Southern Living Magazine and a group of 17 immensely talented designers from across the U.S. stopped by the Thermador Experience & Design Center from June 27-28 to participate in two days of discussion around appliances, great kitchen design, and trends. Over the course of many conversations, three trends continued to rise to the top for today’s homes:

Secondary Prep Areas

A big trend among culinary entertainers is the addition of a prep area, or functional butler’s pantry, located adjacent to the primary kitchen. This space often houses additional appliances like another dishwasher, warming drawer, more refrigeration and an additional oven. Entertainers use this space for meal prep and cleanup because it provides a simple solution to store food, dishes and décor all behind-the-scenes, while the primary kitchen is staged to look flawless. When hosting large gatherings at home, the prep kitchen is also a great location for supplementary catering support, all out of the sight of guests. This work horse of a room also provides additional storage for fresh ingredients, spices and cookware to help keep kitchen clutter to a minimum.

Bold & Bright Second Home Kitchens

Most culinary enthusiasts opt for a kitchen in their main residence that is timeless and functional, but when it comes to creating a kitchen for their vacation home or guest house they are more comfortable taking design risks by incorporating bold, trendy elements. Designers are often asked to include attention- grabbing pops of color in these kitchens, such as colored knobs on a professional range, interesting backsplashes, decorative furniture, mixing different metals with lighting fixtures and more.

Culinary and design enthusiasts tend to select the same appliance brand in their secondary kitchen as in their main home to ensure the same level of cooking and preservation they are accustomed to. However, if they chose timeless stainless steel appliances for the main residence, they may select to install custom paneled appliances in the secondary home kitchen to switch up the look and feel.

Refrigeration Throughout the Home

At the request of their clients, designers are placing refrigeration, especially under counter units, in various rooms in a house including the bathroom, media room, rec room, pool house, walk-in closet, office, master bedroom, guest rooms and more. Installing refrigeration throughout a residence creates convenience and accommodates to the unique lifestyle and entertaining needs of a culinary enthusiast. Refrigeration outside of the kitchen is used to store refreshments so guests always have a drink nearby, as well as some other non-traditional uses, such as to store expensive creams and lotions, organic makeup, important medication and more.

We had a wonderful time meeting the incredibly talented designers that joined us at the Experience & Design Center, and hosting the Southern Living team. We hope you will continue to visit our blog for more design trends, and for more inspiration on outstanding kitchen design check out the Thermador Kitchen LookBook.