color choice of high end kitchens
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I visited a 3.5mil house in DE; great looking old house which was completly added on and upgraded throughout (the 6000 sqft type)-had the glazed cabinetry w/ viking appliances. I seem to notice on movies that the kitchen in nice older homes have some shade of white-but there could have been wood tone cabinetry that I overlooked. good point about the trends-what's a timeless tone/color/design?
I did one that was antique Ivory with a glaze. This is what my kitchen salesman said has been the most popular for a few years now. It also helped me sell the home since it was the "hot" look people wanted. I'm not sure where it will be in 10 years and I would say out of style in a bad way.
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That's a tough call in a kitchen. As long as you're working with natural materials--wood, stone, etc.--I think it's the design that makes it timeless. It's the use of materials, and not the materials themselves.
Most man-made materials, with artificial patterns and colors, are much more prone to dating themselves than their natural counterparts, IMHO.
Opaque finishes popular
Probably the trend in high end kitchens is for opaque finishes, often with a contrasting glaze. Something like Oyster with Cappuccino glaze, or Alma with Hazelnut glaze. These are beautiful, but because of the hot trend and a lot of knockoffs I'm afraid it will look dated in a few years.
I think a classic cherry or maple will look just as fresh in 30 years as it does now. Doors need some detail for interest and to let the glaze hang up. I don't like going as dark as what most people seem to like. Glaze doesn't show up well, either, on real dark cabinets.
Other trend is to mix & match - Maybe two colors of opaque. Wall cabinets in one, island in another. Or uppers in one color or stain, base cabients in another. I like it. My complaint is most people don't want to do nice kitchens, and many people are intimidated by anything that isn't plain-Jane.
Probably the trend in high end kitchens is for opaque finishes, often with a contrasting glaze. Something like Oyster with Cappuccino glaze, or Alma with Hazelnut glaze. These are beautiful, but because of the hot trend and a lot of knockoffs I'm afraid it will look dated in a few years.
I think a classic cherry or maple will look just as fresh in 30 years as it does now. Doors need some detail for interest and to let the glaze hang up. I don't like going as dark as what most people seem to like. Glaze doesn't show up well, either, on real dark cabinets.
Other trend is to mix & match - Maybe two colors of opaque. Wall cabinets in one, island in another. Or uppers in one color or stain, base cabients in another. I like it. My complaint is most people don't want to do nice kitchens, and many people are intimidated by anything that isn't plain-Jane.
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What brand cabinets?
Hey guys, lovely jobs. What were the brand of cabinets? What did you think of them?
Galla, we did an orange colored WilsonArt HD countertop for a farm a couple of years ago. Painted the kitchen walls and the DR above the chair rail in an orange, below the chair rail in a darker orange, one hall in Grape to try to match the purple toilet in the adjacent powder room, an electric green laundry room, and a bedroom in a taupe above and plum below, and a bathroom in some kind of odd green. Copper slate backsplash with two bronze plates with country harvest scenes on them, one about 18 x 30 and the other about 16 x 24. And the whole thing worked! One of the most fun clients I've ever had.
Hey guys, lovely jobs. What were the brand of cabinets? What did you think of them?
Galla, we did an orange colored WilsonArt HD countertop for a farm a couple of years ago. Painted the kitchen walls and the DR above the chair rail in an orange, below the chair rail in a darker orange, one hall in Grape to try to match the purple toilet in the adjacent powder room, an electric green laundry room, and a bedroom in a taupe above and plum below, and a bathroom in some kind of odd green. Copper slate backsplash with two bronze plates with country harvest scenes on them, one about 18 x 30 and the other about 16 x 24. And the whole thing worked! One of the most fun clients I've ever had.
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I will try to update everyone on color trends.
Acording to NKBA, white kitchens continue to be outdated and account for only 6% if the total north American sales. Most all major cabinet manufacturers have discontinued and ceased production on white cabinets because they do not sell.
I personally hate white kitchens but despite the total sales numbers that do not lie, if ever you look in a magazine of kitchens it seems nearly every picture is white cabinets. I dont get it. It makes no sense.
Back to the color. Shades of white continue to sell but not very well. My 2 lines of cabinets have long since discontinued white but we do carry an off white which we call Bisque. I only sold one Bisque kitchen all of last year and the customer chose a brown glaze on the Bisque.
Cherry continues to be the top seller with oak coming in at #2 and maple #3. In my view oak is only in the running because most builders use it because it is cheap. Builders create volume. So what I am saying is builders using so much oak drives up the numbers for a wood species not necessarily the consumers first choice.
