5 Outdated Kitchen Trends Designers Want to Retire

While your kitchen is a function-first room, it also deserves to have its design potential maximized; a heavily trafficked room like this deserves more than ho-hum cabinets or a lackluster backsplash.

Renovating your space to line up with the latest trends is enticing, but it's important to exercise some restraint. Design fads come and go faster than you can say "pink appliances," and many designers have already started to sour on some of the kitchen's recent, buzziest trends.

Understanding which kitchen designs are in (and out) will allow you to create a space you'll love for years to come. To help, we asked top designers to share the kitchen trends that should be retired immediately—and what to add instead—for a space that's as beautiful as it is functional.

White Kitchens

According to New Jersey-based designer Swati Goorha, white kitchens have officially lost their sizzle. "I find white kitchens to be sterile and lacking personality," she says. "There is so much room to customize the space you spend the most time in. Kitchens tend to be the heart of the home, and they should evoke happiness and joy."

Aesthetics aside, all-white kitchens are notoriously tough to maintain as every spot and speck is visible. For a space that's personable and forgiving of sauce spills and food crumbs, incorporate a jolt of color. "If you're not ready to commit to all green cabinets, for example, introduce color in the backsplash," Goorha says. "Adding handmade tiles or glass tiles to infuse some personality to the heart of the home is always a yes."

Farmhouse Décor

Once upon a time, farmhouse modern was the design style du jour. However, as cottagecore and coastal grandmother styles have risen in popularity, your country chic kitchen is due for a makeover. The good news is that revamping your farmhouse kitchen doesn't require a full-blown makeover. For Bobby Berk, it's all about striking a balance between old and new.

"I would suggest creating a space that incorporates classic and contemporary styles without the distressed look," he says. "Try offsetting your exposed brick with some eye-catching light, opting for smooth wood finishes, or even swapping out black metals for gold and silver to create an elevated version of this style."

Colorful Appliances

A pop of color is a fail-safe way to add personality to your kitchen, but you should be mindful about where you place that bold hue. The biggest culprits, according to Berk, are colorful appliances. Not only can these eclectic electronics dictate your kitchen's overall design, but they can also be difficult (and expensive) to replace.

For a timeless and budget-conscious alternative, Berk recommends sticking with neutral-toned appliances and experimenting with a "two-tone color scheme." "If you're one who enjoys having color or patterns in the space, look to add pops of color with your table linens, dinnerware, kitchen towels, or even by adding pillows to each of your dining chairs," he says.

Granite Countertops

With a seemingly endless collection of backsplashes, countertops, and hardware available, you have multiple trends to layer together—and the wrong mix can make your space feel outdated. If you're looking to swap out one element, replace the granite countertops. "It's a quick indicator of an aged kitchen," say Lathem Gordon and Cate Dunning, founders of GordonDunning.

Instead, opt for soapstone or marble countertops. "They will chip and patina over time, and that is totally fine with us—maybe even preferred," the design duo says. "We love that the kitchen will tell the story of baking cookies with family or a great meal with friends for years to come."

If you don't like the idea of a countertop with wear and tear, Gordon and Dunning are partial to quartz or a more solid granite like Absolute Black. "We always suggest a honed finish," they say.

Open Shelving

A wall of open shelving gives you the opportunity to show off a favorite collection of vintage Pyrex, milk glass, or antique cutting boards. But it's also not the most practical choice for a kitchen, as the shelves require careful curation (and constant dusting).

"While open shelves were all the rage for the last few years, the tide is shifting back to traditional closed cabinetry so no one can see just how many Yetis you own nor how you stack your dish stacks," says Laura Bischofberger, designer for J. Banks Design. "This creates a neat and tidy look overall."

The shift toward a kitchen free of visual clutter extends to appliances, too, says Bischofberger's colleague, Sharon Cleland also of J. Banks Design. "Gone are the days when you walk into a kitchen and see an exposed microwave over the range," says Cleland. "Hide that appliance away behind beautiful cabinetry so that the only appliances exposed are those used most frequently."