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Trends - Kitchen Cabinets

I'm noticing a distinct change in the choice of kitchen cabinets in new-builds around here. Since this is Metropolitan New York I thought I'd share and see if you all are seeing it proliferate across the country? I'm also wondering if design trends start here or in California or Colorado or somewhere?

It wasn't so long ago that to be "in" you chose either white or dark cherry. Sometimes folks would pick a different wood for the island, but families seemed to veer toward white (off-white, glazed white, various rubs) and those with older children or none seemed to favor the dark cherry.

Now I'm noticing an across-the-board preference for lighter wood - [these are from this week's estimates and pre-consults)

home needing staging in Madison NJ home staging in NJ

home staging Scotch Plains home staging in Summit

[actually the 4th one was a house I staged a few weeks ago. Feels like last year!]

Now it should also be said that all of these above are homes priced under $1 million. In the millon $ + market I'm seeing cabinets get lighter there too, but still aiming for a rich, warm look - a medium cherry finish I saw last night:- (man, was it luscious!)

home staging in Madison NJ

What are you all seeing?

Juliet Johnson Staging provides NJ's luxury real estate market with home staging services, furniture rental, weekly fresh flowers and seasonal/holiday decorating .

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Posted by Juliet Johnson - Realtor/Property Manager on 08/31/2007 08:14 AM

Comments (28)

trends, kitchen cabinets, home staging, home staging nj, luxury real estate, furniture rental, holiday decorating

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28 Comments on Trends - Kitchen Cabinets

AUG

2007

Cherry never goes out here. Natural Cherry is very popular. Oak is out !! Natural maple has been popular for the last 5 years and you see it in most new construction if you don't see cherry. The maple comes in different stains but it is still maple.

I'm a cherry person, my kitchen has been cherry for 14 years and I'm going to redo it in Cherry again. White was popular in the 90's now some people don't mind it, but it is not the favorite.

That is your update from Ann Arbor Mi and surrounding area's.

In inland Southern California, most new construction comes standard with oak cabinets in a lighter finish. Maple cabinets are the upgrade I usually see, but in a light to medium finish. White cabinets are not too popular here. High end homes tend to have cabinets with darker finishes in cherry, maple.

I visit the Albuquerque, New Mexico area about twice per year and hickory in different finishes is very popular there.

These cabinets are new, in luxury condos priced at +/- $500K in Norwalk, CT. I love this medium-toned cherry. Julie

Juliet, Very nice pictures, and all very nice kitchens. I don't know what they are doing in other parts of the country as I work the Summit, Short hills, Chatham, Madison Morristown / Morristownship Markets, Right here in New Jersey.

Liked the pictures very much, we will be redoing the kitchen in my own house soon. Have not figured out what we want to do since the kitchen is only 17 x 12 in a 3600sqft standard colonial built in 1967. The issue is that the way the house was designed it really does not allow for moving of walls and making the kitchen wider unless we put a addition out the back but that is really not a option right now.

James Boyer

Keller Williams Real Estate Summit NJ

Juliet,

I agree with everything you said, oak is out, maple in light and meds are hot with dark counterstops, or med dark. Also very clean lines, no arches at the top etc. I have spent the last year trying to figure out how to redo my kitchen, I called the realtor who sold it to me, she told me to do med color, it's more sellable, and don't do white, to many people don't like white. So maple, clean line cabinets, with a med to light stain, and a med dark stone countertop, is what it will be - now alls I need it the $30,000 to pull it off!!

Becky

It really still seems to depend on the market that they are targeting with new construction. Younger people tend to still like the dark chocolate stains and older couples lean towards the more traditional stains. I saw the most confused combination yesterday in a resale home with light coloured cabinets, dark floors and white baseboards and trim - guess they did not know what they really wanted.

I love this kind of discussion! Thanks for reporting in from Ann Arbor, Missy.

This is good because it tells us something - if you're going for a New Mexico feel, you want to consider Hickory. Makes sense - it's the local wood, no? Thanks, Michelle.

Michelle, Oak? really? that's amazing - I thought oak was the outest of the out, kinda like Missy.

The Connecticut look - can we read that as indicative of New England, Julia, d'you suppose? - Julia - is a medium toned cherry. That's certainly the high-end home I saw in Madison, NJ this week.

James - we should have a coffee sometime soon since we're in the same market. Yeah, our kitchen was 17 x 12, and we moved it to the room next door and found 15 x 20. Nice, we gained an eat-in area and an island. You might have to do an L-shape -- which btw can be very appealling. I bucked the whole trend thing and went with a Biedemeyer look.

Biedemeyer kitchen in SH

Kitchen

aagh, so now one sees how a stager lives! Piles all over the place, uncoordinated towels (because the ones that do are rented!!) and the Kleenex box.... TERRIBLE!!!!

Piles that I moved, that is!

Juliet-I love the light woods-but can't aide oak. When we bought our last home, I refused to see any with oak-made my agent laugh. It became our inside joke when we walked in a house and found oak trim or cabinets. I totally bucked the trend and ought a house with a vintage set of green enamel cabinets (from sears we think). The kitchen is completely orignial and decorated in 195o's -we love it but will need to replsce if we ever sell! I see great kitchens and think about changing ours but love the character.....Nice photos!

