Article
Christmas is the kitchen's busiest week of the year. Every move we make at the design stage gets stress-tested between the 23rd and the 27th. Here is what we are seeing land well in the kitchens we have installed in 2025.
( 01: )
Longer islands, deeper conversations
The 2025 trend in kitchens we are drawing is the longer, narrower island — three metres or more, with seating for four along the length. It hosts a charcuterie at 4pm, dinner prep at 6, dessert at 9. The geometry rewards a long room.
( 02: )
Warmer woods on the doors
The handleless white slab kitchen is being replaced by hand-painted shaker in deeper, warmer colours — Setting Plaster, Card Room Green, Salon Drab. The same room, photographed in December candlelight, reads twice as warm.
( 03: )
Brass on the hardware
Not chrome, not satin nickel. Aged brass on the cup handles, brushed brass on the tap, a brass spice pull. The reflection picks up the candle and the tree. We are installing more brass this December than in the previous three Decembers combined.
( 04: )
Pantries with countertop
The walk-in pantry has gone from luxury to plan-A. What earns its space is the worktop inside it. The Christmas turkey rests in the pantry instead of monopolising the island. The Christmas Eve mince pie cooling rack moves out of the way before midnight.
( 05: )
Lit-up display joinery
A tall glass-fronted dresser with integrated warm LED, holding the good glassware all year and lit up between mid-December and Twelfth Night. The kitchen's own Christmas tree, only fitted.
( 06: )
Plan a year ahead
If a Christmas-ready kitchen is on next year's brief, the time to start a design visit is January. The builds take six to twelve months and you want the install finished by October, not December.
