If you peek around here you will find that white kitchens have been so in-style that they've almost passed through to the other side and some designers are moving away from them. Although they are still very "hot". I'm building a white kitchen since I'm building a farmhouse.

Go to Google and type in Gardenweb and "White Kitchen" and you will get A LOT of examples. Gardenweb's internal search isn't the greatest. :)

What kitchens will never be out of style , nor will wood tones. I love white cabinets, ESPECIALLY, with dark floors. If you chooose to go with wood, make sure it is a lighter shade than your floors for some contrast.

We are in the process of putting in a white kitche. On this site you see people who either love or hate them. I personally love how light and airy it feels. We will have dark hardood throughout the whole first floor including the kitchen. Wood tons really jump in a white kitchen. All person preference though.

What type of kitchen do you like? Wood? Painted? Gray is becoming popular and could be a nice compromise by doing a light gray with light counters like marble. You could also mix it up and do white uppers with painted or stained lowers. Or white cabs with a painted or stained island. But don't worry about dark floors with white cabs, many here have that and it looks lovely. I've linked Alabamamommy's kitchen for you below because it has a mix of white and wood details but definitely search this site for white kitchens to find more Inspiration. And if you let us know what style you love we can probably come up with some ideas to help you and your wife compromise.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alabamamommy

Thanks all. My wife is looking at painted white cabinetry. Somewhere between traditional and modern look overall. I kinda want grey (concrete-like) counters. We won't go with wood floors. We still have to think of color of floors and appliances (assuming we do go with white and grey.

Any suggestions for the floors and appliances with that combination?

My kitchen has features that you might be interested in taking a look at. I have white cabinets and gray tone counters with stainless. Maybe this will help inspire you a bit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jgopp's white kitchen

To answer the OP's question at hand: yes, white is in now. As dutty pointed out, though, the design world is coming to the point that white is becoming passe. Google "Christopher Peacock kitchen" and look at the images. That 'look' has become the epitome of high culinary style for the first ten years of this century. Now, people are starting to look elsewhere for inspiration. That being said, the notion of timeless is quite silly. At one point you just have to find a look you like and go for it. It might be dated in 20 years, but that is the way trends work. I'm sure at some point in the near future people will look at stainless steel appliances the way people now look at avocado green appliances ("gosh, the house is beautiful, but did you see all that stainless in the kitchen? it sure needs a redo.") For example, look at the 1950s and 1960s modern style. I remember growing up in the 80s, and how the modern style was looked at as ugly. My father had a pair of Bertoia diamond chairs in his office that were scrapped for new furniture. Then in the late 90s and early 2000s, people became nostalgic for modernism. The term "Mid Century Modern" was coined and a new interest in the designs of Mies, Neutra, Eames, Knoll and others was revived. Now that style is considered beloved in american design history. I wonder when the day will come that the heavy grained honey oak cabinets that were so popular in the 80's country style will once again be trendy. I am sorry about the long windedness of this, just something to think about deciding about the "in-ness" of a certain style of kitchen.

My suggestion would be that you and your wife go tour some kitchen showrooms. If nothing else, check out the display kitchens at big box stores...like Home Depot and Lowe's. The best way to decide what you like is to see examples and how they look together.

Also, some things to consider...how much natural light do you have, in your kitchen? What direction do the windows face...north, south, etc? Are you planning to add a lot of lighting, during the remodel? How big is your space? Will it be open to other rooms? If not, is there an eating or seating area, in the kitchen? Do you want easy to maintain finishes or are you okay with higher maintenance? Will other people be cooking in the kitchen...kids, friends, extended family?

Lots to think about and also decide what kind of appliances you want and if you want them all to match...or do you want your range to stand out? Do you want some of the the appliances (fridge/dishwasher) to blend in with the cabinets...with matching cabinet fronts? Do you plan to have wall ovens, beverage fridge, dishwasher drawers? As you can see, there's a lot to think about :)

From my design file...

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

White kitchens are indeed quite popular and yes, there are those who love or hate them....
We are doing white perimeter cabinets with stained islands in a medium tone maple. Stainless appliances and paneled dishwashers are the way to go, so you can have an integrated look.

Dark wood floors look great with white cabinets! Are you thinking of removing them?

Cheers!

All excellent advice.

Regarding meshing your wishes and your wife's:
1. White is FAR from old school. As said, it's very, very popular and is available in many cabinet choices, and white with dark floors has actually been an extremely "in" combination for a handful of years now. Your web search will turn up many very expensive kitchens in those colors. So, if your wife LOVES white, and you don't hate it, maybe the ball's in your court to see if you can accommodate her?
2. If after soaking yourself in examples you actually decide, no, you really don't like all-white kitchens, perhaps doing white uppers and lowers in a different, darker color might be in order? A gray picking up on the concrete could be fantastic.
3. If you decide white's simply not an option, you can both print out every kitchen you do like, lay them out and start looking for a happy surprise.
4. Since you'll be living with it so long, though, if you can find a color or combo you've both liked for a very long time, a tried-and-true look, even if not particularly exciting, will definitely trump some "new" trendy look unlikely to have the same longevity.

