So, if you were to redo your kitchen now, what would you get in the middle price range that wouldn’t look dated? Recommendations for that timeless look?
I don’t know about stainless steel, I think I prefer white. Granite counters though, I could never live with and I don’t understand why people like them. It’s just too hard. I want a softer surface so I don’t have to worry about breaking things. Even if I don’t break things, handling glass can dishes on that hard surface is sorta like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
The problem I have with SS isn’t that I fear it will look dated. I just think it’s far, far too reminiscent of institutional, or resturant kitchens.
This, frankly, is why I don’t think SS will ever look as dated as avocado-green stovetops do. Because stainless steel didn’t come from nowhere–it came as a slow trickle from people who wanted real restaurant-grade kitchens. They started with the Viking and Wolf professional ranges and Sub-Zero fridges, then other people saw them and wanted them (but couldn’t afford them), so all the low-end stainless emulations followed.
I do think you’ll see a decrease in the number of mass-market stainless appliances as the majority of people tire of the flood. But since stainless steel = professional grade, you’ll never see it vanish forever, and the Vikings and Sub-Zeros will always be around to deliver stainless steel appliances to the rich.
Unless, of course, restaurant kitchens suddenly start using something other than stainless steel …
I dunno.
I think eventually people will see it as being too sterile, industrial, institutional and unfriendly.
Note that Sub-Zero got pretty badly panned in the most recent Consumer Reports.
As long as stainless appliances are more expensive than other color choices, it won’t go out of style.
I agree. At the end of the day, stainless steel is a supremely practical finish - otherwise you wouldn’t find wall-to-wall SS in areas where customers never venture. Most people would be unlikely to scrap a good-condition stainless steel kitchen to replace it with something trendy, and if it’s even half-decent quality SS will stay in good nick for a very very long time. Unless they are gimcrack, all these SS kitchens being put in now will stay there for a very long time, and people will focus on bathrooms, flooring etc. when updating.
ummm,well, I don’t know 'bout you…
but I am NOT a “customer” in my own house, and the “areas where I venture” in my house are supposed to be warm and homy–not cold, institutional, and ugly.
That’s why stainless steel is good for a comercial business, but lousy for a home.
I predict that 10 years from now, a kitchen with cold, all-metal, institutional- looking stainless steel will be a major problem to sell.
1970’s avocado is a little ugly, but most people can live with it.It doesn’t ruin a home.
Stainless steel isnt just ugly–it’s unfriendly. It makes you want to clock out at the end of your shift.
Do you want your home to look like a factory?
Maybe, but I dunno - what is practical for a commercial kitchen isn’t necessarily optimum for a domestic setting.
I dunno. I hope not. In the past six months we got a stainless steel grill, fridge and over-the-range microwave. We’ve found that one can minimize the fingerprints by cleaning up with stainless steel cleaner (the kind that comes in a spray can).
The trend that I think is going to become dated is the “let’s paint every surface that shows even a hint of wood grain” trend. I like the look of natural wood, but all the women in my life (wife, sister, mom) seem to want to paint every cabinet, banister, piece of furniture, etc. I attribute this to too much HGTV.
Of course, I absolved myself of responsibility by saying “Go ahead and paint the cabinets. When natural wood comes back in, you can strip them by yourself. I will not be a party to this.”
Yeah, I know that anything showing wood grain is out. I don’t care. It will come back in, and by my account, it never should have gone out in the first place.
p.s. - I have harvest gold paint in my upstairs hallway. The wife and I can’t agree on what color to paint the hallway, so the harvest gold remains until we can come to a consensus.
Huh. I guess my preference for a hardwearing, easy-to-clean kitchen is in the minority.
Personally my dream kitchen is one with a built-in jet washer and a turbo-powered fan to dry it afterwards. Cook a meal, throw the dishes in the washer, 30 seconds to blast everything clean, then beer+book time. Life’s too short for faffing about oiling wooden countertops and whatnot.
Yeah, and it would come with its own staff to cook the food. And it would be in a separate building, so it wouldn’t take up any space in the house. You’d just pop out and order the food and eat in in a separate dining room, then leave and not have to wash up. That would be cool.
It sounds like you two want the “man’s kitchen” from Home Improvement: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cuJD1-1e-i4
It’s creepy. My grandmother remodeled her kitchen in the 1950s, and installed a Modern Maid wall oven and stove top. These were both brushed stainless with black accents, and were electric units.
They still work flawlessly, apart from the timer on the oven breaking some years ago. And with the exception of the exposed coils on the stovetop, the units look strikingly modern - moreso because they are in fantastic shape.
Oh, I hear you on this.
One thing I have learned: don’t ruin the original features of a house that show good workmanship, no matter how trendy it may be to do so. When updating, try to be somewhat respectful of the original … because good, solid design won’t go out of fashion.
My house was built in the 1930s, and still has lots of original features like wooden paneling in the halls and dining room, carved wooden bannisters, art deco door furniture, and leaded glass. Our neighbours had all of these features too - but they decided to paint all the wood and replace all the windows and doors. Their house looks nice and modern, but I think it was a bit of a mistake.
No doubt stuff needs to be upgraded - for example, original leaded glass windows are horribly inefficient - but I think it is better to try to preserve the character of the house as much as possible.
I’ve had the same reaction to HGTV kitchen and bath redesign. They’ll take something that looks 70ish or 80ish and then remake it into what is now considered classy and classic. I feel relief at first because it does look really nice, but then I think, in fifteen years, won’t this just scream “mid-00s”?
I think the most idiosyncratic thing is the above-counter vessel sinks, as they are a departure from drop-in and really shout as to the vintage. Kitchen cabinets with frosted glass inserts, too. Travertine tile floors, blobby soaker tubs. They seem like the ultimate, but so did harvest gold.
This is my mom’s ideal bathroom. One seamless acrylic unit where you can close the door and let it self-wash. Apparently there are public stalls like this in Japan??
I give you the Dymaxion Bathroom.
Already so. I’ve met with quite a few upscale developers and they’re already seeing a shift away from those materials.