Yes, I've wondered if tile counters will make a comeback. I really like the look, especially in those lovely vintage kitchens with the tile that rounds down over the sink, so that the sink becomes an under mount. But it's not just cleaning the grout that bothers me, but the uneven surface.

Does anyone recall the open concept classrooms in schools which became popular in the 70s? It lasted a few years until the lack of peace and calm became apparent and the walls went back up!

I can totally understand younger folks enjoying the open kitchen concept, which is exactly what my son and wife wanted in their home. My home is a Colonial style built in 1970 with large separate rooms. When I cook, I enjoy my own little tv/CD/radio in the kitchen while my husband is watching his sports - works for us.

I do need to remodel and definitely want drawers for the bottom cabinets and closed upper cabinets with one or two glass doors. I don't want the upkeep of SS appliances. I do love the granite we installed in the bathrooms but am unsure about the kitchen counters. At the moment I guess I am too overwhelmed with choices so I greatly enjoy reading about others who are in the midst of their wonderful projects!

Large format tile, yes, but bumpita, bumpita, bumpita? No, never.

I used to be in those open classrooms!! So distracting! Terrible idea! My dad drove my brother to a different school just so he wouldn't have to deal with open classrooms. Our kitchen is partially open but everyone hangs out in the kitchen and tells me what I am doing wrong. Go away!! If you don't like how I cook the turkey, host Thanksgiving at your own damn house :) really I do get the love hate of the open kitchen/ open concept.

Couldn't they crowd into a closed kitchen and do the same thing, Lily? Maybe I'm sometimes too assertive for my own good. I have been known to tell certain family members that they need to go back to the front room and visit because I don't need their help. In a nice but firm tone of voice, "I don't need your help with this but I would really appreciate it if you could......(fill in the blank)." If they don't get the hint, I will just tell them, with a nice smile on my face, that it brings me joy to cook for them and I'd enjoy it more if they would go visit and relax. If they still don't get the hint, then I just order them out of my kitchen. :)

Of course, it does help that my home is only semi-open. Kitchen open to dining/sitting room but there is an entry way and fireplace wall between dining and living room. I really like that balance between fully open and closed.

Tile counters are not evil!!! LOL They are not the best thing for dishes to be on (especially if they're not even) and grout can be a pain, but the new grouts are much better.

We're going to tile each side of the range area and use it for setting down hot pans and dishes. My mom is really excited about this and it gives that area of the kitchen its own personality.

The granite (our free stuff) is going to hopefully fit around the sink area and we'll probably use wood to fill in the rest. The area we're not touching has Formica....so it's going to be an interesting/fun kitchen!

I think having counter tops that are specific to the task is one of the best things about the 'vintage' style....or at least my version of it :)

Since there is such an interest in reusing/recycling, I think more kitchens will be like this in the future. The 70s thrift shop style will be very popular.....again.

I agree, lavender lass. One of my favorite looks is kitchens with mixed countertops. And it does make sense to use different types of materials where they perform the best - heat resistant next to range, water resistant next to sink, marble baking station, etc.

And I think vintage never goes out of style, because by its very nature, paradoxically, it is already out of style.

Ha! Funkycamper, I pictured hoards of people filing into a tiny kitchen to watch me cook! I do find ways of weeding out the less helpful guests. My BIL always complains because I cook an unstuffed bird. Last year I told him to stuff/cook his own bird and being it with him :) he got the point.

I love the idea of different counters for different spaces! Vintage is fun. I was just went out with my DD looking for a vintage bowl for my kitchen but didn't dind anything that caught my eye. I'll keep looking.

Good points. I've been planning a DIY zinc counter but zinc doesn't do well with high-heat placed on it. So I was thinking about inserting a large ceramic square or rectangle on each side of the range so I could place hot things without having to get out a trivet or hot pad.

Just the other day, DH reminded me that we have some 2" thick cherry-wood in the attic. I think they are 8 feet long, 1 foot wide. We don't have enough for all my counters but it would be great to use some where we can. Now I'm thinking zinc around the sinks since I'm doing undermount but the wood for the prep area. Would also like a slab of marble in the baking center.

This will all be fun to play with. I'm fully on board with various counters for different uses. Although it's a tough look to pull off without starting to look too eclectic in an open or semi-open space.

