Kitchen Workbook: 8 Elements of a Modern Kitchen
Frameless cabinets, horizontal lines and lack of ornamentation top the list of what defines modern kitchen style
Rebekah Zaveloff, owner and principal designer of KitchenLab, co-founder of Design in a Bag.com and Houzz contributor. I'm a self-professed tile nut and believer in good design for all! You can also visit me at: http://kitchenlabdesign.com and http://designinabag.com
Rebekah Zaveloff, owner and principal designer of KitchenLab, co-founder... More »
It can be tough to distinguish between modern and contemporary, and for good reason. Many spaces are both modern and contemporary, and people often use the terms interchangeably, but there are differences in look and terminology. "Contemporary" typically means of the moment or current, the design of right now. "Modern" refers to a specific design style from the early to mid 20th century that broke with the traditional styles of the days before the Industrial Revolution.
"Modern" can be a tricky term because sometimes it's used to describe something that's the opposite of traditional, which varies depending on the time period. The decision of women in the 1920s to swap corsets for flapper dresses was modern at the time, but today those clothes are antiques.
When I think of modern kitchen designs, I think of frameless cabinets, sleek and simple hardware, strong horizontal lines and a lack of ornamentation, with the natural beauty of the materials shining through.
More kitchen styles:
Classic | Traditional | Transitional | Contemporary | Eclectic | Cottage | Craftsman | Mediterranean
"Modern" can be a tricky term because sometimes it's used to describe something that's the opposite of traditional, which varies depending on the time period. The decision of women in the 1920s to swap corsets for flapper dresses was modern at the time, but today those clothes are antiques.
When I think of modern kitchen designs, I think of frameless cabinets, sleek and simple hardware, strong horizontal lines and a lack of ornamentation, with the natural beauty of the materials shining through.
More kitchen styles:
Classic | Traditional | Transitional | Contemporary | Eclectic | Cottage | Craftsman | Mediterranean
| 1. Flat-panel door style. This is sometimes referred to as a slab-door style and is a signature element of modern kitchen design. You might see a modern kitchen using a Shaker door style, but that often falls into transitional rather than modern — which is not to say it can't be used; it's just not a purist's perspective. Private Comment
2. Frameless, full-overlay cabinet construction. A bunch of terms are thrown around to describe this type of cabinet construction: frameless, Euro frameless, overlay, full overlay. They all mean the same thing, that the door overlays the cabinet box. This style is the most often used in modern kitchens because it's sleeker than a flush-inset cabinet, which is often associated with more traditional kitchen, cabinet and furniture design. |
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In a true frameless cabinet you won't see a face frame at all, and you'll get consistent spacing between all the doors and drawers, even between two cabinets. In what's called a framed overlay, you will still have a face frame and varying space between doors and cabinets.
Diagram courtesy of Kitchens Made New
Private Comment
Diagram courtesy of Kitchens Made New
When the doors are closed on a frameless cabinet, you can't see the frame at all except for about a ⅛-inch shadow line between cabinets.
Private Comment
| 3. Sleek and simple hardware. In modern kitchens you'll most often see C-channel hardware that's integrated into the cabinet, as well as tubular pulls or flat linear pulls. Lots of times the horizontal lines of the cabinets will be accentuated by cabinet hardware running the full length of the drawers and doors. Private Comment
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4. Lack of ornamentation. Always a signature of modern, this is often where contemporary and modern stop being similar. Whereas you might see patterned tile shapes or multiple materials with texture, color and patina in a contemporary kitchen, you won't see much of that in a modern kitchen. Flat-panel door styles and sleek hardware are joined here by a simple full-height glass backsplash and countertops without any pattern or veining.
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5. Reliance on the beauty of natural materials. It's not to say that modern kitchens can't have a little bit of ornamentation, but when they do, they get it from the natural characteristics in a material, such as the horizontal grain of oak when it's rift cut or the natural beauty and veining of marble.
Private Comment
| The grain of the walnut on this island is all this modern kitchen needs in terms of ornamentation. Private Comment
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| 6. Emphasis on horizontal lines. You might not notice at first, but many modern kitchens share a tendency toward the horizontal: long, wide lines, stacks of drawer cabinets lined in a row, hardware set long and horizontal to accentuate the lines of the drawers. In this kitchen the floating panel of the back wall and the cutout accentuate the horizontal theme. Private Comment
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These cabinets have horizontal grooves in addition to the grain being horizontal on all the cabinet fronts. In a traditional kitchen the grain might be run vertically on doors or center panels with a vertical orientation.
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In this kitchen the island itself makes a strong horizontal statement.
