White cabinets are classic and not dated. It is the other choices that "date" the kitchen. Travertine, Uba Tuba granite, arches in the cabinet molding.

White kitchens are the most popular by far. Google to see for yourself.

I would be happy to see someone here step forward and tell us what will be the next thing.

I'm doing a white kitchen with a quartz Calcutta counter. Yes has it has been around for a while. Yes, it is trendy. But, I like it.

When I look at multi-million dollar new construction homes in my area, guess what? Gray is still going strong, white kitchens are the norm and quartz is used almost exclusively.

If this trend is on it's way out, then I'm in good company.

Greens, blues, and blacks. Combined with natural warm woods like oak. And brass. Brass isn’t going anywhere.

Thanks so much! @mackdolan

These types of posts aren‘t too sensible. First, no one can predict. Second, what is a trend in one region may not be in another (for example, eld6161’s mention of gray still going strong - it’s pretty much disappeared in my area, and never took hold that well here to begin with. As to Quartz, it’s very popular here, but granite and soapstone are equally as popular, and quartzite (not Quartz, quartzite) counters are considered to be for the most luxe look). Third, trends are in the eye of the beholder. Also, BTW, your comment about white cabinets doesn’t take into account they’ve never gone out of favor in 130 years or so.

If I had a way to know what will or will not be in fashion in the upcoming year, I’d be a millionaire.

White is not out and quartz is here to stay. The hardware can always be changed so go w a personal favorite. for planners and architects who have their skills honed and experienced ......a trend or change in styles may mean nothing , but homeowners who now layout around 50 k and do this infrequently , it may matter what shifts in products , styles , and trends are occurring in setting goals for a large project There wasn't always frameless, base drawers, integrated appliances and touch faucets . There was no quartz till recently ...yet corian is not out. Why shouldn't people think about this stuff? .

I'd guess that fitted kitchens have not been around for 130 years.

A recreation Victorian kitchen. The open shelves and copper! Would make a gorgeous kitchen right now.

Who knows! I prefer to update interiors based on the style of house vs trend, but I know everyone is different and everyone should pick what they like. When we renovated our kitchen a few years ago, I went with the style of house. I still love it and I think I will feel that way 10+ years from now. However, I wander what new technology will be introduced or impact kitchens in the future. Sometimes the slightest change in technology can make a difference for me. For example, I had to look a new car earlier this year and the only thing I cared about was having Apple CarPlay (I am in sales and thus on road a lot and this technology helps me answer certain things hands free). That technology was not available when I purchased my old car 12 years ago. For my kitchen, there was significantly more options available for induction cooktops vs when I last renovated a kitchen, and we actually went with an induction the latest go around.

You would not want to be that Victorian woman however when you figure out how much time she spent and what she actually had to do to get food ready.

@herbflavor - of course. I was just commenting on the aesthetics of that kitchen’s shelving and copperware (and the farm table too - this forum sees so many posts asking about farm tables for their kitchens as a change from the ubiquitous islands), especially in light of the OP being concerned about 2020 trends.

It is sort of romantic : the floured board , copper jugs lined up etc .....there was a time with our bigger Victorian homes you could see a snippet of this.., then suburbs ....then convenience ... then open plans w kitchens in the heart of the activity. .., on to efficiency and convenience and speed and now all of the latter , w luxe materials and looks. It's mind boggling really.

If you are truly interested in what is trending - whatever that means since it will differ depending on region - pick up high end design magazines and kitchen/bath trade publications. Look at websites for very high end tastemakers like Smallbones or Christopher Peacock. You can also look at manufacturers of high end tiles or whatever to see how they are showcasing their most expensive tiles.

Ultimately does it matter to you? If you are building spec homes or flipping, then you probably want to build what is on trend. If you are remodeling to live in, then it doesn't matter - or more accurately shouldn't matter because you are the one who will be deriving (or not deriving) aesthetic pleasure while you live in there and if you don't plan on living there for awhile, it probably makes little sense to spend the time and energy "updating" in terms of what may or may not be on trend because you will never recover the remodel expenses when you sell so the value to you will be the pleasure you get from living with a more functional and attractive (to you) kitchen.

There is an annual industry show that is all about the trends. The Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. For the last few years, it’s joined forces with the International Builders Show. KBIS and the IBS together are HUGE. They represent all of the sources for the products that you find, and lead the way in adopting new directions.

There are also design shows in Germany and Itsly that begin the trends that KBIS shows. Instagram feeds are all about the ever changing trends. The shelter magazines follow their leads. And the consumers follow the leaders.

If there’s one word that described last years show, it was DARK. Blacks, emerald greens, windy burgundies, deep sea navies. With brass. And wood for texture. Lots of textural wood. Very few whites. Much like the 90’s colorways, but a level higher and far less traditional. Instagram

shows the same sea change from white dominating. Lots of black cabinets. Lots of dark blues and greens. Lots of brass.