Lily, I never understand anyone who complains about how someone is cooking them a meal. If you don't cook, don't b*tch, imho.

OK, I do moan a bit about MIL's cooking but never to her or in front of her. I just bring a dish or two I know I can and will eat and/or eat before I go and then take small portions of what she prepared or pass over something without comment. :)

Another good reason to have the kitchen more separate. Not necessarily closed off, but separate enough to change the decor a bit.

Our home has the little nook completely open to the kitchen, but open to the living area, too. We've been talking about what to do with that space and finally decided (last night) to have it match the kitchen. We'll keep it a little nook area and bring back the banquette idea!

After trying different ideas, it just seemed to make the most sense to do more vintage in that space. I think my love of vintage has started rubbing off on everyone else :)

I've never had anyone try to tell me how to cook once they've tasted my cooking! Maybe I just have polite family/friends, but they keep coming back.

We're doing two different counter surfaces. I got a deal on some wide 2" maple, which I'm going to glue up to make counters for everywhere but around the sinks. Those areas are probably going to be Formica (gasp!) because we like it and can afford it. We considered soapstone, but it would have been a stretch financially, and it seems like extra work to keep it nice. Good 'ol Formica is pretty tough stuff.

I'm going quartz in the kitchen, but mushcreek, thanks for the plug for formica. I'm thinking that the baths will be formica, if I find a pattern I like better than the expensive one I'm drooling over in quartz. Formica is pretty tough, as you say. The Formica in my current home doesn't cut it because they don't have the bends and curves the modern stuff has.

funkycamper -- apparently no one who survived, cared. The house was being sold "as is". I seriously wanted to buy that home, to give this lady some sort of memorial. At six foot one, most doorways would have been brain-traumatic, and at that point I didn't remotely have the funds to do the needed renovations...

(the washboard was an exaggeration. Which I'm sorry I made, because even now I'm sorry I didn't help save this woman's legacy.)

Just because there are so many white kitchens these days, they will go out of fashion (who know when).

Oh, don't feel bad about the washboard quip. It was sorta funny and not that far off. I have the copper boiler my Grandma used when my mom as a child in the 1920's to boil whites in.

Yay for anyone using Formica. I would be using it if I wasn't lusting for an undermount sink.

Yes, an undermount sink is a must for me. Anyone who has been through the nastiness of crumbling pressboard under the Formica in the wet areas understand that issue. I must say it took a number of years, though, and my Formica was otherwise so easy to maintain.

I am hoping the white on white on white look goes away. It seems impractical, for one, impossible to keep clean, marble is way too high maintenence, and, honestly, it makes me think of a clean room or a surgical operating theter.. something that needs a bleach hose. We went for a gray stain on real wood. gives a hint of gray, but not all the way to painted. I just hope, honestly, that everyone gets a little more creative, and stops doing cookie cutter hgtv kitchens, "transitional" kitchens, things that seem like they are following all the trends. and no upper cabinets only work if you have a BIG kitchen.

Move to North Carolina, where EVERY DAY is a sunny, Carolina Blue sky day....... u can paint any color u like here, everybody's too happy to care about anybody elses choices.

awoogala, I have a small kitchen with no uppers, just a couple open shelves. It works great for me. But I do have a lot of pantry space.

Awoogala, at least white on white reminds you of a surgical theatre...stainless reminds me of a morgue ;)

funkycamper, your maple counter top will not work with a surface saver that is made for laminate, but what if you could sink a surface saver into the maple so that it is flush, http://vanceind.com/built-insurfacesavers.aspx

Awoogala and practigal - your comments are soo lame and repetitive.

Check out any houzz story featuring modern design, and a slew of comments such as yours is sure to follow: comparisons to hospitals, morgues and Russian psychiatric institutions. I don't see snarky comments like that on stories featuring traditional or vintage looks. It's bad enough on houzz, please don't start it on GW.

me me2, thanks. I actually discovered they still make those from RetroRenovation and had them in the back of my mind but I couldn't remember the name of the company and lost my link. You saved me a web search! :)

We should all be wary of "trend." It's not exactly used in a complimentary way here on GW. It's so often like, oh look at you, you did whatever was trendy and soon you will look so dated. Poor you.

