The Biggest Kitchen Trends for 2026, According to Design Pros
Expert insights to make your cooking space more functional and boost your home's resale value.
There are plenty of spaces in homes that are prone to evolving design trends (actually, while we think about it—every type of space experiences trends fading in and out!). But one where we notice trends shifting the most? The kitchen. That's why we've tapped interior designers to share the biggest kitchen trends for 2026.
And while keeping up with trends can certainly make your kitchen more functional and more pleasing to the eye, it can also help with selling your house one day. “Remodeling your kitchen is a huge investment and more so than any other room in the house,” says Kira Young, principal designer at High Tide Design. “It has the ability to make or break when it comes to resale.”
If a kitchen renovation is in the cards for you or you simply want to refresh your space, read on for inspiring expert insights.
Natural Materials
When it comes to countertops and beyond, designer Kelly Neely says, “Thankfully, we are seeing natural materials continue to shine.” And although natural materials, like “statement stone finishes” as Young puts it, are trending right now, Neely says these materials will never go out of style.
“White quartz countertops had a good run for a long time, but now it's about taking more daring design choices in the kitchen,” Young notes. “One of the very best ways to take a kitchen from basic-builder looking to truly elevated and exceptional is to select natural stone in bolder patterns and richer colors.”
Photo by: Laurey Glenn
Statement Cooktop Niches
Young says that “large cooktop niches” are growing in popularity. “I love this trend because aesthetically it creates a stunning focal point to the kitchen, and functionally, it means you have plenty of room on either side of the range for ingredients, prep, and hot plates,” she adds.
Photo by: Charlotte Lea
Butler's Pantries
Butler’s pantries, the bonus pantries located right off of kitchens, continue to go strong. “Because kitchens fill so many needs beyond just cooking, we are seeing a lot of butler's pantries off the kitchen,” Neely points out. “Secondary dishwashers, ovens, and storage allows for a backup kitchen just around the corner from the main.”
Butler’s pantries are also rethinking the way we design kitchen layouts. “Newer kitchen trends maintain the basic work triangle while creating a secondary kitchen/butler's pantry for the heavy lifting and mess-making in the secondary kitchen,” says Libby Baker Speight, founder of Baker Design Co. “In some cases, they create a quad layout with a bar, butler's pantry, main kitchen, and prep kitchen, all in proximity of each other so you can utilize it as one large kitchen yet compartmentalized into smaller, more efficient rooms per activity.”
Photo by: Brittany Godbee
Pocket Door Cabinets
Pocket door cabinets, with doors that tuck neatly into spaces alongside cabinet openings, are “an incredible way to keep counters clean of smaller appliances,” Young says. “And pocket mechanisms mean you can leave them in the open position and the cabinet becomes a display area where the shelves can be styled with silverware and other elements. In my opinion, a better option than endless open shelving!”
Photo by: Charlotte Lea
RELATED: Pocket Doors Are Back—And Designers Say They’re More Useful Than Ever
Bold Lighting
Neely says that while bold lighting choices have usually been saved for spaces like living rooms and entries, she's seeing more eye-catching options being used over islands more than before. “I personally love this because of the amount of character a great light can add to a space,” she observes.
Photo by: Charlotte Lea
Integrated Lighting
“Integrated lighting is a great new trend that has serious staying power,” Baker Speight says, listing above-cabinet and under-cabinet lighting, toe kick lighting, and illuminating the interior of cabinets with glass fronts or mesh material as examples.
She says that toe kick lighting is ideal for illuminating the kitchen floor at night, and integrated lighting can also show off beautiful sets of china and stemware.
Letting the Outdoors In
Baker Speight has increasingly noticed homeowners opening their kitchens to the outside. This can be attributed to “so many cool new window options on the market,” and she says that in particular, accordion windows can open to outside bars and countertops that allow you to easily pass things from inside the kitchen to serving outdoors.
Photo by: Laurey Glenn
Lots of Color
“We are really seeing ‘all-white kitchens’ as a thing of the past,” Neely says. “While an all-white kitchen will never go out of style, clients are opting for more color in cabinetry and even stone. It creates a warmer, more welcoming feel in a space where we typically see monochromatic palettes.”
Photo by: Mary Margaret Smith
Shelby Deering is a freelance lifestyle writer who frequently covers home design and decor for national publications. She has worked as a full-time freelance writer for over a decade, and has worked in the industry for nearly 20 years, writing home tours, interviewing top designers, and beautifying her own home. She holds a master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and when she's not writing, you can find her at thrift stores and flea markets, running, or exploring local trails in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and corgi, Dolly.
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