In my showroom oak is the best seller. Many customers walk in and make a bee line for the cherry but end up choosing oak when they find out they can save 30% off the cherry price. Today we and a couple other cabinet manufacturers now put a cherry stain on maple. We call this the poor mans cherry. The average Joe can't tell the difference in wood species, they only see color. So they buy maple with a cherry stain and tell all their friends they have cherry. And they saved about 20% off the cost of cherry by buying maple.
In addition I see the economy making decisions in peoples kitchen purchase. As I said, almost everyone makes a bee line for the cherry displays but when they find out they can get the identical door style in oak for about 30% less they go with oak. People want a new kitchen but just can't see putting all that money into a deteriorating asset. Homes will continue to lose value for many years to come. Why spend top dollar and lose it when you can just put a basic new kitchen and achieve the same outcome.
Acording to NKBA, white kitchens continue to be outdated and account for only 6% if the total north American sales. Most all major cabinet manufacturers have discontinued and ceased production on white cabinets because they do not sell.
I personally hate white kitchens but despite the total sales numbers that do not lie, if ever you look in a magazine of kitchens it seems nearly every picture is white cabinets. I dont get it. It makes no sense.
Back to the color. Shades of white continue to sell but not very well. My 2 lines of cabinets have long since discontinued white but we do carry an off white which we call Bisque. I only sold one Bisque kitchen all of last year and the customer chose a brown glaze on the Bisque.
Cherry continues to be the top seller with oak coming in at #2 and maple #3. In my view oak is only in the running because most builders use it because it is cheap. Builders create volume. So what I am saying is builders using so much oak drives up the numbers for a wood species not necessarily the consumers first choice.
In my showroom oak is the best seller. Many customers walk in and make a bee line for the cherry but end up choosing oak when they find out they can save 30% off the cherry price. Today we and a couple other cabinet manufacturers now put a cherry stain on maple. We call this the poor mans cherry. The average Joe can't tell the difference in wood species, they only see color. So they buy maple with a cherry stain and tell all their friends they have cherry. And they saved about 20% off the cost of cherry by buying maple.
In addition I see the economy making decisions in peoples kitchen purchase. As I said, almost everyone makes a bee line for the cherry displays but when they find out they can get the identical door style in oak for about 30% less they go with oak. People want a new kitchen but just can't see putting all that money into a deteriorating asset. Homes will continue to lose value for many years to come. Why spend top dollar and lose it when you can just put a basic new kitchen and achieve the same outcome.
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Jimmy, with all due respect, where do you derive your info on white as a "discontinued" item with most manufacturers? Is that for mostly stock lines, or do you rep for custom/semi-custom lines as well?
Better than half of the kitchens up for the NKBA Consumers Choice Awards are white or off-white:
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/photo_template/article/0,3140,HPRO_28216_6024142,00.html
We've just ordered a $40,000 KraftMaid kitchen in a white finish for a very large whole house renovation.
I think it may be better to say that "white-on-white" kitchens are an "out" trend--but there are still folks out there drawn to that look. (and I agree, that can be frustrating at times.)
There should also be a distinction made between high-end, mid-grade, and bottom tier cabinet demands. The trends for custom vs. stock kitchens are in some ways very different.
Here are the trends for 2010, as published by the NKBA:
http://www.nkba.org/press_releases_20100112.aspx
Better than half of the kitchens up for the NKBA Consumers Choice Awards are white or off-white:
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/photo_template/article/0,3140,HPRO_28216_6024142,00.html
We've just ordered a $40,000 KraftMaid kitchen in a white finish for a very large whole house renovation.
I think it may be better to say that "white-on-white" kitchens are an "out" trend--but there are still folks out there drawn to that look. (and I agree, that can be frustrating at times.)
There should also be a distinction made between high-end, mid-grade, and bottom tier cabinet demands. The trends for custom vs. stock kitchens are in some ways very different.
Here are the trends for 2010, as published by the NKBA:
http://www.nkba.org/press_releases_20100112.aspx
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But white is not common. In other forums it has been said that depending on where you are in the country white might be more popular. Many say in the New England states white still sells. In the southwest you can forget it. Whatever the case it is true many of the major cabinet manufacturers have discontinued white. However most kept some shades of off white.
If you count painting cabinets, white is the most popular paint color but those who paint cabinets are not too sharp anyway.
I know what you are saying. I read that same article as you which by the way is mis leading. So many magazines show white but thankfully where I live I can not give them away.
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very nice
awesome link-thanks! :thumbsup:
Thanks for the NKBA 2010 trends, very interesting!! Most of the modern kitchens I have seen recently are a white / off white with glossy black (or similar) glittery granite with ceramic / porcelain flooring tiles / backsplash.
Thanks again, I really enjoyed reading it!
Thanks again, I really enjoyed reading it!
That's what popped into my head when I saw the white/not white argument going on. I have to agree with those who said natural colors and materials are timeless.1 - 18 of 18 Posts
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