I'm loving the new mix of woods. I'm not sure it's good for resale, but I hope I'm about to find out. Last night I bid on staging a for a rehab-er who's installing bamboo flooring, mocha stain base cabinets and espresso uppers. My plan is to bring in the espresso tone on the furniture and dark rich tones on the accessories....probably natural textures also, which will help blend tones.

Showrooms now feature single color cabinetry with contrasting trim (crown moldings, insets, etc.). Again...seems fun and interesting, but not monochromatic enough for everyone.

I agree with all of you on the out of date oak, and the white, EXCEPT, that a well-applied, fresh coat of white paint can take an awful, tiny, dark kitchen out of the stone age, quickly and inexpensively!

Cheers, from DC!

Jaynee

Cheri -- enamel? Post pix, I wanna see. Bet "they're ta die fuh"!

Cor, Jaynee -- that mix sounds just beeyootiful. Can't wait to see your photos... of course you'll get it!

I've been seeing more dark finishes - I think this was a dark walnut? Here's a home in Edgewater NY. New construction $1.7 mil.

I didn't like the countertops, they were a matt finish black granite - I don't know, it may be in style, but the matt finish just looks dull and worn to me.

In Houston the trend is more dark. It makes the kitchen look smaller but the richness of the color pops more with Stainless Appliances

Around Southwest Washington we see a lot of natural cherry with chocolate or mocha glaze. Oak and white are considered dated. Maple is quite popular in the condos and contemporary homes. The European style homes are showing rich dark wood with glazes. The upper end homes are moving away from shiny granite to honed granite and gorgeous intricate tile backsplashes.

Building "green" is very popular,too. Lyptus cabinetry, bamboo floors, recycled glass tile and counters made from a compressed paper product are all utilized.

Kathy, a compressed paper product? That sounds cool. What does it look like? I'm really impressed with bamboo. I was offered a chance to get in on a distributorship of bamboo fabric. I thought the guy was a little "out there". Boy, do I rue that decision! Bamboo throws are FABULOUS!!!! I've started seeing intricate backsplashes here too, but only in owner-occupieds. No-one's got the nerve to offer them on spec yet. We're seeing onyx bathrooms make a comeback, too.

Maureen, looks like Kathy's region are doing the honed granite thing, too. This is a shame, because it means we'll get it next. I'm with you, I don't like the look, and I don't believe it's any easier to keep clean. My guess is it will smear and stain just as much as the rest of them.

Ann, you're so right about the pop, the darker the cabinets the more fine the stainless looks. If people are preferring to have their kitchens smaller, does that mean that they are starting to build smaller, too?

Yep, still lots of oak. I thought oak was out too, but it's cheaper. If not light oak, then usually light maple (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between oak and maple in mls photos because they are a similar color). I think the trend is going towards the light maple though (and then everyone will get sick of that and then it will linger for another 10 years).

<LOL> You're so right! At least it won't look as cheesy as white or cream formica!

Your photos look similar to many we see in Cincinnati...white is definitely not in!

heh I never notice these things, probably because I don't own a home. But I think no matter what the finishes are, it needs to complement the style of the home and the finishes surrounding it. I have seen both pretty great looking dark or light kitchen cabinets, the main point is that they are together with other finishes that complement it. I property managed this high end home where they had maple cabinets, it looked really great. Then the new tenants painted them all white and matched it with different interior paint, finishes, and decor. That works great as well.

Cheers,

Cindy

SEP

2007

This is a bathroom, obviously, but the same cabinets are in the kitchen. I am still seeing a lot of white. Stacy

Stacy

This post has been very informative for me, considering I am looking to do something with my 12 year old oak cabinets. Any suggestions for an inexpensive update? Thanks for the pictures, too, everyone.

Wendy Casey

Vancouver, BC

SEP

2007

Still oak here although with a natural or light stain, pine, maple and some hickory. The high end homes are going to the darker and cherry seems to be the preferred color.

AUG

2008

Do you want to get some professional advices from specialists? Come on, go to http://www.kitchenspro.com. The experts are waiting for you.

AUG

2008

I love oak kitchen cabinets with original color. How can I post my kitchen cabinet pictures. I want to share with others. Anyway, I just bought them from www.kitchenspro.com, the honey oak one. It is fabulous.

MAY

You gotta try this cleaner <a href=" http://rejuvenate.tv/cabinets.php

"> it makes cleaning kitchen cabinets so much easier</a>

JUN

that's good news...

I love good and new model of
<a href="http://www.cabinetgiant.com">kitchen cabinets</a>. I have found a website, where they will design and supply to the consumers at a low rate too..

If you guys are interested in it, look at cabinetgiant.com website, it's fabulous.

OCT

Here in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona we are seeing a lot of Alder cabinets with both light and dark colors in the same kitchen as a contrast to each other.

You can see the Alder Colors at

http://www.fashioncabinet.com/Style-Finish/SwatchThumb.aspx?species=Alder

FEB

Great article and some great ideas too. I do believe that cherry is one of the better options, more so than oak. Will check back soon.

Kitchen Cabinets

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Juliet Johnson - Realtor/Property Manager

Myrtle Beach, SC

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Myrtle Beach Rental Connections

Address: 3721 Westly St. Unit 117, Myrtle Beach, SC, 29579

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Once a Manhattan realtor, I have bought and sold 12 homes in 19 years in 4 countries. That, and 7 years of staging homes for sale in New Jersey adds up to a lot of experience. If any of it can help another, I have served my purpose. Thank you, AR members, for your own generous sharing.

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