While I wouldn't rush out and get a tile counter (again), I do think it was one of the best looks, with the darker trim around the edges. The tile counter I had before I remodeled was charmless, 6" white with dark gray grout. Blinded by lines. And yes, writing on it was awful. But it stayed clean, including the grout. Maybe grout will be improved.

If it's more sleek and contemporary, I ain't going there.

My house is gray on the outside and I love it. Inside, keep it off my walls! I was in a gorgeous, custom house, millions of dollars, windows, views to die for, and all the walls were somber gray and it just wrecked everything.

As the only cook in the house, I spent too many years isolated in a separate kitchen while everyone else was having a grand old time somewhere else. But I do like the idea of some type of visual separation between the kitchen and other rooms, even if a half wall. What would be perfect is as someone (Jillius?) suggested about having pocket doors where the kitchen can be opened or closed.

I hope wood doesn't go away.

What's the deal with saying quartz chips? Mine is rock solid.

With the advance of technology, we will probably start seeing more high tech gadgets incorporated into the kitchen.

Technology or not, I hope the next thing is that people value function first, and decorate the kitchen whichever way they like. We all have different tastes. Some of us like vintage, some of us like modern, some traditional, some transitional, some like white kitchens, others dark cabinets, or even two tone cabinets, and everything in between. The way I see it, I can appreciate good functional design, even if the kitchen is not my style.

And good functional design can make or break a kitchen, whereas finishes can be changed more easily than structural elements.

So regardless of the kitchen color or style, the kitchen needs to work well for the cook in it.

And function aside, there isn't just one correct kitchen style. We'd be a pretty boring bunch if we all had the same kitchen...

Thanks modellie. I will keep my tone in mind...that was truly the snarkiest anti-snark comment I've ever read ...

Practigal- LOL

Well said, houserookie. When looking at reveals, I tend to look at the functional aspects like layout and storage solutions, especially if unique ones were used, and then look at the style and finishes. Beautiful finishes can be ruined by bad function, that's for sure, but something rarely seen here at GW, thank goodness, but something I often see at other websites.

If often compliment well-designed kitchens with finishes that aren't my cuppa tea. Or that I think are beautiful in pictures or in somebody else's kitchens but not colors, styles or finishes that I could live with in my own kitchen. I think it's a shame when people are so tied into their own style preferences that they can't appreciate good style and design that may not be their personal preference for their own homes.

I too am tired of snarky remarks in regards to modern kitchens, white kitchens, minimalist kitchens etc. I agree with Modellie above, I don't see nasty comments made on traditional designs on Houzz. But woe to the home owners who go modern, the comments they can expect on Houzz border on bullying. I too don't want to see this "trend" on GW.

We're about to plan our kitchen remodel but I find myself procrastinating starting our own thread. I don't fear constructive criticism of our plans and kitchen layout - I expect it and want to be told if our plans aren't functional so we can change them or improve on them before it's too late. But, I was going to post inspirational pictures along with our plans, and I don't need commenters telling us that we're planning a morgue or that our space will look cold and sterile.

Most kitchen reveals and plans I see here on GW are either traditional, transitional or vintage of some sort. I've never seen one done here that I would consider minimalist or cutting edge modern. Despite this, some posters feel the need to post their distaste of modern design any chance they get, and congratulate each other on their "witty" remarks. Why?

I happen to like to live in the 21st century and I happen to like fresh new ideas, materials and new solutions to our life styles. And yes, I do think all this nostalgia for "natural", "handmade" and "old fashioned" is way overrated. I bet that if not for factory made furniture, 90% of people in the US would not be able to afford any furniture at all.

Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents lived and welcomed furniture, kitchens and architecture of their times. I bet if they were alive today they would embrace today's designs, art etc., unlike most of their offspring who seem to only look backward to some imagined golden times of the past.

practigal - I too found GW coming from Houzz. There I had ample opportunity to get used to read nasty comments in response to stories featuring modern architecture and interior design. Poster after poster who felt the need to make comparisons to sterile hospitals, cold and boring waiting rooms, even insinuations that the home owners must be "abusive ice parents" etc. Each "witty" post appeared to encourage other posters to describe these interiors cold, icy, devoid of life, institutional etc. Creative thoughts? Enlightening commentary? I don't think so.

I'd hate to see this becoming the norm here on GW as well. I too find such comments trite and predictable. So, yes, lame and repetitive applies.

