Stay in the know

With cabinet styles, it’s just as important to know what’s hot as what’s not. Thanks to social media, clients are far more informed now than they ever were about available choices. That includes everything from electronics and hardware to color and style issues, and even ways to lay out a room.

Sometimes customers have seen something new online and wonder if it’s a viable option for their project. Showing clients how new options can be incorporated has become a lot easier since the days when the shop had to tear down physical displaykitchens every year or two and then rebuild them with new door styles and accents. Now, renderings and virtual reality give us showrooms that are less expensive and much easier to manipulate.

Worth noting is that this new generation of consumers, who are more comfortable with electronic rather than physical shopping,  have also developed a shorter attention span. They have different expectations than the folks who used to stand in a showroom and imagine unseen rooms.

The 2024 edition of Design Trends from the National Kitchen & Bath Association (nkba.org) seeks to reveal “trends for the next three years in styles, colors, products, materials and finishes.” The issue that covers kitchens has listed several key takeaways including a wish expressed by customers for a connection to the outdoors, and a need for more personalized design. The research also reveals trends toward minimalist components that are easy to clean and maintain, a love affair with kitchen islands, and some holistic goals such as creating a space that supports wellness, good nutrition, and sustainability. Lighting improvements are also high on the list. In fact, NKBA summarizes this by saying that over the next few years “kitchens will be sustainable and include multiple layers of lighting, quieter appliances and health-focused solutions.”

The full report from NKBA/KBIS can be found online, and it’s discounted for members. The membership fees are scaled according to revenue, so small shops can gain affordable access. Among the gems the new report reveals are that 57 percent of homeowners prefer an eat-in kitchen to sitting at the dining room table, and almost half of those surveyed said they preferred an island to a table. And while quieter microwaves, blenders, dishwashers and other appliances are popular, buyers are also asking for more durable ones. Most people also want to recycle, and almost a quarter of new kitchens are also providingthe opportunity to compost biodegradables. That looks like an opportunity for cabinet shops, and outsourcing suppliers agree. There is an uptick in their catalog offerings for ways to accommodate kitchen composters.

NKBA notes that color in casework is still hot, and even though classic white and natural wood still perform well, design publications frequently mention that younger customers especially are asking for oomph in their kitchens and baths. Blues and greens are the most popular colors, and variations of these are most often set against a pure white background on the walls and ceiling. Cabinet colors trend toward tones that are variously described with words such as aqua, pastel, muted, understated, subtle, and coastal. These are softer shades that exude peace and tranquility, although there are a few designers who advocate shouting aloud with intense color. Some even recommend black casework, although this is not a widespread trend. But for the most part, customers are choosing shades that blend rather than startle. And some designers like to use a few splashes of these softer hues to give a little bump to a white kitchen. They might color an island in a gentle shade and leave the surrounding cabinets white.

There’s a strong trend in design to use color on the base units and leave the wall cabinets starkly white, or else to have contrasting colors top and bottom. That two-toned approach can be flipped, too, and this is a way to change the feel of kitchen spaces that are long and narrow, or have tall ceilings or unusual geometry. Colored cabinets suggest more weight than white ones, so moving the color up or down shifts the balance of the room. The darker the color, the more weight they have.

As a counterpart to white or soft colors, designers are using red and gold as hot accents in decorative handles and pulls, and these dramatic splashes also appear on appliance faces and occasionally backsplashes, too. But more and more, we’re seeing appliances being hidden or disguised in an effort to reduce their complicated geometry and blend them into the cabinets’ clean lines.

And just to disturb that sense of order, range hoods are emerging as a palette for homeowners to express some independence. These are often the only decorative elements in a contemporary kitchen, so designers are doing some quirky things with hoods. Those include using metallic coatings, imposing curves on a linear kitchen, going oversize or industrial for drama, or even adding a throwback in style that involves moldings and an almost Victorian decor. For woodshop designers, this trend is a good reason to visit outsourcing suppliers online and see what they offer in range hoods.

Even with the rise in induction cooktops of late, stove hoods are still hot items. That’s because even though induction tops don’tgenerate harmful exhaust, they do still boil water and create steam.

In the March 2023 issue of House Beautiful(housebeautiful.com), Medgina Saint-Elien discussed the three most popular sink styles to consider for a kitchen remodel. She defined them as a workstation with colanders and cutting boards; an alternate to stainless steel such as concrete, glazed white fireclay, or granite, and deep single bowl sinks that can handle pots and pans. She makes a good point. The sink is, in many ways, the heart of the kitchen, and designing a cabinet to accommodate these unusual shapes is relatively simple in CAD. Design software also makes a sink base easier to order from an outsourcing supplier.

The use of floating shelves is still holding its ground, even though this is usually at the cost of losing storage space in the wall cabinets that they replace. Natural hardwood is a popular material for this because it adds an organic element to white or pale casework and walls.

Mirrors and glass are being used more to lighten the weighty feel of wall cabinets. Glass doors and shelves are gaining popularity because of advances in LED lighting, as designers use new light shapes to add color and depth to displayed objects.

Designers are recommending impermanent color as a way to dramatize stark cabinets. They suggest that a white kitchen or bath can host colorful curtains or window blinds, and these can be changed periodically and inexpensively to alternate the mood of a room.

The NKBA report noted that 85 percent of its respondents use lighting to create a mood and showcase accents or features of their kitchen. With an aging population and the versatility of LEDs, safety is also high on the wish list for most homeowners. Trends there include motion sensing, voice activation, and time-based programs that turn lights on and off as needed. That plays into another concern, carbon footprints, where lighting automatically dims or shuts off when nobody is present.

LEDs are increasingly appearing under toe kicks where they provide helpful but non-intrusive illumination. It’s an easy and inexpensive add-on that cabinet shops can offer.