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| In this kitchen the tile's natural grain is like rift-cut wood, and the tiles themselves are set and stacked on a horizontal grid. Private Comment
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| Even in a kitchen that skews toward transitional, a standard 3-by-6 Cararra marble set in a stacked pattern rather than a brick pattern can make it more modern. Private Comment
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| 7. Consistency in style of accent pieces. Accents like lighting, tables, chairs and bar stools all have to be considered when designing a kitchen. In a modern kitchen these elements will stay consistent rather than deviate like you'd see in an eclectic kitchen. The pieces here show simple, clean lines and lack of ornamentation. Private Comment
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Sleek bar stools and pendant lights are consistent with modern style, but this modern kitchen is in a Victorian home complete with leaded glass windows and arches with columns. There's no rule that says the architecture and the kitchen have to both be modern — hundreds of century-old apartments and farmhouses with modern kitchens in Italy, France and Spain can attest to that.
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| There's nothing to say that color can't be introduced into a modern kitchen, whether it's in the accents or the cabinets. Private Comment
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8. Industrial elements. There's something about the unadorned elements of industrial details that are instantly modern. This natural and untreated concrete wall has a visual interest and patina all its own and is as interesting as patterned wallpaper for the modernist. What looks like epoxy-painted concrete floors and the complete lack of ornamentation on the cabinets complete the look of this modern kitchen.
In this series:
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Find Your Kitchen Style
Private Comment
In this series:
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Find Your Kitchen Style
Comments
Oooh! I just love sleek, long lines --- a look that leans to the minimal --- with fabulous textures and materials rather than ornate ornamentation. My clients can call it anything they want, just so long as I get to help them create beautiful spaces like these. Love your modern/contemporary/space-age kitchen in the Victorian house, Rebekah. It rocks!
3 months ago ·
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midmodfan says:
As modern as my taste is, I think it's always a good idea to add a certain amount of wood to a sleek interior. An unadorned, glossy kitchen may look 'cold', but with a wood floor or island, or -- like in photo #7 -- some wooden shelves, it looks inviting and warm.
3 months ago ·
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ModCraft says:
Definitely agree that horizontal lines distinguish modern design-our modern handmade tiles with a horizontal shapes are our hands down best sellers-but because they are handmade and hand glazed there is an added underlying warmth to a potentially "cold" modern tile.
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Denise Vilim says:
Thank you for this beautifully illustrasted and informative ideabook. Your explanation of modern vs. contemporary really makes sense and I now have a better idea of how to design my kitchen in keeping with the modern theme I have been trying to create in my house.
3 months ago ·
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alaskasail says:
A very nice collection. I'm crazy enough to be building a modern home right now (very pricey these days) and have the walls up. I've made scale cut-outs of essential kitchen elements and am arranging them to test/change my current design. Since it is an "open" design and mostly windows, the kitchen is going to be *right there* so these ideas are very instructive for my project.
3 months ago ·
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Charlene Earl says:
I love every picture in this ideabook! Thanks for your description of modern vs. contemporary. My taste is modern. I have an addiction to small appliances; where do you usually place them in a modern kitchen? For example, slow cooker, Vitamix, and rice cooker. I use these almost daily and want to leave them out.
3 months ago ·
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furpants says:
Modern designs are a celebration of fine materials and highly skilled craftsmen. It is much harder to get perfect corners and smooth finishes when you don't have any trim pieces or decorative finishes to cover up the mistakes. People think these designs are simple but the skill needed to make them work is extremely difficult.
3 months ago ·
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Danenberg Design says:
I see that you include some photos of modern kitchens with dual-color cabinets. Great photos! I love the look and wanted to share a recent project with gorgeous 'plum' or 'eggplant' colors on the island.
3 months ago ·
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Denise Vilim says:
After veiwing some of the comments here, I have to chime in again...
~ModCraft~
I'm a big fan of your tiles and the photos you posted are a testament to why.
~alaskasail~
Congratulations on your new modern home build! I'm very jealous! Hope you share pics here at Houzz of construction through completion. Would love to see it!
~furpants~
After doing some light weight, traditional to modern, renos around my house I can attest to your point. Each project I have undertaken has been significantly more challenging than the traditional upgrades were.
~Danenberg Design~
I LOVE the charcoal/eggplant combo in that stunning kitchen! Thank you for sharing your photos. Much of my kitchen is charcoal as well and I now have some ideas for adding some color to spice it up a bit.
~ModCraft~
I'm a big fan of your tiles and the photos you posted are a testament to why.
~alaskasail~
Congratulations on your new modern home build! I'm very jealous! Hope you share pics here at Houzz of construction through completion. Would love to see it!
~furpants~
After doing some light weight, traditional to modern, renos around my house I can attest to your point. Each project I have undertaken has been significantly more challenging than the traditional upgrades were.
~Danenberg Design~
I LOVE the charcoal/eggplant combo in that stunning kitchen! Thank you for sharing your photos. Much of my kitchen is charcoal as well and I now have some ideas for adding some color to spice it up a bit.
3 months ago ·
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Jane Crawford says:
Modern kitchens are cold and lack the "welcome home...kick off your shoes and have a glass of wine"...feeling...and the stainless steel...reminds me of the morgue I've spent too much time in. I know this is not the consesus of the majority but it is how I feel...not that I am right...just right for me...and a home on the mid Maine coast begs to welcome people from everywhere no matter what they like.
3 months ago ·
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