Plenty of gorgeous modern kitchens on GW. Sochi and schicksal off the top of my head though I know there are many others. Seems like modern kitchens are "on trend" in our area but that's not a bad thing. People typically put in what fits with the house, and around here there are lots of contemporary ranches, etc. I would guess it's hard to do a traditional kitchen right in a warehouse loft-style condo. Similarly, the modern kitchen I saw recently in a renovated Victorian just did not do it for me, though it would have been great in another house. I really enjoy seeing all the variety on this site!

If I ever do another kitchen it likely will be white cabs with at least some stainless counter ;-)

A white kitchen isn't necessarily modern. My friend had a very pretty white kitchen back in the 80's, when everyone else was putting in golden oak, with white floor, white Corian, white appliances, white painted cupboards and yellow walls and accents. The OTK, with white shaker cabs, subway tiles, and marble counters (soapstone also allowable) is a more recent trend, but still a mainly white kitchen. The question of the OP, though, was "what do you think the next trends will be," and it's reasonable to guess that the current OTK will fade as people want (and designers encourage) "something different." We already see this happening with shaker cabinets painted other colors. That is not to say that the white kitchen will disappear; it never does. But we're talking about our predictions for styles and trends.

I also don't think it's all that snarky to comment on a general or hypothetical style of kitchen, as in "this trend will fade, and I'm glad because I don't like it for these reasons." Weren't people in this thread saying the same about open plan, and no one took it personally. (For the record, I like having a separate kitchen, for all the reasons given.) And people often comment in general discussions about how they don't like stainless or how tired they are of granite and how that trend is over. I'm not offended; I love rocks, but I don't think everyone else has to. It is nasty to make a derogatory comment about a specific kitchen, say, in a reveal. No one did that here.

I will say, though, that I have seen the difference between Houzz, where there is an "article" about someone's actual kitchen posted by a professional, and people apparently feel free to criticize the design or the color or where the microwave is (really?), and GW, where when we used to do reveals of our own kitchens, the tacit policy seemed to be not to say anything at all if you couldn't say something nice. And I really prefer the latter. The time for criticism is before the kitchen is completed. I haven't been back on GW long enough to see if the tone has changed since the merger, but if it has, that's too bad.

Personally, I love the modern kitchen look and hope to do mine that way next year when we begin the project. I dream of frameless cabinets with walnut slab doors with a stacked stone backsplash. If the white kitchens are still the rage, so be it. But I'll be happy (at least
until the estimates for walnut come in).

Ooh, I love walnut! There was a gorgeous walnut kitchen on GW a few years ago, tall slab doors, they let the wood do the talking. It was wonderful. If you haven't seen it, definitely check the Finished Kitchens Blog or Gallery or whatever (we still have that, right?) to see if you can find it. It was very sleek. Does anyone remember the one I mean?

Maybe one of the next trends will be interesting woods, like walnut or gumwood or that lyptus that was just on Houzz recently. That would be a nice trend.

I haven't seen it, Ginny, but I'll search for it. I'm for the interesting wood grains, too. Beautiful.

I like seeing more color in the kitchen and depending if the granite I want is available or not, it will determine the colors in my new kitchen.

As for white being a trend, it has always been a trend. What has changed over the years is the style of white door. In the 80's with the white slab door, the 90's with thermofoil, etc.

Dear Pippabean,

Please post your plans and questions. There is just too much good advice that you might pass up.

This post was about trends. While I like a lot of modern, especially white (how's that for irony?), I have never liked stainless. I gave my honest opinion on trend, NOT on someone's kitchen. I don't normally respond to posts where the person likes a style that I actively dislike. But when I see a poster is doing something that will just cost them (i.e., they are looking at 1200cfm hoods and have never heard of makeup airflow) I try to let them know there is an issue without ANY mention of material or style.

I thought in this post on "trends" providing my opinion was a fair response, possibly even gently ironic, but not snarky.

Again I encourage you to post your queries; there are many people who can really provide great info....

While some people may look at minimalist kitchens, slab doors, stainless counters, etc. and think cold/ugly/institutional, I see them and think YAY! Easy to clean! I hate cleaning and I'd much rather have a sleek functional kitchen than one covered in ornate moldings that should come with their own maid just to keep ahead of the dust.