Here are some upvoted favorites that are right where everything is headed

The Cook's Kitchen:

That sink crashes horribly with the countertop in your first picture.

TKC, most of those photos are awful and that green in large quantities is as bad as the old Avocado Green or Harvest Gold!

Personally, I think trends are for those folks wealthy enough to redo based on someone’s else’s musings. Whatever is absolutely right for you and fits your life is spot on. That and, someone in a marketing job somewhere is making $ telling you what to like/desire/install.

Since I love Navy as a color this makes me happy. But the green feels very 80’s to me. I like the wood colors. Some of those dark ones though are just too dark.

OT M Miller, I love Mrs.Crocombe!

Use classics and be sure your choices suit your house. All these “trends” are ridiculous for something so expensive and not easily changed. Buy a trendy new blouse, not an entire kitchen.

I’ve use polished brass hardware in my kitchen for 35 years as all the hardware in my house is polished brass. I wouldn’t have anything else. Good quality hardware is forever! The only hardware I’ve replaced in 35 years in my 71 year old house is the non-solid brass hinges that had been painted over multiple times by previous owners. I would have preferred solid brass like all my knobs, but had to settle for high quality brass plated ones due to number being replaced and the cost.

Fascinating pics thanks for posting! It’s like a fashion show. Most of the items on the runway we aren’t going to actually wear BUT we will see trends based on those fashions creep into our wardrobes.

IMO what is on trend is what you need and love in your kitchen. I have never worried about trends either in design or clothing. That is what can make you crazy faster than anything.

Thank you for posting all those picture Cook's Kitchen, very interesting!

I don't really care about trends, even though people who sell things seem to steer you to what is the latest and the greatest. I do know that 26 years ago I used dark steel for my countertop and hood and wood on the surrounding counters. The person who purchased the home ripped everything out because she felt it was not "current". Now, all I see is wood counters and black islands. My father used to say, if you put things in a trunk for twenty years, turn it upside down, you have todays trends. He was born in 1901 and I call that wisdom.

I do have a dilemma. I have white cabinets in my kitchen, a copper and hand rubbed bronze hood, with oil rubbed bronze knobs. I just love honed or leather granite because I am not a polished (galaxy granite) person the salesperson keeps steering me toward. I know, go with my taste, but there is always practicality. My husband and the company owner who say polished granite has less upkeep, versus the upkeep of honed or leathered.

I have always been a French country with modern furniture person and the polished galaxy seems like a tuxedo at a picnic compared the "Cloud" couch I am going to purchase and the mix of rustic and antique furniture I already have (really old armoires, tables made of solid wood).

Is there anyone out there that can steer me towards what is my best option? I did not see anything in quartzite that wasn't busy and I am not sure whether it can be honed or leathered to go with my simple taste. The island is huge but most of the cooking with be done in a 4 foot sink with inset boards, colanders, and bowls that slide back and forth.

Thank you so much

Also, someone like me works in high poverty areas in Detroit as a speech pathologist. It is dark when I wake up and dark when I come home and, needless to say the neighborhoods are, well, bleak. I want to come home to bright inside. I guess I am trying to say that it depends upon what one wants to come home to and where you live. My story and a half does not get much light in spite of the addition.

I love the pictures posted but something has to be you. One can admire things in high end magazines but at the end of the day does someone else's taste reflect who you are and what you want to see when you walk in the door. Don't get me wrong I always second guess myself as I am doing now.

By the way Cook's Kitchen; I love the pump Idea. Is that in a laundry room, bathroom? and how is it done? Thanks

There are any number of kitchen trend articles on this site. I'd start there. But are you asking because you're flipping the house, or are you asking for your own use? If the former, I'd go with white cabinets and a wood island. If the latter, pick colors you love from any of the historic color palettes from the paint manufacturers. If you're a bit skittish about that much color, do a two-toned scheme with white uppers and a blue base, or all white on the perimeter and a contrast color for the island. Any blue, really. Navy is classic, or gray-blues are also great. I happen to really like the new satin brass plumbing fixtures and hardware; much nicer than 80s/90s shiny brass and looks fab against darker colored cabinets.

Pump? I’m not following you.

@Eleanor Smith-Litt - internet etiquette says you are asking questions about your kitchen that are completely OT from this post, which is called “hijacking”, and not really a polite thing. People on this forum would be very happy to help you, but you need to start your own thread. Just copy and paste what you asked about here, and entitle it something like “Polished, Leathered or Honed Galaxy? Please Help”. But you also must provide photos to help people help you.

Now, back to topic.

@Eleanor Smith-Litt - M Miller is correct that this should have it’s own thread - its an interesting topic. But, just to say, consider looking at harder varieties of soapstone or honed Virginia Mist granite.

