Interior-design experts share 12 kitchen trends you'll probably regret in a few years

• Interior-design experts shared kitchen designs that don't age well and trends people will regret.

• The pros said homeowners may want to rethink concrete countertops and breakfast nooks.

• They said all-white kitchens, matte-black hardware, and patterned floors aren't timeless either.

Kitchen renovations can be expensive, so you'll want to choose your finishes and designs carefully.

Still, trends come and go, so you may find yourself with regrets even if you loved the space years ago — plus, some designs just don't age well.

Business Insider asked interior-design experts and trend forecasters to share kitchen trends and design choices people often regret. Here's what they said.

Patterned floors make a bold statement but may quickly go out of style.

Interior designer Kelly Taylor, owner of Kelly Taylor Interior Design, told BI that kitchen floors aren't an ideal place to incorporate detailed patterns into your home.

"Just don't do it! If you want a pattern on the floor, change up the wood to a herringbone, or choose a stone with a tone-on-tone pattern, like a water-jet mosaic," Taylor said.

Bold flooring patterns, like a checkered print, can be costly to replace when they go out of style.

Concrete countertops may be aesthetically pleasing, but they aren't practical.

Concrete kitchen countertops are on the rise among their marble, quartz, and granite counterparts.

However, Taylor said, concrete countertops are expensive and hard to maintain.

"Counters are expensive. Even if the concrete countertop trend continues to persist, concrete is going to be wrecked so fast that you'll want to replace it in two years," Taylor told BI. "It is incredibly porous and just not going to look like anything but a mess, trendy or not."

Open-shelving concepts may be a bust in the long term.

Lisa Odor, senior interior designer at MA Design, told BI that open shelves with highly-curated items could lead to regrets down the road.

"They look great for Instagram when they are nicely organized and picturesque with your three favorite cookbooks and some cute knickknacks, but they aren't functional and will only collect dust and more things," she said.

Instead, Odor recommends capitalizing on closed storage options in a kitchen.

Breakfast nooks can quickly become dated if not designed well.

Interior designer Reya Duena of Reya Duena Designs cautioned against the popular built-in-booth trend.

"While they look nice now, the fabrics will get dirty, wear, and start to look dated. They have to be well designed in order to pull this off," Duena told BI.

Consider fabric and material options when creating a breakfast nook or built-in booth, and choose stain-resistant, sturdy materials.

Don't mix too many metal finishes.

Mixed metals can add a contemporary look to your aesthetic, but it's possible to combine too many metal finishes.

Duenas suggests sticking to two metal finishes at most, as anything more can look "uncoordinated." Also, make sure your finishes work together harmoniously.

"Be sure that brass and champagne finishes match one another. Nothing is worth than several brass tones that don't match," Duenas told BI.

The double-island trend you see online may be more frivolous than functional.

Some large kitchens incorporate two islands instead of one — but this is an expensive and hard-to-undo design choice.

"Double islands are nice if you have the space, but also expensive and permanent. You need to commit to the layout, and there isn't room for making changes," Duena said.

Instead, Duena recommends choosing a less-permanent piece of furniture, like a large table or cabinet, to add more counterspace and visual interest with less commitment.

Black hardware and fixtures may not stand the test of time.

Rhea Vaflor, associate principal and director of trendcasting at Hickok Cole, said aspects of the industrial-farmhouse trend may be difficult to manage over time.

In particular, the industrial-style matte-black finishes show "scratches more easily, and if the quality isn't high enough, the finish can flake off."

Instead, Vaflor recommends choosing polished- or brass-nickel fixtures, which tend to be more timeless and durable.

All-white kitchens are far from practical in a few ways.

Social media portrays the beauty and cleanliness of an all-white kitchen aesthetic, but Vaflor told BI this trend could lead to regrets.

"White shows everything, and in the messiest room in the house, it's especially unforgiving, even more so if everything surrounding it is stark white in contrast," Vaflor said.

All-white kitchens can also be difficult to maintain over time.

"It's incredibly challenging to match whites, so if you have to replace a cabinet door or paint a scratch, it's not likely you'll find the exact white," Valfor said.

It may be more practical to only do white upper cabinets and colored lower cabinets or to stick with a white countertop and darker backsplashes.

A complementary color scheme throughout the kitchen can quickly lose its zest.

Jackie Lopey, founder of and interior designer at Wide Canvas, told BI that complementary colors — red and green, orange and blue, purple and yellow — intensify each other and are visually appealing on our Instagram feeds but feel different when you live with them.

When the excitement wears off, replacing kitchen cabinets, countertops, and backsplashes is expensive.

Instead, Lopey recommends selecting a neutral color palette and adding a signature shade to one fixed element.

Rustic pantry doors may not be the right fit for your kitchen.

Interior designer Randi Destefano said sliding doors can work in a pantry, but you might want to skip anything too rustic unless it fits your kitchen's aesthetic.

"Rustic barn doors for pantries don't always fit the kitchen style. Some trend followers only see rustic and think they need to have it. They forget that the rest of the kitchen is not rustic," Destefano told BI.

Before committing to a pantry door, do some research to understand the available options rather than defaulting to the popular rustic style.

Lower cabinetry that's painted in light colors can reveal flaws.

Erin Davis, owner and lead designer at Mosaik Design & Remodeling, said light-colored cabinetry has been a popular trend for years but it's not the most practical one.

"Homeowners may regret having a light color on the lower cabinetry as it can quickly show wear and tear. A great alternative is combining wood cabinetry on the base with lighter-painted uppers," Davis told BI.

Too much green in the kitchen can play with your sight.

Green kitchens may be trendy, but Davis cautioned against overdoing it.

"Avoid too much green in the kitchens, especially with painted walls as they can cast a light on to your food that is unappealing," they told BI.

This story was originally published on January 31, 2023, and most recently updated on January 10, 2025.

Read the original article on Business Insider