SS surfaces happen to be used in morgues and operating rooms because they are durable and easy to clean and sanitize. But that's also the reason SS is used in every commercial kitchen I've seen. If I see a SS kitchen counter my brain is going to associate it with "pro kitchen" a lot faster than it's going to jump all the way to "morgue"

practigal - Back in 2011. jkom51 posted this thread on the GW kitchen forum. His post is really just this NYT article about an architect's remodeled house in NYC.

I stumbled onto jkom51s thread on my first visit to GW. Below I'm posting a picture of the kitchen and some excerpts of responses GWrs thought were adding value to the discussion. Yes of course some commenters defended the architect's choices vigorously. But I'm just so tired of seeing these types of comments reoccurring. Comparisons of modern interiors to hospitals and morgues are not clever original thought nor are they "gently ironic", they're just trite cheap shots at the modern aesthetic and add absolutely nothing new to any discussion. In fact they're exactly what modellie called them : lame and repetitive.

Pic of the much maligned modern white Red Hook NY kitchen:

Some excerpts of comments:

"...I'm more reminded of the ER where he might have gone to be treated."

"...the kitchen looks like it was extruded. And yes, it also looks like you should leave a urine sample on it."

No kidding!

I wonder how many other people like me are put off by that level of "discussion" found on GW and don't come back?

@pippabean - obviously those "clever" commenters have never worked in a hospital or even seen the inside of many. It would be nice if ERs actually looked like that...

pippabean - Thanks for telling it the way it is. The urine sample remark is especially lovely. Who needs trolls when you have GW members feeling comfortable to write comments such as these?

fishcow - so true. Of course none of them has ever seen the inside of a morgue (If they did, they wouldn't be around to make silly remarks) lol. They just repeat each other ad nauseam.

Everyone has their own tastes and good design is good design whether contemporary or more traditional.

It reminds me of the discussions on some of the art forums where people either are trashing contemporary art or are trashing realism. I particularly love those people who after drawing and painting for a month consider themselves experts and love saying how they would never like any modern art. So I like to ask them if they've seen any in a museum, or if they studied why. The answer is always no. Instead of trying to understand it and then form an opinion, they just would rather trash it outright.

Every time I hear about modern kitchens, I think of the Binford 6100 Man's Kitchen episode on the old show TV 'Home Improvement'.

I see a lot of kitchens that I like (i.e., I can recognize their efficiency or aesthetic value), just not for my house. It reminds me of a line from one of Kurt Vonnegut's books, not quoted correctly here, where he was describing how one of his characters looked, and he said people could think "Yes, that's another nice way for a face to look." Many styles can be another nice way for a kitchen to look, but not all will become roaring trends like the OTK did.

LOL, ginny. As someone who isn't enamored by the OTK from that movie, I appreciate the sentiment. :)

Cpart- My grandmother was an artist and didn't think much of modern art (back in the 70s) until she went to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art.

She said that while it was not really her medium, she thought some of the paintings were very good. They were different, but she appreciated the artist and what he/she was doing with the picture.

There were a few she called 'brilliant' but also thought it ridiculous that anyone throwing paint on canvas considered themselves a modern artist :)

There used to be a very good art dealer in my city, and when people would look at 20th century modern or abstract paintings and say "my 7-year-old could do that!" he'd answer "Perhaps, but he didn't." :) (getting OT, sorry)

Art is definitely in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? There isn't any style of art that I totally dislike. Nor any style that I like in total. Whether you're talking old realism, impressionism, abstract, whatever. I like some in each genre and not others. Same with the various kitchen styles...or furniture or overall home styles, you name it. I just don't understand anyone who can lump a whole group into like/dislike categories.

Back to trends - I would like very much to see a trend in induction cooktops/ranges. Whenever the subject comes up, I tell everyone to get an induction cooktop/range, and everyone I know who has is happy. (Fortunately, no one I know has yet had a lemon experience, unlike the poor person whose GE crapped out in May and GE still didn't repair or replace it by July. For shame, GE. But "one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, girl.") I understand if you can't afford one, and I understand if you prefer to cook on gas, and I definitely understand if you experience a lot of power outages where you live, but I'm hoping that induction will eventually catch on as it has in Europe. And not just among the kitchen intelligentsia on Gardenweb.

We're waiting for induction to come down in price, and for the technology to get settled in a bit before we get one. I have an induction hot plate, and it is great (although a bit noisy).