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31 modern kitchen design ideas from the House & Garden archive
The idea of a modern kitchen tends to conjure up various images: handleless, slab-fronted cabinets, stainless steel, plywood and unexpected colour combinations. The examples we love contain all these things but so much more, with smart open shelving, freestanding furniture, and sophisticated paint choices. Many are open-plan, as reflects the longstanding trend for large kitchens that are also dining areas and sometimes living rooms too; but there are plenty of small flats with efficient galley and one wall kitchens. Scroll down for our favourite design ideas for contemporary kitchens that will stand the test of time.
Modern kitchen design ideas
Paul Massey1/31The units in the kitchen of this house by Ann Boyd were made by Stroud Furniture to Ann’s design and painted in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Squid Ink’, as was the dining area credenza. A Lacanche ‘Volnay’ range blends with Mosa’s ‘Maastricht’ floor tiles in anthracite. ‘I like to create a sense of calm,’ says Ann. ‘With all the chaos that is going on around us, it’s so nice to come in, close the door, exhale and think, I’m home. Even though this is a house for guests, I think it still has that feeling to it.’
Michael Sinclair2/31Designed around a stainless-steel sink found on Ebay by the house’s owner, Orlando, the birch-ply units by CM Pretlove Cabinet Maker are finished with stainless-steel worktops in the kitchen of this striking house in Somerset.
Alexander James3/31With its low ceilings and dark beams, this Arts and Crafts house in Surrey was looking sad and neglected, until interior designer Sarah Peake brought a new, energetic spirit to its rooms using a bold palette and pretty prints. Created by 202 Design, the kitchen units are in a striking combination of Argile’s ‘Blanc de Meudon’ and Farrow & Ball’s ‘Suffield Green’ (also used on the window frames), with worktops in Bardiglio marble. The reeded oak lining the alcove adds warmth and texture, as does Lostine’s ‘Bella Skirt’ oak lamp with an ivory shade. This is a brilliant way to do a modern kitchen that brings in traditional elements.
Paul Massey4/31Decorating a single-storey newbuild on the site of a former cricket pavilion in the Cotswolds gave designer Kate Guinness the chance to create a winningly inviting home-from-home for a young family.
The light-filled mezzanine level, which serves as a play area for the couple’s three children, looks out over this open-plan space, where unpainted plaster walls provide a warm backdrop for custom-built units with sleek ceramic worktops and Van Cronenburg handles. The metal pendant lights came from the wife’s parents’ house in Santa Barbara, while the oak dining table was originally made for the husband’s parents’ house in London. It is teamed with vintage Swedish chairs sourced from Maison Artefact. The wife is from South Africa and there is a detectable African influence peppered throughout the schemes, with items such as an inlaid Zanzibar campaign chest, Ethiopian Coptic crosses and the large African baskets on the kitchen units. The walls in the open-plan kitchen, dining and sitting room were left unpainted because the owners fell for the warm pink of the plaster, which blends well with the timber cladding used on the ceiling and the wooden flooring, both sourced from a local sawmill.
Owen Gale5/31It made sense to extend Laura Logan's London house at the rear to create the space for the “daylight-soaked kitchen and dining room that is fully connected with the outdoors,” she says. “With this in mind, the oak framed façade (a feature which translates into the interiors via beams and joinery by Tim Gaudin) became one of the first key decisions we made. We wanted it to feel like we were stepping into a warm sanctuary, despite being in the middle of London, and I think the material choices are a huge part of achieving that feel.”
Materials are indeed a key aspect in the scheme, and it is a remarkably tactile house. The walls are painted in Bauwerk paint, the kitchen island is a vintage refectory table found on eBay that adds welcome patina and that you can’t help but run your hand against, while the microcement floor softly diffuses the light from the acres of window. “I’m always drawn to tactile environments that use natural materials and local artisanship, encouraging reflection and engagement” Laura remarks.
Paul Massey6/31‘For me, the kitchen is the most important room in the house,’ says interior designer Nicola Harding. ‘It’s where most people spend most of their time and should be the best room.’ So when Nicola was asked by a young couple with a new baby to design their weekend retreat beside the River Thames, it was no surprise that she moved the kitchen from a small room at the back to a prime position, in a former reception room with doors onto the garden and views of the river.
The kitchen’s colour palette was kept deliberately calm with many different greens – from the strong olive of the Plain English units, to the pale willow of the door and window surrounds, which frame the vista of the garden and the river. ‘This lets the view steal the show,’ explains Nicola. And that is just how her clients like it. ‘They wanted an easy, unshowy, comfortable house – with soul.’
Mark Fox7/31In Orlagh McCloskey's kitchen, she has combined built in cabinetry with freestanding furniture. The cream cabinet on the right is from Ferm Living, and pairs well with the kitchen units made by her husband, Brook, of Touchwood Joinery. On the walls of the large open plan kitchen/sitting room, Bauwerk limewash paint in ‘Bone’ provides texture without being overwhelming. The bar stools are from Molebaris, and they sit under Murano glass pendants are from Cupla Studio, created by Orlagh's twin sister, Gemma.
