Platform about design and technology in the kitchen, home, and bathroom industry
Good lighting plan provides balance
Whether the kitchen will look substantially different in 2030 is not in doubt despite the fact that 2030 is "only 5 years" away in the future. Developments, trends and hypes move at lightning speed. This time we speak with Jerry Severins for our Vision 2030 column. Passionately, he explains "The kitchen is becoming more dominant in the home. A lighting plan is therefore more than essential: it makes or breaks your environment."
According to Jerry, consumers themselves have far more ideas and desires for how the kitchen (and thus their home) should look. "Because there is less and less demand for extractor hoods above the cooktop - after all, the trend is for extractor hoods to go down more and more (85% of the market is already like this) - lighting in the kitchen also becomes a completely different story. This is because in the past the extractor had lighting in it. In other words, there is now room to be creative with beautiful lighting above the worktop.
"From sleek line lamps, to line lamps with an inlay of beautiful wood, from elegant tubes (Tubes) in various diameters, lengths and colors to floating plateaus (model Wing) with subtle lighting and on which you can then also place your, for example, plants or accessories. The end user influences the environment and the desired atmosphere. Everything becomes possible. To use a catch-all term: The Sky Is The Limit. Also in the kitchen!"
"Moreover, consumers are more likely to say when faced with some design issues, 'I'll start with the kitchen in terms of design. That's my foundation of the home'. The foundation there will become more and more important. There will also be more play with table heights and design in the kitchen. I even see integrating the dining table as a real ying/yang story in the kitchen. This one provides balance."
According to Jerry, we can talk about a total turnaround. Right down to the faucet. "In the old days, if one sold a kitchen in the specialty store, the faucet was the closing item. That's not the case anymore. Now the kitchen is built around the Quooker, so to speak. I sometimes wonder if the salespeople in kitchen specialty stores are aware of that. Now I still see that they regularly send the consumer to the furniture mall for the lighting plan. A missed opportunity. The kitchen specialty retailer should - as far as I am concerned - understand what light does to the environment and the kitchen. In other words: certainly in the year 2030, but actually much earlier, light is going to become a regular part of the advice."
Jerry is convinced that specialty retailers therefore need to "grab consumers much better. "Or, at least get them thinking. Especially in the middle and high end. Those consumers are open to a new definition of experience."
In summary, Jerry believes that kitchen specialty stores will eventually transform into organizations where total advice is provided. "Only then can consumers say 'YES.' I see that architects also understand it better and better: the gap between interior designers and kitchen suppliers is getting smaller and smaller. Everything has to match. And that's not illogical, because if the open kitchen is the enduring credo (and it remains so!), then you make much more conscious choices regarding your surroundings, the arrangement, the worktop, your kitchen fronts and ... your lighting plan. Of course: your lighting should be functional but definitely aesthetic too! So, if you ask me what the biggest difference between 2025 and 2030 will be in the kitchen, my answer is: the lighting plan."
