Wall Street Journal

Enough With All-White Kitchens. Why the ‘Layered’ Look Will Rule in 2024

By Sophie Donelson

Kitchen design often skews one-note—a chilly colorless laboratory or an onslaught of cozy traditionalism. Here, a guide to a fresh approach that combines materials, and layers in appetizing aesthetic surprises.

I want a traditional kitchen—but make it cool.” Today, younger, hipper homeowners are texting designers with such seemingly irreconcilable desires. They want a look they can relate to. Not the “coastal-grandmother kitchen,” a middle-age status take on cottage white. Nor the British-style luxury sculleries by outfits like Devol that evoke “Downton Abbey.” “People are trying to transition their homes from something traditional or conventional to something more them,” said Victoria Sass, who says her Minneapolis firm, Prospect Refuge Studio, works primarily on old homes for young families. At the same time, clients aren’t looking to break too many rules.