Modern or Contemporary Kitchens?
It can be tough to distinguish between modern and contemporary, and for a good reason. Many spaces are modern and contemporary, and people often use the terms interchangeably. Still, there are differences in look and terminology. "Contemporary" typically means the moment or current, the design of right now. "Modern" refers to a specific design style from the early to mid 20th century that broke with the traditional styles of the days before the Industrial Revolution.
"Modern" can be a misleading term because sometimes it describes something opposite of traditional, depending on the period. The IBM Main Frames in the 70s were modern, but today those computers are antiques.
When we think of modern kitchen designs, we think of frameless cabinets, sleek and simple hardware, strong horizontal lines, and a lack of ornamentation, with the natural beauty of the materials shining through.
1. Flat-panel door style. This is sometimes referred to as a slab-door style and is a signature element of modern kitchen design. You might see a modern kitchen using a Shaker door style, but that often falls into transitional rather than modern — which is not to say it can't be used; it's just not a purist's perspective.
2. Frameless, full-overlay cabinet construction. Many terms are thrown around to describe this type of cabinet construction: frameless, Euro frameless, overlay, full overlay. They all mean the same thing: the door overlays the cabinet box. This style is often used in modern kitchens because it's sleeker than a flush-inset cabinet, often associated with the more traditional kitchen, cabinet, and furniture design.
You won't see a face frame in an authentic frameless cabinet. You will still have a face frame and varying space between doors and cabinets in a framed overlay. You'll get consistent spacing between all the doors and drawers, even between two cabinets.
3. Sleek and simple hardware. You'll often see C-channel hardware integrated into the cabinet and tubular pulls or flat linear pulls in modern kitchens. Usually, the horizontal lines of the cabinets will be accentuated by cabinet hardware running the entire length of the drawers and doors.
4. Lack of ornamentation. Always a signature of modern, this is often where contemporary and modern stop being similar. Whereas you might see patterned tile shapes or multiple materials with texture, color, and patina in a contemporary kitchen, you won't see much of that in a modern kitchen. Flat-panel door styles and sleek hardware are joined here by a simple full-height glass backsplash and countertops without any pattern or veining.
5. Emphasis on horizontal lines. You might not notice it at first, but many modern kitchens tend to the horizontal: long, broad lines, stacks of drawer cabinets lined in a row, hardware set long and horizontal to accentuate the lines of the drawers. In this kitchen, the floating panel of the back wall and the cutout highlight the horizontal theme.
These cabinets have horizontal grooves, and the grain is horizontal on all the cabinet fronts. The grain might be run vertically on doors or center panels with a vertical orientation in a traditional kitchen.