There are a lot of constraints when it comes to kitchen design. At its core, it’s a functional space, and needs to be a room with space to store, cook and often eat food. It also needs plenty of storage – ingredients, utensils, recycling bins – and on top of that, it wants to be aesthetically joyous enough that it really seems like the heart of the home, a place you want to gather in.

These 25 rules are the ones that the best interior designers we know follow when piecing a kitchen scheme together. It’s through these guidelines that they navigate issues like having enough drawers, or the right sort of light, or a vibe that is welcoming to family and friends. Follow their lead and you’ll be cooking on gas, so to speak, with a kitchen that looks – and functions – good enough to eat.

Choose your cabinet colours later than you’d think

People tend to start with a cabinet colour and work from there – the cupboards are often the brightest and most eye-catching thing in the room. But that’s not actually the best approach. ‘We don’t pick the colours until we have more items developed on site,’ says the designer Ash Wilson. ‘For the kitchen colours, I like to see the stone in situ, to get the right shade that works with – and not against – the tone of the countertop. It’s much easier to match this way as the colours in stone will surprise you.’

Drawers need to come in different depths

‘Give yourself a variety of drawers so that larger pieces like pans and, yes, the recycling bin, have space to live,’ say Micaela Nardella and Melanie Liaw.

Avoid glass fronted cabinets

‘I don’t like glass fronted cabinets,’ says Heather French, co-founder of French and French Interiors. “It’s important to be able to live comfortably and not have that level of pressure that everything inside every cabinet is stacked neatly at all times, because it can be seen.’ The fully covered cabinets, above, manage make the space seem so much calmer.

Backlight splashbacks and cabinets

If you’re starting a kitchen from scratch, add backlights behind panels such as splashbacks, or wall mounted cabinets. The glow is much softer and more refined than underlighting on the base of cabinets. ‘It’s hard to apply, but it makes stone look almost gold-leafed,’ says the designer Olga Ashby. ‘Designers often do it in Italy.’ Fold this approach into the plans for a kitchen refurb and you’ll never regret it.

Find ways to add organic pattern

‘I always think wallpaper – especially a floral or organically patterned one – is a good idea for a kitchen,’ says the designer Stephanie Barba Mendoza. ‘These rooms are so linear, so functional, so rigid with structures like the tall, straight floor-to-ceiling cabinets that it’s important to add softness where you can. And today’s vinyl wallpapers have improved greatly from what was on offer just a few years ago.’

Stop being scared of chrome

One of the big design trends of 2025, we all need to stop being chrome averse in order to create an elevated, modern space. ‘Chrome is having its moment again,’ says the designer Sarah Tract. ‘It feels more contemporary all of a sudden. What I love about it is that it disappears, especially against patterned background, whereas brass tends to stand out. So chrome can be used as a moment of quiet in a busy space.’

Choose materials that age well

‘I’m very into copper verdigris, and the way it patinas,’ says the designer Tom Morris. ‘I’m currently doing a kitchen project and using a copper worktop, and the way it will age and colour with use makes the space so rich.’

Pair dark surfaces with plenty of contrasting colours

Yes, black countertops are big news again for 2025, but you do need to know how to work with them to stop the room seeming dark, too. ‘A dark surface can work really well in a kitchen, but you need to be willing to bring in a lot of other light elements to balance it,’ says Sarah Tract. ‘Light cabinetry, chrome light fixtures, nothing else that is too heavy.’

Find a similarity between the tones of your wall paint and tiles

Even if they don’t match exactly, a cohesive kitchen finds some relationship between the tiles and the wall colour – they’re either both earth tones, or both brights, or both have a hint of the same pigment. Or they both match exactly. ‘I kept the walls and tiles the same tone – all that same Farrow and Ball Hague blue – which gave me licence to be a bit more free when it came to putting personal objects on shelves,’ says Enass Mahmoud. ‘Had there been more colour or contrasts around the edges, it would have been jarring.’

Wall lights are as important as overhead

Kitchens often tend to be at the back of the house, and wall space is given over to cabinetry rather than windows. So the more light sources you can add, the better. ‘Wall lights are a feature I gravitate towards,’ says the designer Molly Kidd. ‘It’s all about the scale of the space, and not making a kitchen with wall-hung cabinets feel too top heavy with too many down lights.’

Give your lighting plan an evening setting

For evening lights, you will want to emphasise a more relaxed, cosy way of illuminating the room. ‘So we keep away from spotlights and architectural lights in favour of wall lights and a modern chandelier over the island. This gives you the right amount of light you need to work by, but it also acts as a filter, its glass or opal casing creating a twinkling effect rather than a full beam,’ say Micaela Nardella and Melanie Liaw.

Add a kitchen lamp

With the rise of well-designed portable lamps, designers have been using them with increasing regularity on the corners of islands, or the at the back of countertops. It’s a softer approach than having the overhead task lighting on all the time. ‘Put a a lamp on the island and it’s so much more warming, more homely,’ says Piet Boon.

Display a little, but not too much

‘Clever in built storage means you can put a lot away, but we always think about what’s on display too, and finding things that add personality or softness,’ says Lara Bates of Lara Etal. ‘Greenery and plants can create an organic element, as can a few tasteful pieces…but not too much! It’s important not to clutter the counter or stop you having space to actually cook.’

Maximise natural light

‘You want to maximise how much natural light you have pouring into the kitchen in the day, and to do that, we tend not to put cupboards up high, to stop the room becoming top-heavy,’ say Micaela Nardella and Melanie Liaw of the studio Duelle, who created the kitchen above.

Space on shelving is key

‘Linear, long and simple shelves are key,’ say Micaela Nardella and Melanie Liaw. ‘Leave plenty of space between items, introduce art and objets that you might not immediately associate with a kitchen but that have a sense of being very crafted, even handmade. We style sparsely and simply and with a lot of thought.’

Be judicious about choosing the right tech