BioBooksAwardsComing NextContactBlogFun StuffHome

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Hot Kitchen Design Trends

Or OMG, you can't be serious. :-)

I saw a headline that grabbed my interest online: What's Hot Now: 7 New Trends For Today's Kitchen. I clicked through, curious as to what was hot. As I scrolled through the trends, all I could think was are they kidding?

It wasn't that the kitchens weren't lovely, but most of the ideas simply weren't practical unless you're a contractor (or married to one) or has a lot of extra money on hand and nothing to use it on.

Color was the first one up. I love color, the brighter the better. Then I realized they meant the cabinets, not the walls. Yes, just try to resell a house with green cabinets. About 90% of the buyers would be turned off. Heck, even I'm not fond of the green. If it were turquoise, I might like it more, but I wouldn't actually do it to my own house.

When I had my house built when I still lived in Minnesota, I saw this awesome boomerang Formica pattern. I knew I had to have it. Then there were four colors to choose from (there are more now), one a lovely turquoise--I didn't like the skylark or the coral--but I went with the charcoal because it was a neutral color. Now, I'd be drooling over the Retro Surf color option, but I'd still opt for the charcoal. I'd planned to live for decades in my home, then my job was relocated to Atlanta and I had to sell it and move. Can you imagine putting it on the market with turquoise counters? I have to believe that colored cabinets would be just as bad.

Colorful and/or patterned tile was another trend. Um, I don't need to repeat myself about being hard to sell, do I? The other problem? I'm easily bored, and if I went with something like this, I'd probably be ready for a change in a year or so.

Another trend was going for shelves instead of cabinets for the uppers. Sure, I want dust on my plates and bowls and glasses. Who doesn't want dust mites in their food? The other option--to wash the dishes before using them as well as after losing them? Not going to happen in my world. Plus, do I really want people to see my Disney cereal bowl? No.

The other options were fine, I guess, but not my style. I can't stand anything rustic and industrial seems really cold to me, which is one of the reasons I was less than excited by the stainless steel appliances in my new house. I've gotten used to them, but they are more industrial looking than the bisque color I chose in Minnesota.

I guess I don't like to be trendy. Fads come and go. I'd rather do classic, neutrals and then have bright red kitchen towels or a colorful throw for the couch. It's much cheaper to replace this things than to replace a floor.