Planning a kitchen renovation and wondering what contemporary kitchen design actually looks like? With so many cabinet styles, colors, countertops, and layouts available, it can be difficult to decide which features will suit your home. At Century City Baths of the Chicagoland Area, we work with homeowners every day who walk in with a folder full of inspiration photos and walk out with a clear, achievable plan. More and more often, the direction they choose is contemporary — and for good reason.
Contemporary kitchen design isn't about chasing a passing trend. It's about clean lines, thoughtful storage, durable materials, and a layout that works the way you actually live. Below, we break down the elements that make contemporary kitchens so popular with Chicagoland renovators, and how each one might translate into your home.
What "Contemporary" Really Means
People often use "contemporary" and "modern" interchangeably, but they're not quite the same thing. Modern design refers to a specific mid-century era with its own vocabulary — warm woods, tapered legs, and a distinctly retro silhouette. Contemporary design, on the other hand, reflects what's being built right now. It borrows freely, evolves constantly, and prioritizes function alongside form.
In practice, a contemporary kitchen usually features:
- Flat-panel or slab cabinet doors with minimal ornamentation
- Integrated or hidden hardware, including push-latch and channel pulls
- Clean horizontal lines that emphasize space rather than detail
- A restrained color palette anchored by one or two accent materials
- Concealed appliances that blend into the cabinetry
- Layered lighting that serves both task and ambient needs
The result is a kitchen that feels calm and uncluttered — a welcome contrast to the busy, decorative kitchens that dominated the early 2000s.
Why Chicagoland Homeowners Are Choosing It
It Works in Almost Any Home
One of the biggest surprises for our clients is how well contemporary design adapts to the diverse housing stock across the Chicago area. We've installed sleek, handleless cabinetry in Lincoln Park condos and in 1920s bungalows in Berwyn. The key is balance: pairing streamlined cabinetry with warm wood tones, natural stone, or a textured backsplash keeps a contemporary kitchen from feeling cold inside a traditional home.
If your house has original trim, archways, or hardwood floors you want to preserve, a contemporary kitchen can actually make those details stand out more. Simple cabinetry acts as a quiet backdrop, letting the architectural character do the talking.
Storage Is Smarter, Not Just Bigger
Contemporary kitchens excel at hiding the mess. Deep drawers with internal dividers replace awkward lower cabinets. Pantry walls with pull-out shelving put everything within reach. Appliance garages tuck the toaster, blender, and coffee maker behind a retractable door so your counters stay clear.
For Chicagoland homeowners working with older floor plans — especially in two-flats, row houses, and city condos where square footage is tight — this kind of engineered storage often matters more than adding cabinets. We frequently redesign a kitchen with the same footprint and dramatically increase usable storage simply by rethinking how the interiors are configured.
Concealed Appliances Create Visual Calm
Panel-ready refrigerators and dishwashers are one of the defining features of contemporary kitchens. By wrapping appliances in cabinet fronts that match the surrounding doors, the eye reads the wall as one continuous surface instead of a collection of competing finishes.
This is especially effective in open-concept layouts, which continue to dominate requests across the suburbs. When your kitchen is visible from the living and dining areas, hiding the stainless steel helps the whole floor plan feel more cohesive and residential rather than commercial.
That said, not every appliance needs to disappear. Many of our clients choose to make the range a deliberate focal point — a statement hood, a bold color, or a professional-grade cooktop — while everything else fades into the background.
Durable Surfaces That Handle Real Life
Contemporary design leans heavily on materials that look clean and hold up. Quartz countertops remain the most requested surface we install, largely because they resist staining, don't require sealing, and come in patterns that mimic marble without the maintenance. Large-format porcelain tile and slab backsplashes reduce grout lines, which means less scrubbing and a smoother visual field.
For flooring, luxury vinyl plank and porcelain tile have both gained ground in Chicagoland kitchens — particularly in homes with below-grade or radiant heating considerations, or where salt, slush, and winter boots are a seasonal reality.
Lighting Does More Work
A well-designed contemporary kitchen uses at least three layers of light: recessed ceiling fixtures for general illumination, under-cabinet lighting for food prep, and decorative pendants or linear fixtures over islands and peninsulas. Toe-kick lighting and interior cabinet lighting add a finishing touch.
This matters more than people expect in the Midwest. Our winters are long and our daylight hours are short. Getting the lighting plan right transforms how a kitchen feels from November through March.
Popular Contemporary Choices We're Seeing Right Now
Two-tone cabinetry. A darker base with lighter uppers — or a wood-grain island against painted perimeter cabinets — adds depth without clutter.
Warm neutrals over cool grays. The all-gray kitchen has given way to greige, mushroom, soft white, and muted greens. These tones feel more inviting and age better.
Waterfall islands. Running the countertop material down the sides of the island creates a sculptural anchor for the room.
Matte black and brushed brass hardware. Where hardware is visible, these finishes have largely replaced polished chrome.
Hidden or minimal upper cabinets. Some homeowners are removing uppers entirely on one wall in favor of open shelving or a full-height window, which makes smaller kitchens feel significantly larger.
Integrated seating. Built-in banquettes and extended island overhangs replace separate dining furniture in compact layouts.
Questions to Ask Before You Commit
Contemporary design is appealing, but it isn't automatically right for every household. Before finalizing your plan, consider:
- How do you actually cook? If you're a daily, multi-pot, big-batch cook, you may want more open counter space and fewer concealed appliances than a purely minimalist plan allows.
- How much visual simplicity can you maintain? Contemporary kitchens look best when they're tidy. If you like displaying cookbooks, art, and collected objects, build in designated space for them so they feel intentional.
- Does it suit the rest of your home? A kitchen that feels disconnected from the adjoining rooms can be jarring. Look for transitional elements — flooring, trim profiles, paint colors — that carry through.
- What's your real budget? Panel-ready appliances, integrated hardware, and slab backsplashes carry premium costs. There are smart ways to get a contemporary look at various price points, and a good designer will tell you where to invest and where to economize.
How We Approach Contemporary Kitchens at Century City Baths
Our process starts with an in-home consultation, where we measure your existing space, discuss how you use it, and talk through what's working and what isn't. From there, we develop a design that accounts for plumbing and electrical realities, local Chicagoland permit requirements, and your timeline.
We handle demolition, structural work, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry installation, countertop templating, tile, and finish work with our own crews and trusted trade partners. That means one point of contact and one accountable team from start to finish — no coordinating five different contractors on your own.
Most of our kitchen projects across Cook, DuPage, Lake, and Will counties run four to eight weeks on site, depending on scope and material lead times. We'll give you a realistic schedule up front and keep you updated throughout.
Ready to Start Planning?
Contemporary kitchen design appeals to renovators because it delivers on both fronts that matter most: it looks sharp, and it functions well. Whether you're updating a dated galley kitchen in Oak Park or reconfiguring an open-concept great room in Naperville, the principles translate.
If you're ready to see what's possible in your space, contact Century City Baths of the Chicagoland Area to schedule a consultation. Bring your inspiration photos, your questions, and your wish list — we'll help you turn them into a kitchen that works for the way you live.