Kitchen buyers are looking for larger and more flexible refrigerated storage, and some innovative options are beginning to appear. These include a concept where the big box refrigerator is being transformed into several drawer-style cabinet components. Appliance libraries are also emerging that allow CAD designers to drop and drag these new configurations into drawings.

Lighting is also being used in subtle ways to encourage certain behaviors. For example, pendant lights can be strategically placed so that the dining table is located in a certain area to preserve traffic flow through the room. Or clustered lighting may subtly suggest that a certain part of the space might be better suited to group dynamics, while dimmed lighting can indicate where more intimate conversations might take place. Built-in furniture such as breakfast nooks is seeing a resurgence as designers recognize that customers not only want, but need intimate spaces. In a piece published in Elle Décor in September last year, Arrica Elin Sansone underscored this.

“Our kitchens have become increasingly important as a place to nurture connections with family and friends,” she said. “And homeowners want a space that feels like a safe haven.”

Lighting can be a key element in creating that place. The article suggests that rather than use those pendant lights over a diningtable, some under-cabinet and toe kick lighting around an island can deliver a higher degree of comfort. Warm colors are also comforting, and the organic nature of natural stone can add drama without sterility.

Architectural Digest (architecturaldigest.com) recently posted“16 Industrial Kitchen Designs That Will Win Over Everyone” by Perri Ormont Blumberg. Well worth a look from a cabinetmaker’s viewpoint, the article quotes designer Sara Cukerbaum as saying that industrial design “takes from surrounding architecture and materials, and only contributes details to the space that make it work for its current use.” In other words, the space is not altered beyond its existing character. Enough cabinets, countertops and backsplashes are added to make the kitchen functional but the feel is of the spaceitself, rather than what occupies it.

That’s a good thought for kitchen designers and cabinetmakers. Sometimes, we add components to disguise rather than complement. It makes one think that existing windows or perhaps a high ceiling or a stone wall should be the focal point, rather than just the boxes we build. The article adds another comment, this from designer Joyce Huston, who describes the design process for industrial spaces as “cooking without a recipe.” It’s all about balance and instinct, she says, andachieving that raw and edgy vibe without making the space feel like you are eating at a factory.

Surprisingly, most of the 16 kitchens showcased are in private homes with standard room dimensions, rather than downtown lofts or warehouses. And they include elements identified as trending components by the NKBA report, such as fridges that blend into the casework and metal range hoods. They stress the use of natural light when possible and employing light colors to capture daylight when it’s scarce. Bold colors are suggested to warm up cold and clinical spaces, even to the point of painting window frames and adding decorative tiles to an industrial design. The idea of using more than one cabinet color, or indeed more than one wood species, adds drama and visual relief.

One natural wood concept seen more in larger installations is the application of horizontal grain rather than vertical, where book and slip matching allows the pattern to travel in sequence across wide or tall panels. The sideways grain flows across walls and even turns corners. The availability of large enough natural wood flitches to execute this type of work restricts it to higher end installations, but it’s a trend that is gaining traction in the mainstream where shops are using laminate panels imprinted with woodgrain. Lateral rather than vertical grain is unexpected on cabinetry, so it has an inherent ability to surprise, and hopefully delight.

Elle Décor, NKBA and most other sources underscore the trend toward organization and remind us that the trend toward butler’s pantries is, if anything, growing still. That need to organize is also fueling a move toward more drawer dividers and specialized pull-outs that create a space for everything and keep countertops clean.

Some designers are taking the out-of-sight, out-of-mind concept to another level by hiding the working elements of the kitchen (sinks, stoves and fridges) behind large sliding doors and pull-out panels when they’re not being used. Several hardware manufacturers have recently introduced heavy-duty kits to support, move and stow these large panels, or ‘door walls’. The result can be quite dramatic, turning a working space into a living room.

It would be strange to spend so much time talking about trends in cabinet and furniture components without mentioning door styles. Doors and drawer fronts seem to be settling into patterns that may well define them for a decade or two. For example, the elegant but subdued skinny Shaker is still hot, while traditional Shaker in monotone colors and natural woodgrain still make up the vast majority of kitchen orders. Intricate profiles have receded in popularity, perhaps because customers see them as harder to keep clean.

Technological advances are giving natural wood doors a boost, such as the new Elite process at Keystone Wood Specialties. This is a two-step staining process that greatly reduces the blotchy, uneven tones that can often occur when staining tight grain wood species like maple, especially when using darker colors. Slab doors are edging into territory that has long been owned by five-part flat panel doors, and this is both a response to better materials and also a change in taste toward simpler, easier-to-maintain casework. As mentioned earlier, glass is growing in popularity for upper (wall) cabinet doors, and larger mullioned doors are popular with people who like to display items such as pottery and culinary art. There are still some proponents of beadboard and distressed finishes, but these may have to wait a while for an upsurge in demand until design tastes cycle back to them.

One interesting trend is mixing flat panel, insert and Shaker doors to achieve a more custom and tailored touch of drama.

Full overlay is the most popular choice, but insert doors are still trending in more expensive jobs. Partial overlays seem to belosing their luster. They’re easier to install, but can carry a slight stigma of age and values that don’t seem to work as well in today’s cleaner, more streamlined kitchens and baths.

Drawers have evolved in two ways of late. Metal and plastic kits with hidden hardware are challenging the popularity of individually machined hardwood dovetailed drawer boxes, but there’s enough room in the market for both. Customers are organizing more, and they’re dedicating various drawers to specific purposes with the use of trays, holders, racks, chargers and other inserts. That’s been a cabinet trend for a long time, so suppliers keep introducing new options for cleaning up clutter.