From the Designer’s Mouth

Klaudia Spivey
Design Times, Inc.
Denver, Colorado
www.designtimesinc.com

Alder is very hot in our area, especially stained. We’re seeing less and less paints and more stained woods, but colored as opposed to natural stains, like red. Inset doors are still in demand, though the moulding and overall look is becoming less ornate—my clients want a cleaner look. As far as accessories go, pullout spice racks that are located next to the cooktop are really popular because of their easy accessibility. The hardware selection today is so much better than in years past that you can pretty much get anything that you want; pewter and black metal knobs and elongated pulls are popular.


Jean Buchen, CKD and Andrea Foard
K T Highland, Inc.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
www.kthighland.com

White kitchens still seem to still be popular in our area; they are not as stark a white as in the past but are leaning toward soft yellows. There is also interest in stain and glaze finishes. Clients are still attracted to the traditional look with raised panel doors but seem to be moving away from the very heavy moldings and brackets. Most of our clients want beaded inset or full overlay/frameless.

One thing customers are asking more about is universal design. They are interested in cabinets that will live with them as they age. As far as hardware finishes, most of our customers have been going with standard knobs in bright brass, or stainless depending on their appliance choices. We had one customer use the same color cabinetry in the kitchen and the library but choose stainless for the kitchen and bright brass for the library because she wanted a more formal look in the library.

One wood species we are very excited about is Lyptus. This is a wood that is completely renewable resource and grows similar to bamboo. It has similar grain characteristics to mahogany and typically costs slightly less then mahogany, one of our manufacturers offers it at the same charge as cherry. As earth conscious customers become more aware of it this wood will gain popularity.


Joey Wilinski, CKD
Wilco Cabinets

We kind of serve two areas—Green Bay and Door County, which is a resort getaway—and we do two different things. In Door Country, we design for a lot of cottages, where we are seeing a lot of knotty pine with medium warm tone stains. Around the Green Bay area, smooth grain woods, such as birch, cherry, and alder with medium to medium-dark stains, dominate. We’re not seeing much of the grainy woods at all. More simplistic style doors like flat panel or Shaker have replaced ornate options.

Everybody is having us do lockers in their mudrooms so that everyone has his own space for backpacks and coats and sporting equipment. With the lockers, we’re doing more of peg hooks as an open area for hanging coats and bin drawers below for boots and shoes. In the kitchen, we’re doing a lot of pantry cabinets, and not just walk in. We’re getting into butler areas as a transitional room between the dining area and kitchen, complete with a wet bar and kitchen storage.

One thing people are getting away from—they’re not worried about having a desk in kitchen but are moving it to den or office. Our clients are incorporating a hearth room area but not a desk in kitchen proper. Instead, the hearth room is an area with overstuffed chairs and a fireplace. It’s a cozy area for relaxing after dinner and carrying on conversation with the cook. We’re still seeing the open kitchen concept but getting away from the “wide open” concept, where the kitchen opens into great room—the hearth room taking place of that.


Susan Janyszek
Custom Kitchens by Design
www.customkitchensbydesign.com

Many of our clients prefer to use different colors in one space. For example, they will choose a cherry stain for the kitchen island, while the rest of the cabinets are stained in a light maple or glazed eggshell. We are seeing a lot of the Tuscany style with very warm tones, including bronze, brown, burgundy and wrought iron. While the most popular door styles remain the raised panel, the mitered corner "picture frame" door has pretty much taken over the market. Beaded inset remains strong as does glass mullion and lattice inserts.

Cabinet accessories are improving every day. Most kitchens include roll out shelves, tilt down sink fronts and cutlery dividers, but we are now seeing fancier storage aids. The pull out column spice and towel racks and tilt up "flipper doors" for appliance storage are the most popular recent trends. The exposed slide out wicker basket are still very popular and now the pot and pan drawers come in 42" wide, the widest ever.

As for styling, most clients want the columns or flutes with rosettes and fancy hand carved moldings to add much needed detail to kitchen spaces. All of these extras help the different sections in a kitchen look like individual pieces of furniture, especially when some items are contrasting colors.