold, allergens, and viruses. For washers, a sanitize cycle typically runs about 170° F. Sanitizing appliances keep your family safer.

For large kitchens and homes, it’s convenient to have more than one dishwasher. Whether the extra dishwasher is in the kitchen, bar area, guest suite, or even outdoor entertainment space, having extra cleaning capacity is convenient.

In addition, cleaning appliances have been beneficial for healthy living. Air purifiers, air conditioners, and HEPA vacuum cleaners eliminate dust, allergens, and harmful pollutants. If you’re designing a laundry room, consider adding a garment steamer. These innovative appliances steam and sanitize delicate items like formalwear, throw pillows, and stuffed animals.

8. Focus on Outdoor Living, Self-Sufficient Gardening

The weather is getting warmer, and we're getting closer to gardening season. You have a safe space to catch some fresh air like a yard or balcony if you're lucky.

If you're planning a home improvement project, you will also want to upgrade your yard to spend time outside with your family and friends. Consider adding a barbecue grill, outdoor furniture, lawn games, a patio heater, a fire pit, or even a home garden.

Starting a home gardening project is a great way to get homegrown veggies and save money. You can store your homegrown produce with a long-term food preservation technique like flash freezing or canning.

Replacing your old energy-hogging appliances can save you money in the long run. Consider an easy-to-replace appliance such as a freestanding refrigerator, front control range, faucet, or dishwasher. There are many fun appliance finishes for a fresh new look. Stainless steel is forever, but consider slate, black stainless, sunset bronze, Tuscan brass, or matte white.

You can also easily upgrade the color palette in your kitchen. A new coat of paint on your walls or cabinets can give your kitchen new life. Bright colors are in. If you’re looking for a subtle pop of color, consider new curtains, rugs, or dish towels. If you’re looking for a more ambitious project, add a tile backsplash. Adding tile could be a fun DIY weekend project and will elevate the value of your kitchen.

10. Investing in High-Quality Home Appliances Built to Last

All of your large appliances serve critical roles in your home. Appliances are more than practical boxes, with many styles and features. However, your refrigerator needs to keep your food fresh, your dishwasher needs to clean your dishes, stove to cook, and microwave to reheat.

It’s worth keeping your appliances running for years to come. To do that, you need to make sure you’re taking the necessary measures to take care of your appliances over time. Over the years, most appliances will require maintenance. If your appliance needs service, it pays to have a warranty in place. Investing in a warranty at the time of sale will give you peace of mind and save you hundreds of dollars.