Statement marble, concrete or tiles? Check out these inspiring ideas for your kitchen update (2024)

The kitchen is the backdrop to our daily lives, so surely it deserves to be made the most impressive of spaces. Here’s our edit of the boldest new looks to love, from statement marble islands, to reclaimed materials and graphic tiles. And for more kitchen inspiration, check out our edit of the best new kitchen buys for stylish homes.

The ‘Hoelgaard’ by Garde Hvalsøe is one of the brand’s classic kitchens, designed back in 2005 by Martin Hoelgaard, but in this Aarhus home, the decision to realise it in white, with the edges of the drawers and the well-defined inset grip highlighted in black (the result of a collaboration with paint and tile brand File Under Pop), enhances the design’s elegantly linear quality. This ‘Hoelgaard’ kitchen is a bespoke design with a Taj Mahal marble splashback and a kitchen island topped with glazed lava stone, from £51,550.

By restricting its use of colour to just one bold hue, an arresting Klein blue, the architects at Studio Rust have maintained the impact of the exposed concrete in this holiday apartment, while adding just enough of a nod to its seaside setting – just a short stroll from Tel Aviv’s beachfront. A pale-blue ‘Flow’ bar stool by Defne Koz and Marco Susani for True Design, from £256. For a similar stainless-steel sink, try the ‘Mythos’ by Franke, £737 and a ‘Talis’ mixer tap by Hansgrohe, from £295.

Sealed within a green structure, behind a sliding pocket door, this kitchen was separated from the rest of its Milan apartment-location by architecture studio Atelier Zero to help create order in the small open-plan home. To emphasise the wow-factor when it is revealed, the colour palette has been restrained to an arrestingly graphic arrangement of black and white. ‘System’ tiles by Ceramica Vogue in 'White', from £27 per square metre; in 'Black', from £41 per square metre are used on the floor, while the cabinetry was all made bespoke by the architects. The tap is the ‘Inox’ by Quadro, TattaHome, from £487.

Exposed concrete and unglazed terracotta tiles could be a recipe for an uninviting industrial kitchen, but here those components speak instead to this home’s surroundings: the Castelporziano Nature Reserve in Rome’s suburbs. Designed by Studiotamat, the space has a humble simplicity that encourages you to direct your gaze at the greenery through the windows. Clad in ‘Passeggiata Rosata Cigar’ terracotta tiles by Marialaura Irvine for Fangorosa, £125 per square metre and topped with Patagonia marble – for similar, try the ‘Patagonia’ quartzite by The Surface Collection, from £514 per square metre. This kitchen island is a bespoke design by Studiotamat, as is the dining table. The chairs are the ‘Dorothea’ by Balutto Associati for Livoni, from £476.

Like a spaceship that has touched down in a stately Copenhagen home, this monolithic steel island feels brilliantly incongruous alongside Shaker-style cabinetry. The brainchild of design studio Calé Cph, this kitchen is most notable for the way it joyfully mixes styles and eras yet retains its minimalist calm. The bespoke island, created in collaboration with the blacksmiths at SelfDesign is made using sheet steel that wraps over the top of ‘Northern Shaker’ cabinets by Invita, from £5,728 for a small kitchen. The pendant is the ‘Overlap’ by Michael Anastassiades for Flos, Holloways of Ludlow, £1,880.

Discussions around colour were key to the design of this Rome kitchen by O2A studio. ‘One of the clients is colour blind, so we identified shades that were sufficiently perceived by them but could also be calibrated to the tastes of the other,’ says co-founder Marco Rulli. The result is egg-yolk-yellow details that are instantly uplifting. For a similar tile look, try the ‘Paintbox Gloss’ in ‘Canary’, Mandarin Stone, £43 per square metre. Bespoke jade-green cabinetry and ‘Kite’ floor tiles by Mutina, from £179 per square metre.

The materials palette in this kitchen speaks to the building’s past (a listed barn in the rural town of Cirencester), but this isn’t a space that feels rustic. The large island that extends into a dining table for family meals is covered in a patinated silver finish that recalls the roofs of outhouses, and the wooden furniture has a humble form, but the aesthetic is a smart update on countryside tropes. The kitchen is a project by Roundhouse, from £35,000, while the wooden furniture by AxoMan Design is custom-designed – the brand’s oak ‘Bridle’ bench has a similar look, from £190.

To bring a sense of place to this apartment in Madrid was the brief given to Paula Mena, founder of Yeyé Studio, by its American owners. And it’s one she relished, choosing colours (burgundy and blue) that represent a modern Spanish aesthetic. Also key was the use of tiles, with Mena seeking out brands based in the region. The tiles that clad the extractor hood are ‘Damask Gloss’ by Cerámica Vilar Álbaro, Walls and Floors, £17 per square metre, and those on the floor are a completely bespoke creation by the interior designer and Mosaista. The oak cabinet fronts are by Cubro, £11,632. Designed by Verner Panton, the light is the ‘Flowerpot’ from &Tradition, SCP, £220.