I'm actually thinking gray here; I've always liked gray myself, but it can be a hard color to live with over time. Great for people who've always-really-liked-gray, but the fact that it's currently in style will seduce many innocents into embracing it. As sure as bread falls butter side down, the current spate of articles raving about glorious gray will be followed by ones describing how those dreadful, dreary gray rooms forced their owners into total remodels. Not a good thing when the room's the kitchen and the gray can't be quickly exorcised with a paint roller.

5. Regarding possibility for future flexibility, you might be interested in knowing that the hand-painted look in cabinets has become very upscale (for the same reason for other high-end custom looks). People can spend a lot of money for cabinets that show some nicely placed brush marks, but that look, of course, can also be achieved for very little. :)

One thing I'd like to point out is that while white kitchens seem super popular in the media, television, movies...they are not actually hugely popular in most homes (at least in my area).

White kitchens take great photos, and seem to amplify space, and are easy to spruce up for certain moods and occasions used in film and magazines. It makes the consumer look at the bright white cover of a magazine, instead of showcasing a dark cherry kitchen.

Trends come and go and the latest trend around me is Chiffon (I'm not sure if that is how it is spelled) but on the last kitchen tour more than half the featured kitchens were that glaze cabinet look. A few were heavily distressed blacks/dark/grey woods, and I was the ONLY white kitchen (out of maybe 15 newly installed). Something which a lot of people commented on, they expected to see a few white kitchens because they see them all the time in magazines.

Anyway if you look up the "one true kitchen" thread you'll see a bunch of opinions and ideas on what makes a kitchen good, bad, "timeless", not "timeless". The discussion is huge. In my opinion it really comes down to what you like and what you'll be comfortable with for many years. I know the choices I made in my kitchen will last in my eyes for years to come, just because I personally like them. Eventually though, if I were ever to sell, the owner might rip everything out and start all over again.

I'm "shaking things up" in my new neighborhood by putting in a white kitchen. This is my 2nd one in 2 years. There are those who say white is "over", but honestly not in the real world. As others have already suggested, you need to look in showrooms, look at Houzz.com for kitchens.

My husband wasn't a fan of white kitchens until we took a kitchen tour one Spring. He came home, and was ready to paint.

You can always combine the white painted cabinets with dark stained cabinets. You will see a lot of examples here and on Houzz.

Good Luck!

We recently finished putting in a white kitchen and, as beekeeperswife put it, it feels like we've shaken things up by installing a non-dark/non-stained kitchen. Those who say white kitchens are trendy or even "pass�" probably reside in larger metropolis or simply watching too much HGTV or those in the industry. That said, I was going for a traditional style and was surprised that most people describe my new kitchen as modern and transitional. We also have dark hardwood throughout which adds warmth to an otherwise white and grey space. I've linked my finished kitchen below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Super white quartzite kitchen

I agree with jgopp, white kitchen preference may be regional. Here (Long Island, NY), almost nobody goes with white for a reno. Natural wood and granite are practically a law here. The only "white" kitchens here tend to be of the AmeriTuscan-glazed finish with giantness abounding look, if you know what I mean.

Another Long Islander here.
We went with a black & white kitchen.
Here's a link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black & White Kitchen

Andres, you have your work cut out for you. Your wife has a vison and I think it she might not be happy with something else. But, that being said, you both need to try to keep an open mind and go to the showrooms as suggested above and see what interests you.
Also, look at the GW's Finish Kitchen Blog. Some of these kitchens are older but I think the site was supposed to be updated. You can still get lots of ideas from it.

We just took out a white kitchen that my husband had installed in the late 80's and are getting ready to put in another white kitchen. Our house can easily go either way; white or wood cabinets would fit equally well. However, all the trim in the house is white, and the kitchen gets very little natural light, and my husband prefers white; so white it is. (I would be open to other colors but I am fine with white, so no argument from me as he feels more strongly about it than I do.) Our floors are wood.

I do think there are some houses that wood-tone cabinets fit better than white. (Craftsman springs to mind.) It depends on the style of your house, not necessarily the floor or trim color.

Yes, white is old school. It's also trendy and new. White cabinets can go either way. They can also be builder-grade low budget or high-high end, and they can be either traditional or modern. There are so many styles. I agree with everyone who said to look at lots of kitchen pictures and go to some showrooms. After a while you will see a common theme in what you like, whether it's style or color or both.

One word of warning. Some of the white cabinets I saw in showrooms were dead depressing. They looked like plastic. There are all sorts of different ones so if you don't like the feel or look of one brand of white cabinet, don't necessarily count all of them out. And I say that as someone who is about to put in a white IKEA kitchen. lol.

northcarolina: I agree with your statement about some white cabinets looking and feeling like plastic. I have a second property which has a "builders" kitchen from lowes or something in there. The cabinets are absolutely plastic feeling. I assume they are just a plastic type layover/laminate which is glued onto the top of plywood instead of actually painting the wood.

I live in the house I grew up in... Bought it from my parents 10 years ago.

We're updating the 1960's kitchen. The last update was in the 80's when my mom had the dark wood cabs painted white, and replaced the avocado appliances with white ones.

