What are the current mainstream but still classic kitchen design choices?
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Anonymous
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We are having our kitchen updated. A company is going to make custom drawers/door fronts and finish them offsite and refinish the cabinet boxes to match. Also replacing the counters and backsplash.
I'm not passionate about design. I just want it to look fresh and updated for as long as possible so nothing too trendy. Most of the walls throughout the home are already Edgecomb Gray and the trim is White Dove and we plan to keep that. Should we just do the cabinets white dove with a warm white quartz counter with light veining? I know that's been around awhile but I'm nervous to try anything too trendy. I'd be okay with warm greige cabinets too (saw them at my neighbors), but I know that wouldn't work with Edgecomb Gray walls, so my kitchen and family room (open to each other) would need a different wall paint, which I guess could be white? Additionally we plan to have the same thing done to the cabinets in the laundry room and powder room which are both also off the kitchen. We would keep the shaker door front for both but could choose different paint colors I suppose. What would you recommend if I was your friend and just wanted quick easy answers? DH does not care and is no help. He likes anything that isn't "weird." |
Anonymous
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What does your house look like and when was it built? What do the interior doors look like? The windows? The front of the house?
Those are the best cues to use for the details of the kitchen. |
Anonymous
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Blue cabinets would liven things up a little amidst all that grey and white. Green was super trendy last year/ two, but I think blue will have more staying power.
If I were your friend I would urge you to get away from grey and white. You could very easily put some color in your kitchen, and then pick it up with a rug and some throws in the family room. Or if there are already colors you like in the family room, use that as inspiration (not matching) for the kitchen. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
are you picking the cabinet profile, or just the color? Your house is probably colonial style. Personally, I would stick to white. White dove is a fine choice. But if you’re picking the cabinet profile, I would try to chose something a little closer to the style of your house, like maybe even just a shaker style but with a little bevel. Like here’s a plain shaker door: 
And this one is similar but has a little bevel, and I think that would match your house better: 
Without having to go all the way to something that might feel too 90’s (although you totally could. I would.): 
If you want to be safe, as you said, don’t get a countertop with faux veining. It’s so hard to get right and anything faux is at risk of aging really badly. Try to find a slab of granite or quartzite or whatever they want to call a natural stone that isn’t marble or soapstone. |
Anonymous
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Painted cabinets have always been considered less desirable. Perhaps a beach house in the Hamptons could get away with white painted ones, but not many other places.
Just a note to think about. |
Anonymous
In the $1-2M price range it’s rare to see a home with wood stained cabinets. |
Anonymous
OP here. Yes it’s technically a transitional but basically a colonial. I am choosing the door profile and I do like the one you showed in the middle with the small bevel. The third one is basically the cabinetry I already have. |
Anonymous
Yeah, but in higher end homes it's rare to find painted cabinets. The reason is painted cabinets are "popular" in lower end builds now because that allows builders and cabinet sellers to get away with selling cheap pre-fab compressed wood pulp/etc. cabinets. Engineered boards with a cheap veneer. Higher end cabinets use real wood and stained coated finishes or even higher end using hand rubbed oil finishes. |
Anonymous
I don't understand what this suggests. |
Anonymous
The point is most people aren’t living in a $2M+ home. Even here. |
Anonymous
Just be mindful that if you’re going for longevity, matching the house is more important that being “current.” I think 20-30 years old is just a tough age for a house because we all remember when, and we’re tired of it, and you start to feel like you’re ready for a new thing. But you have to remember that things will look different when the house is 50-60 years old. Like in the dc area we’ve all been in a brick colonial that had a 90’s family room addition, and someone got a little carried away with the postmodern vibes and at the time, it felt like fresh new life on the back of the house but now what we all notice most is the contrast, in a bad way. |
Anonymous
| Also, it’s not a “transitional.” That’s not a thing. Transitioning from what to what? That’s just a word Home Depot made up to describe a broad category of limited ornamentation. Which is fine I mean all of these terms are made up in some sense. But it won’t be enough for you to be able to make consistent design choices. |
Anonymous
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Choose white or off white cabinets and light countertop.
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Anonymous
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Dove white is widely used and if it works for you, great. It’s a creamy white so if you decide to change walls and trim later it may not match. Also, on the off chance you are considering white appliances, they probably won’t match white dove.
Sounds like your keeping the cabinet boxes put painting them and the doors? Any way you can upgrade interiors with sliding drawers, etc? If your kitchen layout works for you, you’re all set. But now is a good time to try and tweak your kitchen with small improvements if you want or need. |