Every year sees lifestyle trends come and go, and these trends include ones for your home. Whether you’re decking out your kitchen or revamping your living room or garage, your home is your sacred space and you want it to be perfect. Trends may not be what’s going to make them perfect, though, as trends leave just as quickly as they come, and you want your home to be timeless and you. 2021, for example, saw some cute kitchen trends, such as black cabinets and down-to-earth kitchen appearances, but are these the looks you want your kitchen to permanently have?

It’s easy to give a blanket statement about avoiding certain trends, but it’s even better to get specific with this advice. So, what are some trends that maybe aren’t timeless? According to Wood & Co., you want to avoid monochrome kitchens. Adding white, black, or any other color into your kitchen is nice — and all-white rooms are certainly a trend — but having your entire kitchen be white is boring, nonetheless harder to keep clean. Instead, add white elements into your kitchen to make the rest of the colors pop, but don’t go monochrome. Going monochrome also inherently limits your self-expression because you don’t have the freedom to decorate your space any way you’d like.

These countertop and cabinet options should be avoided

While you want to watch what colors you paint your kitchen, you also want to watch which countertops you choose. According to Apartment Therapy, granite countertops are no longer all the rage they used to be. Once the “gold standard,” granite countertops have fallen from grace, likely due to the explosion of home renovation series on television, which help people consider options they have outside of what they see in their everyday life.

“The various granites that were hot in the early 2000s definitely date a home now,” explained realtor Maggie Richter (via Apartment Therapy). Because of this, marble, concrete, and wood have become some of the most popular countertop materials.

Wood isn’t great for everything in the kitchen, though. Woodgrain cabinets are a no-no, according to realtor Jeremy Porter. “If you ask me, that was never really in style,” he declared, though they’ve been used in so many homes. Cherry-colored cabinets, too, are a no-no, per Porter.

Are you making this sin with your microwave?

In addition to being careful with your cabinet, countertop, and color palette choices, you want to beware your visible storage areas and your kitchen’s overall appearance when designing and/or decorating the most important room in your home. According to Family Handyman, some kitchen trends that are going out the door in 2021 include over-the-range microwaves and hanging pot racks.

Family Handyman explained that over-the-range microwaves were “in” for many years, yet this microwave position is becoming increasingly infrequent as time passes. It can make your kitchen look smaller than it is, just as hanging pot racks can. Current kitchen trends demand clean lines and openness, with which hanging pot racks directly contrast. They recommended finding other ways to store pots and larger items so you can open up your kitchen. Similarly, they recommended nixing fluorescent box lights and instead inserting some accent lights in your kitchen. Box lights are clunky and distracting, while accent lights can be applied wherever you need them — and they’re cuter.

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