We're repainting most of the existing cabinets... in a shade so close to the white my mom picked it's scary. This is after trying several test colors and agreeing - it was the color that "worked".

White kitchens may be trendy/current/now... But they were also popular in earlier decades. Never going all the way out of style.

Pick a scheme that you and your wife both like, and don't worry about trends.

I'd like to know if there is a way to see the types of kitchens over the years that have been installed. I bet in 20's-50's there was a decent amount of white, but also a lot of oak and others. I am not completely sold that white is trendier than ever, I think the deployment of mass media and marketing, plus the internet, makes it seem like there are more white kitchen installs now than there have been traditionally. I know some people with properties with 70's-80's white kitchens.

I think that nothing is "in" forever - so go with what you like and think you can live with for 15-20 years - because if you still live in your house in that time, you'll start thinking about a new kitchen anyway. :) (Or if you aren't, you probably should be. haha.)

Where I live, white kitchens are definitely in. But I live in a seaside town with lots of beachy decor so white definitely makes sense. That said, I did my first white kitchen 13 years ago in Boston and it worked there too. But both houses were 100+ years old and so white seemed to lend itself to the house. But really, I think I'm just a "white kitchen girl" and in general am not drawn to wood-tone cabinets. If my kitchen wasn't white, I'd probably have cabinets painted a color. I love hardwood floors and I tend to feel wood cabinets with wood floors is too much wood. But that's just my taste.

So all that to say, I probably agree with your wife. :) If you aren't adamant either way, look through the zillions of pics available by just google imaging white kitchens. Hopefully you'll find a combo you like.

White cabinets do not mean a white kitchen.

White cabinets have appeared in kitchens of every style--beachy, retro, sleek, modern, Deco, midcentury and more. They may wax and wane in popularity but they always seem to crop up somewhere.

A white kitchen has no color. White, black, a little gray (not too much) and dark floors. This is the style that peaked in the last few years. Most specifically, it is the One True Kitchen that peaked--the Something's Gotta Give Kitchen with its mandatory kit of white cabinets, wood floors, soapstone or marble countertops, white subways, nickel metals and stainless appliances.

But white cabinets can appear in a kitchen of any style or color scheme you want.

willtv, I love your kitchen, didn't realize it was here on LI. So, with you and me, that's two!

My daughters house has the kind of restoration hardware look I think your talking about. As a matter of fact she has one of their tables and there is literally no good way to clean it up. They are having their first baby. I hate to see how they will clean the spaghettios out of it, lol.

But, I saved this picture for her because it looked like her style. I really do like the mix of white cabinets and dark elements. Would something like this be a possible compromise?

I just want to echo what Marcolo said: White kitchen have existed in pretty much every era and style trend. Their popularity waxes and wanes, but they have never been completely out.

White kitchens have been popular in the past decade, with certain common features that people have touched on above (Shaker cabs, marble or soapstone, white subway tiles). But those elements are certainly not the only thing that can be done with white cabinets.

I'm attaching a link to one of the "Design Around This" threads where we tackled white kitchens. (If you aren't familar with Design Around This, it is a challenge that some of us have been doing. It's a series of threads where we put out a topic (agreed on in advance) and people put together a "mood board" or finish board showing in pictures the major design elements--floor, cabs, backsplash, appliances, etc.--and how they work together visually). The white kitchens design around this thread shows a lot of different ways you can use white in a kitchen. I'm not sure if any of them fit with Restoration Hardware style, but you might get some ideas anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Design Around This White Kitchens

Thought it might be good to attach some glimpses of the ajoining rooms. These are somewhat old pictures (when it was less furnished) but hopefully you get the idea of what the rest of the house looks like. We aren't done but in part, we want to keep the feel of it being an older home.

You can peek into our old kitchen in the background of the third picture. And please ignore the kennels. They were put there temporarily and we forgot to take them out.

Have you considered IKEA cabs? They are very good quality for the money (excellent mechanicals, interior fittings and low VOC - to EU standards - materials). Their lower cost and essentially interchangeable drawer and door styles make future change-outs easy. Also being DIY (or you can hire someone to do that part) means you may have more of a budget to devote to countertops and appliances if those need updating, too.

If you find an IKEA door style you like then they can be a very satisfactory, no-fuss choice. They don't come in as many size increments as other lines, though to some extent that can be hacked. Many people here have also purchased their really low-cost boxes and interior fittings and then ordered (from a third party) custom finished doors and drawer fronts in a variety of styles, woods and finishes. (You can get pretty much anything you want, in this case.) One door-making company, Scherr's, has templates and will pre-drill the door hinge pockets to match IKEA hardware, making installation a breeze. Custom, non-IKEA, doors make it easier to hack the standard IKEA cab to non-standard dimensions, as well.

I plan to do something like this, though without using much of the IKEA interior fittings since I am hacking the width of the cabs as well as the depths. Where I can use IKEA standard interior stuff, I will, though, because it is well-designed, high quality and very well-priced. My door and drawer fronts will be custom-made to fit my design choices and the weird sizes I need. I plan to paint them myself as I admire the handpainted look and it goes well in my mid-1800s house.

HTH,

L.