Kitchen trends Kiwis are loving right now

This Japandi-style kitchen may be in Sydney, Australia, but it's a Kiwi favourite.

The Palm Co

This Japandi-style kitchen may be in Sydney, Australia, but it’s a Kiwi favourite.

Judging by what we’re loving online, Kiwis want their kitchens light, bright and simple in design.

If you’re in line for a kitchen renovation, or planning a new build, take inspiration from this selection of the top five most coveted kitchens.

These are the set-ups saved in the first half of the year by users of home renovation website Houzz, which has more than 20 million photos of professionally-designed interiors and exteriors from around the world.

It seems we’re not afraid to steal ideas from our Australian neighbours: The most saved (by New Zealanders) kitchen of all is from a Sydney home.

READ MORE:
* Kitchen trends for 2021: These award-winning kitchens embrace colour and texture
* Vote for your favourite kitchen: People’s Choice Awards are open
* How to plan an on-trend kitchen renovation with an industry ‘under pressure’

Editor Vanessa Walker says this kitchen is a case of “classic meets contemporary”.

“It turns out an open and bright Sydney kitchen was the standout 2021 favourite,” she says, “thanks to its finely balanced blend of Japandi restraint bolstered by select details such as fine rattan weaving on the chairs and slim shaker cabinets”.

This Mt Maunganui kitchen shows off the might of marble.

Amanda Aitken

This Mt Maunganui kitchen shows off the might of marble.

The second-place kitchen is closer to home in the Tauranga suburb Mt Maunganui.

This home shows off the might of marble, Walker says, saying readers have been inspired by “the way the timber grain quietly complements the marble veining”.

The coastal-style kitchen is by Tauranga’s own Niche Design Co.

This popular space features a concrete entertainer’s bench that extends to a dining table setting.

Du Bois Design

This popular space features a concrete entertainer’s bench that extends to a dining table setting.

In third place is an entertainer’s dream: a Remuera, Auckland kitchen by Du Bois Design that Walker says shows “autumnal flair”.

“This winning space is packed with everything from a rugged concrete entertainer’s bench that extends to a diner setting, and includes the cosiest window seat and more.”

It appears to be a quite compact space that is complemented by a butler’s kitchen through the cavity slider doors.

Brown on brown makes for a “deeply grounding feeling” in this Point Wells home.

Shane George Design

Brown on brown makes for a “deeply grounding feeling” in this Point Wells home.

This “chocolate kitchen” by Shane George Design is in Point Wells, Auckland.

“Borrowing form executive-level hotel style, it utilises a restricted palette, generous proportions and repeated grainy timber surfaces to achieve a deeply grounding feeling,” Walker says.

This all-white kitchen doesn’t seek to compete with its incredible Wānaka setting.

Parker Warburton Team Architects

This all-white kitchen doesn’t seek to compete with its incredible Wānaka setting.

Finally, the South Island gets a look in with the Wānaka lakefront residence by Parker Warburton Team Architects.

Walker says this all-white kitchen “doesn’t seek to compete with the incredible setting and architectural features of this home”.

Instead, she says it sits “clean and classic” among its Wānaka lakefront surroundings.