On average, homeowners in the US remodel their kitchen every 10-15 years. Many people like to redecorate according to the latest styles. So, that’s a lot of people living in homes with outdated kitchen trends!
It’s one thing to buy the latest sneakers and tire of them after six months, but modeling your kitchen on the latest trends is a recipe for disaster. Something you have to live with (or in) for multiple years should have a timeless design.
Your kitchen should be clean and functional, not fussy and frustrating.
If you are remodeling your kitchen, here are some outdated kitchen trends to avoid so you can build your dream kitchen that will stand the test of time. Keep reading.
1. Lots of Kitchen Artwork
Most kitchen artwork seems to fall into one of two categories:
- Food, cutlery, or general kitchen-based designs
- Inferior artwork deemed “not good enough” for the living room
It’s unlikely you have a print of a tired person hanging in your bedroom or a picture of a car in your garage. So why do kitchen clocks need to have forks and spoons telling the time?
And do you know what’s more visually appealing than a picture of a bamboo fruit bowl? An actual bamboo fruit bowl!
Most kitchen artwork isn’t in keeping with the original design and it just looks like clutter. It’s definitely one of the kitchen trends to avoid. Only choose artwork that you like looking at and are happy to dust every few weeks.
If you have a big spoon and fork hanging on your kitchen wall it’s time for them to go.
2. Ornate Cabinet Doors
Nothing ages a kitchen than overly-decorative cabinets and cabinet doors. You know the ones. They have detailed brass hardware, lots of fancy groves, and perhaps even a stained-glass panel in the middle.
This is one of the most easy-to-spot outdated kitchen trends because these went out of style in the mid-1990s. They definitely haven’t made a comeback.
If you want a timeless kitchen design, choose wood-paneled cabinets with unfussy hardware. They’re clean, simple, and you can repaint or switch up the handles in a few years at a minimal cost to create a whole new look.
3. Dark Wood and Tiles
Dark wood cabinets and furnishings only work if you have a huge space with lots of light. But even then, it’s difficult to see what you’re looking for in dark cabinets and cleaning up spills.
So, dark wood is not just an example of bad kitchen trends, it’s hugely impractical.
If your current kitchen design consists of dark wood cabinets and heavy slate tiles, it might be too big a job to remodel or redecorate yourself. Consider enlisting the services of a kitchen remodeling company to overhaul your kitchen’s look.
4. Patterned Countertops
There are a couple of current kitchen trends concerning patterned countertops that should be left in the past. They are very different yet both should be avoided to stop your kitchen from looking dated.
Tiled Countertops
Because a lot of backsplashes are tiled, somewhere along the way it became commonplace to tile countertops, too. There are some pros to this. It’s a fairly affordable option and they are easy to clean.
Except, they’re not that easy to clean. Backsplashes suffer far fewer spills so it’s not as big an issue, but the grout between the tiles is going to get dirty fast on countertops. Plus, tiles aren’t a great surface material and can crack easily.
Granite/Marble Countertops
Granite or marble-effect countertops were big in the 1980s and recently they made a comeback. They can make your kitchen appear cleaner by hiding any mess, but they also look like you’re trying to be fancy.
Instead, use a granite countertop that is one solid color without any patterns or effects that will soon leave you with an outdated kitchen. Stainless steel might be a good option for keen chefs or choose light woods like oak.
These are great timeless kitchen trends to consider for your redesign.
5. Pot Racks and Open Cabinets
Beautifully organized kitchens with pot racks and shelves instead of cabinets look great in catalogs but not so much in reality.
Pot racks can look cool if you have lots of similar pots hanging on top of an island counter. But many homeowners have maybe five or six pots and a couple of frying pans which doesn’t give the same effect.
And if you don’t have a huge kitchen with everything lined up in neat mason jars, using open shelves instead of cabinets can look very messy. Plus, do you really want your dinner guests to know that all you have in your cupboards is microwave rice and dried pasta?
Hiding your overflowing Tupperware collection behind cabinet doors will never go out of style!
6. Over-the-Range Microwaves
In theory, it might look nice to have all your cooking appliances stacked on top of each other by installing your microwave over your range oven. However, this was en vogue 40+ years ago so this will only date your kitchen.
Plus, it can be quite impractical. If you want a new microwave, you have to choose one that fits the frame exactly. Plus, a lot of microwaves have ventilation either on the top or behind, so an over-the-range microwave may cause your appliance to overheat.
7. Kitsch, Brightly-Colored Appliances
The 1950s gave us lots of wonderful things we still enjoy today. Elvis Presley’s music, McDonald’s, and brightly-colored appliances. But one of those is a very outdated kitchen trend and should have definitely stayed in the 1950s.
Bold appliances like pink refrigerators and yellow microwaves go out of style as quickly as they come back in. Why? Because at first, they seem like a fun and simple way to bring color into your kitchen. But at the end of the day, you’re stuck using a green range oven until it breaks or you decide to remodel.
Keep the experimental design ideas to inexpensive, easily fixable parts of your kitchen like cabinets, hardware, walls, and blinds.
Stay Away From Outdated Kitchen Trends!
Hopefully, you’ve learned which outdated kitchen trends to stay away from when you remodel your kitchen. Ultimately, the best kitchen design is practical and one that you will love for years to come.
Check out our other articles for more home improvement ideas!
