More than 600 hundred designers weigh in on the hottest kitchen trends

Next year's trendiest kitchen could be open, expansive and warmed by natural wood cabinetry, with a vibrant marble countertop free of knickknacks and appliances.

Or at least, that's a dream kitchen, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association’s 2026 Kitchen Design Trends report. More than 600 professional designers gave their takes on the most popular and emerging choices for the room once regarded as a utilitarian hub, now seen as the space directing an entire home's design.

“A majority of the time, most of the meals, homework, entertaining and everything is right there in that kitchen,” said Todd Smith, founding principal of architecture firm Syndicate Smith in Leavenworth, Washington. “With that in mind, I think the trajectory is that the kitchen is becoming less and less utilitarian and more and more ‘the place.’ I mean, you’re spending gobs of money on a kitchen, why should it not be your best room in your house?”

After years of stark white kitchens that hemmed closely to modernist or farmhouse aesthetics, designers are seeing a growing appetite for a nature-inspired look. It's been an ongoing shift post-COVID, which the industry calls "biophilia," or humans' innate desire to connect with the natural world.

Although 72% of the designers surveyed still pointed toward a transitional look and 60% toward a minimalist approach as popular in the coming years, 58% voted for an organic or natural style as rising in popularity.

“Clients and designers are pretty tired of an all-white kitchen,” said Calie Pierce, a senior designer at Minneapolis-based remodeling firm Otogawa-Anschel Design Build. “Anywhere that’s a heavy-use space is becoming warmer and a little bit more cozy."

It's seen in the draw toward wood tones — such as walnuts, hickories, oaks and ashes — and greens in cabinetry.

Nearly all designers say neutrals — like shades of brown — will dominate kitchens, and 86% also agreed greens of all shades will remain a popular choice in the coming years. In the NKBA's report last year, 76% of designers believed green would become the dominant kitchen color of 2025.

The desire stems from clients navigating a “more technologically infused” world, suggested Smith. “They’re trending toward wanting to have a tactile thing, so something more natural,” like natural stone.

Following greens were blues, with 78% of the vote, and more daring colors like yellows, reds, pinks, purples and oranges pulling in about 45% each.

An interest in vibrant palettes mirrored some 2026 trend forecasts from U.S. paint companies: Dunn-Edwards highlighted sunny pastels, Sherwin-Williams foregrounded terra-cotta hues, and Dutch Boy imagined pairing an ivory base with maroon kitchen cabinetry.

Though popularity is emerging for statement colors, it doesn’t necessarily mean more ornament, explained Scott Hudson, founder and CEO of kitchen design firm Henrybuilt. “We are moving toward a simpler, less 'decorated' feel,” he said. “Away from 'baroque' luxury."

Statement colors aren’t for every homeowner. More cautious clients might infuse statement colors like yellows and reds into the backsplash, wallpaper or kitchen island, the designers said.

Islands remain a more daring canvas. Ninety-two percent of designers agreed that through the use of colors and materials, the kitchen island can serve as a personal expression of style.

This often means selecting a contrasting hue and countertop material for the island compared to the rest of the kitchen.

Countertops overall act as the statement in the kitchen, agreed 87% of designers. The most popular materials, finishes and colors were a honed/matte finish, quartz material, and color lighter than the cabinets, according to the survey.

Backsplashes are making a big shift, too, moving away from intricate mosaics or tiles and shifting toward a continuation of the countertop material in one uniform slab.

The kitchen is so important to homeowners that it’s put above other functional spaces in terms of budget and square footage.

Like 79% of surveyed designers, Pierce noted that homeowners are ditching their formal dining spaces to maximize their existing square footage for the kitchen.

“If it’s a traditional two-story home, we’re tapping into an adjoining space to expand a kitchen because they tended to be so small,” Pierce told Homes.com. “A lot of the spaces we’ve tapped into are those formal spaces that people don’t use very much anymore, could be formal dining or formal living.”

Sometimes, that expansive space comes as an open-plan kitchen, dining, and living area. Building everything in one room isn’t just efficient, Smith noted, it also “brings people together.”

As kitchens balloon in size, however, specified zones can help homeowners carve out areas for food prep, cleaning, cooking and serving. This is where the island can come in, often serving as a multipurpose hub for food prep and socializing.

By pulling cooking activity away from exterior walls onto a central island, people can interact with each other, Smith explained.

Whether oriented toward cooking, entertaining, or a combination of both, he continued, a graciously sized island means everyone “can be together and experience making food, making drinks in equivalency of the owner.”

Some homeowners with the budget and the space even opt for double kitchen islands, where two dedicated zones can be better than one for those that are big on cooking and entertaining.

But the preference for more kitchen space comes at a time when homeowners want smaller residences.

The median size of a new home built today is 2,150 square feet, down from 2,466 in 2016, according to the National Association of Home Builders. And a survey from Homes.com found 45% of new-home buyers seek houses between 1,000 and 1,999 square feet.

But when expanding the kitchen is not possible, designers must work with the space to make it appear larger, and that’s done through smart organization.

Eighty-one percent of designers reported that hiding workspaces, prep areas or appliances behind walls, like paneled appliances, appliance garages or separate pantries, helps make kitchens appear larger.

Organization fuels functionality in today’s kitchens, the survey results suggest. Almost all respondents agreed that demand is growing for pull-out stations and drawers that enhance pantry organization and accessibility.

“People are just being way more thoughtful on the front end. They may have had a kitchen that really didn’t work for them before, maybe it was a home they moved into that they’re tired of fighting with the existing cabinets,” said Pierce. “And [they] make sure as they put money into the space, they’re doing it the right way and organizing it for them.”

This could be in-drawer and in-cabinet systems from brands like Rev-a-Shelf. Pierce has added special utensil cup organizers next to the cooktop for easy access and to keep clutter off the countertop, as well as swapped out lazy Susan corner cabinets for blind-corner pullouts.

“Storage is important, but as many of us try to move to 'less is more' — it becomes possible to think more about having the right tools, food, etc. in just the right place for cooking, serving and cleaning — as opposed to just storing,” said Henrybuilt’s Scott Hudson.

As kitchens play host to more of daily life, Smith has observed a general “attempt to just clean up those surfaces” and high-traffic countertops. That can mean tucking clutter and gadgets out of sight (think: appliance garages) and showcasing select items.

Whether a collection of antique cocktail glasses or an heirloom pan, people “have special things that they want to showcase,” Smith said.

When it comes to storage, “the day-to-day is hidden.”