25 Totally Gorgeous Kitchen Design Ideas to Swoon Over

The kitchen is the heart of your home, so it’s important that it’s a place you actually want to cook (and live) in. So to help inspire your very own kitchen decorating endeavors, we rounded up the 25 of the best kitchen design ideas we could find. From boldly tiled backsplashes to DIY cabinetry, these beautiful kitchens will have you calling a contractor (or at least considering a new backsplash) in no time.

Make a statement by painting your cabinets a bold hue, like this Swedish kitchen with pink cabinets and a black and white stenciled DIY backsplash.

Replacing your kitchen cabinets can get expensive, but you can easily perk up plain cabinets with peel-and-stick wallpaper. The wooden cabinets in this Brooklyn kitchen feature a fun geometric pattern. The best part? This removable wallpaper is totally renter-friendly. 

This white San Francisco kitchen features an unexpected pop of color and fun: A whimsical set of hand-painted pink and green cabinets.

One thing is for sure: You won’t miss the brass cabinets in this Australian kitchen. Though this bold choice isn’t right for every kitchen, they sure do make this kitchen feel grandiose.

Curved cabinets and countertops, like the ones in this New York studio apartment, are perfect for a funky, retro aesthetic.

A giant island covered in patchwork tiles brings such life to this UK Home. Staying in a neutral color family, like the gray here, prevents the look from being over the top.

Okay, so subway tile isn’t exactly “bold” or daring, but shaking up the pattern of how you use it is. Break out of the traditional brick layout for a herringbone as seen in this London flat. Still totally classic, but with a twist.

“I agonized over the flow and arrangement of the tiles and am so happy that I took the extra time to do so as I’m so happy with the design,” Tamasyn Gambell says of her London kitchen.

“I absolutely love zellige tile, but since this is a rental, I couldn’t just tile a whole new backsplash,” Kelly Bryden says of her London apartment. “This backsplash is hand-painted, and each hexagon is a slightly different color. Once I finished painting, I used a gloss topcoat to give the individual tiles a bit more dimension.”

Instead of traditional tile, consider a brick backsplash in your kitchen (like in this Parisian kitchen) for a warm, unique feel.

The fun pink and green wallpaper in this Norwegian kitchen are a fun complement to the simple, Scandi-inspired cabinetry.

On the completely opposite spectrum from the previous ritzy space is this humble user-friendly space in Kate Payne’s Austin home. Takeaway here: a good old-fashioned pegboard can offer up a surprising amount of storage (just try to keep it dry). Mount one above your stove or anywhere you have wall space to hang up your pots, pans, coffee mugs, etc.

Designer and stylist Tiffany Pratt‘s Toronto home feels like the personification of a box of candy hearts, and while her kitchen cabinetry itself is not a bold color, the mauve-y, dusty walls, art, and accessories prove you can really instill a neutral space with some personality with decor choices that aren’t so permanent.

Pots, pans, and other kitchen essentials double as stylish, vintage-inspired wall decor in this Toronto apartment.

The original dramatic floor: the black-and-white checkerboard. It’s just one of the many things to love in this lovely Seattle kitchen.

We love how this Parisian kitchen features warm wooden floors that contrast with the bright white of the cabinets and walls.

“I masked my ugly gray kitchen tile with a runner and bamboo mat,” New Yorker Eli Scullin says of her apartment’s kitchen.

While vintage and antique rugs are all the rage in kitchens and bathrooms right now, a graphic black-and-white runner like in this Austin home can be just as noteworthy.

Mix-and-match in the kitchen doesn’t only have to apply to built-in cabinetry. Case-in-point, the heirloom teal pantry in this modular loft kitchen is the star of the space, and juxtaposes not just color but also styles.

When Taylor Evans couldn’t find the perfect dining chairs to fit around the kitchen table in her Baltimore rental, she opted for budget-friendly and space-saving ottomans.

One of the most fail-proof ways to shake up your kitchen is to bring in a well-worn wood island or hutch (or both, as in the case of this enviable Buenos Aires space).

Replacing upper cabinets with open shelving is a hot trend that’s a bit controversial, but we can’t see anyone arguing with the smart use of space in this Chicago kitchen. A wrap-around shelving unit makes use of awkward architecture.

The open display cases in this Montreal kitchen have us fangirling just a bit.

Add a touch of rustic charm with weathered or reclaimed wood shelves, as seen in this South Africa home.

Attach hooks to the bottoms of your open shelves to create extra storage for mugs and oven mitts, like in this colorful Australian kitchen.