Interior designer Robert Majkut took inspiration from a work by Canadian artist Jean-Paul Jérôme to create the mosaic masterpiece that is the focal point of the kitchen in this Warsaw home, where influences also include the Memphis design movement and the films of Pedro Almodóvar. The individual tiles for this mosaic splashback were custom-cut and coloured by Ardea, while the cabinets beneath were coated in dichroic foil. The tap is the ‘Happy’ by Gessi, price on application.

When deciding on the colours for this Turin home, the designers at PlaC studio only had to look down at the many shades in the original speckled flooring, which it had smoothed and resealed. Dialled up in vibrancy, its teal-blue and red tones are used on the bespoke island and cabinetry, where they are crowned by worktops made using PaperStone – an eco option fabricated from recycled paper set in resin.Designed by PlaC and made by Alchimia Home, the cabinetry and island are custom creations. The wall lamps are Michele De Lucchi’s ‘Dioscuri’ for Artemide, twentytwentyone, from £135. It is set against a brass circular backing, and the coffee maker is the ‘La Conica’ by Aldo Rossi for Alessi, £250.

Situated on the 15th floor of an apartment block in Antwerp, this kitchen by Bruno Spaas is all about the allure of the high-rise, with vertical fluting on the two podium-like islands (made using strips of Belgian terrazzo) echoing the building’s towering dimensions. A linear motif is also used on cabinetry and the mirrored splashback. This is a bespoke build, but to source similar terrazzo, try Diespeker & Co, from £960 per square metre. The tap is the ‘Fine Touchless’ by Aqualex, £3,463.

Reminiscent of children’s building blocks, this statement island by the interior designer Jill Rooijakkers in a shade similar to ‘Viva Magenta’, Pantone’s colour of the year, is all that’s needed to create a visual impact in an otherwise low-key kitchen. For a similar look, try ‘Equipe Artisan’ wall tiles in ‘Burgundy’, 48p each, Tiles Direct. Pair with the ‘Talis M54 220 C-Spout’ kitchen mixer by Hansgrohe, £255.89, and ‘K500’ composite quartz sink by Grohe, £321.30, both available at Victorian Plumbing.

As well as a mineral plaster finish on the walls, floor and upper cabinets, this bespoke kitchen by Belgian interior architect Dries de Malsche features a striking red travertine island. The oxidised metal finish of the lower cabinets is by Italian artisan metalworkers De Castelli. Price on application

‘Lipstick for your doors’ is how Russell Whitehead and Jordan Cluroe, otherwise known as 2LG Studio, refer to the decorative frames – hand-painted in ‘FTT-005’, £31 for one litre, Mylands – in their candy-pink kitchen. Fully embracing the concept of curves, they also designed the shapely ‘Rise’ kitchen, from £5,500 for John Lewis of Hungerford and the squiggly ‘Moire’ tiles in camel and stone from ‘The Lovely Collection’, £240 per sq m, by Maitland & Poate.

Carved from Grigio Alpi limestone, the compact yet impactful bespoke island in this kitchen, designed by interiors studio Andy Kerstens for stylish Belgian guesthouse MUD Residence, shows that keeping to a tight edit of materials can sometimes be the most effective approach. The ‘Tractor’ stool by BassamFellows, approx £1,122, is an equally honest design, honed from solid walnut.

An expert in stainless-steel designs, Alpes Inox produced the gleaming units that occupy this corner kitchen – from £8,676 for a simple island with drawers (alpesinox.com). However, it was the architect Annalisa Mauri (annalisamauri.it) who brought the modular pieces to life, placing them by a wall painted in a blue straight from Le Corbusier’s chromatic favourites and a custom-made dining table.

Danish practice Norm Architects commissioned a local carpenter to create this oak kitchen for a project just north of Oslo. The panelled alcove creates a sense of structure within a wider area, but it also serves a practical purpose by pushing the preparation zone into the wall and freeing up an extra foot of space in the room. ‘Treble’ bar stools by Northern, from £251 each, connox.co.uk

This sophisticated space, designed by Paris-based interior architect Elena Kornilova, was inspired by a French brasserie. Eggersmann kitchen in oak veneer, approx £46,000. For similar verde bamboo quartzite, try Cullifords, from £335 per sq m. ‘214’ chair by Thonet, £642, Skandium. Custom ‘Alba’ table, price on application, Philippe Hurel. Alabaster pendant light by Emmanuel Levet Stenne, approx £7,320, Galerie Carole Decombe