Kensington Leverne8/31Oak units and a green-painted island by Lanserring have worktops in Verde Luana marble in this Sophie Ashby-designed kitchen. Its veining echoes Philip Maltman’s Devon Diptych framed by a Ladies & Gentlemen Studio ‘Myrna’ light. ‘The green marble was a bold choice but it echoes the garden beyond,’ Sophie says.
Owen Gale9/31Angus and Charlotte Buchanan, the couple behind Buchanan Studio, have taken a blank canvas of an Edwardian house in north-west London and transformed it into an airy, bright and deeply comfortable home for themselves and their young family.
At the back of the house, Angus designed a generous extension to house the kitchen and dining area. The commercial kitchen is by D&D Engineering, and this was the first time they had done a residential project. To the left is a Studio Sofa by Buchanan Studio, upholstered in their ‘Checkmate’ fabric in sage velvet. The couple were determined to incorporate a larder into the design of the kitchen, and built one in at the back of the space with custom joinery and french doors so that it can be shut away.
Michael Sinclair10/31The walls in the kitchen of designer Pandora Taylor's London house are painted in Farrow & Ball's Parma Gray, a cool backdrop for bleached oak cabinets and open shelving and further evidence of the fact that sky blue and brown is the colour combination to know this year. An artwork by Thierry Genay hangs on the chimneybreast above the cooker, framed in Perspex to avoid damage.
Dean Hearne11/31A bold colour combined with slab front, handleless cabinets feels very of the moment. At this house designed by Nicola Mardas in Deal, the kitchen was designed by the architectural studio Camu & Morrison, and Nicola chose the colours. The cabinets are painted in Little Greene's ‘Woodland’, while the walls are in Farrow & Ball's ‘Middleton Pink’.
Michael Sinclair12/31Benni Frowein, the CEO of Schumacher in Europe, has carried out a clever layout rejig on his Victorian flat in London, deploying a mixture of vintage and contemporary design and lashings of lovely fabrics. The kitchen is a strikingly modern space with its monochrome colour scheme and geometric patterns. Black oak units topped with granite complement Porter Teleo's graphic Binary wallcovering panels used on the walls and floor.
Chris Horwood13/31Sophie Warburton, founder of Host Home, kept the existing kitchen in her London house, repainting the units from a pillar box red to the calm green of Benjamin Moore's ‘Guacamole’. The tiles are zellige tiles in a colourway called ‘Pastel Sand’. A pop of colour comes from part of Sophie's glassware and ceramics collection, with all the glasses from Host and mugs from Mud Australia.
Christopher Horwood14/31This ‘Brasserie’ design kitchen in the 18th-century Wolterton Hall was originally conceived by Peter Sheppard for Smallbone, and was named the joint winner of the 2020 Historic Houses Kitchen Award. Sleek and subtly colourful, it makes sense of the grand proportions of the space, and is modern without feeling out of keeping with its surroundings.
Christoper Horwood15/31Digital creative and brand consultant Lucy Williams has tackled her first renovation with confidence and flair, filling the Victorian terrace with bold colour and considered pieces. The bespoke kitchen was made by Browson Design and is painted in Paper and Paints Sky Blue with Beata Heuman hardware. The large brass handles were found by Lucy at Ardingly Market, whilst the brown marble countertops were sourced from Lapicida. Over head, Fritz Fryer pendants hang and plaster lights by Alexandra Robinson line the back wall.
Mariell Lind Hansen16/31When Louis Hagen Hall was asked to reinvent the home of two musicians in Primrose Hill, the trio’s enthusiasm for 1970s LA architecture dovetailed perfectly. The kitchen is a modern masterpiece: the joinery, as throughout the house, was made by Studio Hagen Hall and Louis’s new kitchen company, Bysse (named for the Norwegian word for a ship’s galley), in elm, microcement, fluted glass and brass. The faucet and tap are Tapwell’s ‘Evo 180’ and the cabinet handles are Schoolhouse’s ‘Edgecliff Pull’ handles, both in brass.
STEPHAN JULLIARD17/31Take inspiration from Marianne Evennou’s creative use of colour and choice of flexible furniture to enhance the proportions and maximise space in this modern Paris apartment. A small kitchen can be a challenge; this one, however, has been tackled with chic aplomb. Here, a pair of foldable ‘Pliante’ chairs from Maison Gatti flank a French bistro-style dining table from the same company. The room's soft colour palette imparts a soothing atmosphere.
Paul Massey18/31Her eponymous clothing label is desired for the quality of its designs and the attention to detail - attributes that couturier Anna Valentine has also employed in the renovation of her London flat. Anna's kitchen is a marvel of modern design, complete with vintage powder-coated wall lights from Skinflint Design, a dining table made by Vincent Van Duysen and chairs bought in France. The addition of house plants and verdent bouquets softens the all-white kitchen and her bespoke kitchen units provide ample storage.
