Cool and innovative kitchen ideas: Servo systems that open and close cabinet doors and drawers, LED lighting that's remote controlled, bamboo butcher block counters, hoods that are gorgeous, heated floors, herb gardens in the kitchen.

One trend I like is larger pantries and less upper cabinets. Also, not over doing cabinetry or overly large islands, which actually can make a kitchen less functional - too far from one end to another and collecting too much unused stuff.

I still think you need to think use but I love commercial type appliances and really love the colored cabinets in a contemporary kitchen also all the small appliances builtin along a wall of glass cabinets but I love really contemporary spaces , I find in the U.S. people still love wood cabinets so I guess you will have to decide if you want very different or play it safe.

so pretty patricia but indeed i'd need a shopping cart to haul things from the fridge to the island.

no matter how much money you have to spend, you need to have underlying sensible function in a kitchen, unless you are never going to cook. start with a footprint that makes sense and then do the visual upgrades.