Rachel Whiting19/31Pandora Sykes' house in London was decorated on a tight schedule before the birth of her daughter. But her optimism, bold vision and love of a vintage bargain helped her achieve the distinctive look she wanted in record time. The kitchen is combined with the dining room – an ideal, modern design for frequent dinner party hosts (and families). The existing units, repainted in Fired Earth’s ‘Carbon Blue’, provide a foil for ‘Percy’ glass pendant lights from Pooky.
Paul Massey20/31A well proportioned London flat was the ideal setting for interior designer Emma Grant’s trove of eclectic finds, with each piece shaping her vision for the space. The kitchen is an excellent study of modern, maximalist design: exposed, chunky wooden shelving provides contrast to the clean, stainless steel appliances below, as do the green plants and their cascading green tendrils. The large marble trough is a stylish, clever multi-functional piece, serving as both a kitchen herb garden and storage for cooking necessities, olive oil and salt. Emma repainted the cabinetry in Farrow & Ball’s ‘School House White’.
Lucas Allen21/31On a plot of farmland on the Atlantic coast of Long Island, a firm of Manhattan architects and a London-based interior designer have created a barn-style holiday house for their clients that is appropriate to its rural setting, yet has all the accoutrements of stylish modern living. In the open-plan living space, the ultra-modern kitchen spills out into a seating area, allowing for an uninterrupted flow of elegant design.
James McDonald22/31Gallerist Tobias Vernon’s cottage in Somerset is a study in juxtaposition, with white walls throughout providing a background for his creative arrangements of art and eclectic pieces. The kitchen is an excellent mix of colour, pattern and material. Kitchen units painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Dutch Orange’ contrast with ‘Circa’ industrial rubber flooring in forest green by Polymax.
Magnus Mårding23/31For interior designer and furniture dealer Marie-Louise Sjögren, this glorious apartment in the Swedish capital is both a showcase of her beloved early 20th-century Scandinavian design and a comfortable family home. Part of the kitchen is built into the window alcove, with a kitchen island in Estremoz marble. The ceiling lamp is a 1930s Swedish Grace design.
Paul Massey24/31The English owners of this picture perfect beach house on Cap Ferret enlisted the combined efforts of local builder Guy Allamand and London architect Jonathan Tuckey. As a nod to the owners' love of seafood (and famous seafood-tower parties), Jonathan designed the long kitchen island to be more a seafood bar than kitchen work surface, enabling everyone to gather round. The original intention was that the island would be zinc, but it proved difficult to have made, so stainless steel was used instead. Handmade by Devon based furniture maker James Verner, it was designed to be robust and forgiving of holiday life and sandy feet, with open shelving on the walls on which to display pieces found on their travels.
Michael Sinclair25/31With its white Bulthaup units, this kitchen in the Hampshire vicarage of the couple behind Porta Romana is a bright and airy space.
Richard Powers26/31The aesthetic in the kitchen of this house in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, designed by Andrzej Zarzycki, is pared back, with oak veneered units and travertine countertops. The owners are keen cooks, so there is plenty of storage space and generous work surfaces.
Ngoc Minh Ngo27/31Open shelving and industrial tiling lend a thoroughly American feel to the kitchen of Jos and Annabel White's Manhattan townhouse. The fittings were inspired by the decoration in their friends' New York restaurant, The Fat Radish.
Lucas Allen28/31The countertop and floor in this Martin Hulbert-designed house are both in Scala Blue marble from Stone Interiors. The curtains are in an Irish linen by de Le Cuona, while Martin designed the hanging shelf, which holds rustic Tuscan pots. The citrus-painted cabinets are from Pinch. They are the ‘Joyce’ design, which has adjustable shelves and drawers and comes in a variety of finishes. It measures 187 x 132 x 42cm and costs from £6,970. Martin Hulbert designed the hanging shelf above the dining table. For similar, try the mango wood ‘Shelf With Black Iron Hanger’, from Tea and Kate at Trouva (£65).
Lucas Allen29/31Interior designer Hugh Leslie has transformed his nineteenth-century Chelsea studio into an airy, harmonious showpiece for high-quality joinery and understated taste. 'Spend as much as possible on the joinery - the things that you touch and use all the time,' says Hugh. Nowhere is this mantra more in evidence than the kitchen. Using a mix of colour that is so well balanced and friendly that there is no sense of restlessness, a luxurious feel is added by Carrara marble work-tops and splash-back. If you want something with the look of marble, but more durable and cost-effective, the compressed quartz composite from Compact, is much more hard-wearing but lightly veined to look like Carrara.
Paul Massey30/31The kitchen in Sarah Stewart-Smith's Herefordshire cottage may have been the last room to be finished but is it by no means left behind in terms of style or finish. The walnut and steel kitchen table is by Mark Thurgood. The floor is not concrete but painted screed, which is softer underfoot. With seven layers of rubbed-in paint and varnish between each paint layer, it has proved so durable that she now uses it in bathrooms.
31/31Art dealer and founder of the PAD art fair fourth-generation Parisian art dealer, Patrick Perrin has opted for an industrial, chrome cooker and checkerboard floor, in the minimal kitchen of his Saint-Germain apartment, creating a serene and soigné home. Try SCP, Folk Lore and Conran Shop for similarly lovely wooden chopping boards.