This is the original poster- Just to clarify we are building a lake house in area with mostly craftsman and farm style houses. If we were to resell eventually, we would want to make sure that most of the house’s features are still timeless, so that we don’t have to fix a bunch of things, stylistically speaking.

"This stuff’? Oh, okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with
you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh, I don’t know, that
lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you’re trying to tell the
world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on
your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just
blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean. You’re
also blindly unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a
collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint
Laurent, wasn’t it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then
cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different
designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then
trickled on down into some tragic 'casual corner' where you, no doubt,
fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents
millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it’s sort of comical how
you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion
industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for
you by the people in this room. From a pile of “stuff.”

Figure out the design of the WHOLE HOUSE first then. Outside and inside. It should all match and flow. And be authentic. Design it as an entire piece that works together. Not an individual collection of rooms that may be appealing to you, but clash as a whole. Avoid current fads like the marble everywhere “farmhouse” that has never seen dirt, or a cow, or a “craftsman” that is a bunch of tacked on gable braces and 6/1 windows, but is really just a generic builder box inside and out.

Be authentic in your design, and the home may never look “timeless” in style. Because timeless is nonexistent. Everything broadcasts it’s age in some way. But it won’t look out of style either. It will just look Right.

Look at Colonials and Colonial Revivals from all eras if you want to see how a classic design gets interpreted in each era. A 1790’s looks very similar to a 1970’s one. But you won’t mistake one for the other, even if they are basically ”the same”.

@Leah C, don't worry about what's in style "eventually". You will live there for years, most likely, and so you should pick what finishes YOU like. I always advise my clients to not worry about what some future buyer 10 or more years down the road that they never met will like when they buy the house. You and your family live there, not them. If you're going to be there more than 5 years, do what works for you. Tastes and materials change over time. You can't account for that and it's pointless to try, IMO. That doesn't mean you can't design in a timeless fashion. But hardware and faucets are easily changed out. If it came to it, you could replace those before putting the house on the market.

That's the thing, isn't, THOR? We're at the mercy of the marketplace when it comes to choosing whatever finishes we'd like in our house.

Two+ years ago I planned my kitchen remodel with dark stained cabinets. Everyone was doing white and gray. My KD said he had not done a wood kitchen in 7 years! The KD was really excited to do something different! I have a Spanish style house and the dark stained wood cabinets were the right choice for this house. The cabinets tie into the dark wood beams in the house and pull everything together. It was a bit scary to go against the trends, but a white and gray kitchen would have looked really wrong in this house. My goal was to have a kitchen that could not be easily dated to a particular year.

Don't let trends, salespeople or designers "force" you into a decision that isn't right for your house style or lifestyle.

Beware of the designer that is happy to use you as a guinea pig for a trend she/he would never put in their own house!

Thank you guys so much! Super helpful!

I just looked at the Plain English cabinet website and had a surprise. This company started out doing very traditional, simple cabinets, always hand painted, often in neutrals such as gray. They fit very nicely into old houses in England.

Then last year or so, they jumped on the "trend" bandwagon and started doing stained wood slab doors and very new, trendy things.

Well, now their website is back with the traditional painted cabinets but the colors are bold and brilliant. I guess the stained wood slab door look was not a big hit for them. I think in a centuries old house it would look terrible.

Since their cabinets are all handpainted, going bold with color is not a huge risk. It would not be that hard to re-paint them a neutral color if the bright pumpkin became tiresome.

I love using the bold colors INSIDE the cabinets. One would not tire of that nearly as quickly if it's just a few or one large cabinet done that way.

Tartanmeup: That's the thing, isn't, THOR? We're at the mercy of the marketplace when it comes to choosing whatever finishes we'd like in our house.

Exactly!

gray
gray.
gray.
GRAY!
G R A Y ! ! !

...notgray
not gray.
not gray.
OMG NOT GRAY!!!

Repeat with Pastels, Earthtones, Pickled Oak, Tuscan, Farmhouse...

@THOR I was thinking of that exact scene!!
The chorus of “don’t follow the trends, do what YOU like” always makes me chuckle a little because of course we’re all influenced by trends whether we know it or not. I completely understand wanting to understand what’s on the horizon trend wise and what’s on its way out - no one wants to unwittingly design a kitchen that’s already a few years out of style.
I’d recommend following designers on Instagram - you start to see a lot of trends hit there before they make it to the masses.

What survives a fad becomes a trend. What survives a trend becomes a classic.

If this helps, I am thinking about the following as I put in my new kitchen:

1) where does this thing come from? 2) is it responsibly harvested?

I do not want to destroy the environment while I put in my kitchen.

That is the future trend. Responsibly designed kitchens.

I've always thought that fashion is for people with no personal sense of style. Working briefly in real estate sales taught me that what the owner thinks of as being freshly renovated, (because they remember how much it cost to do and are maybe even still paying it off) is not considered to be renovated just a couple of years down the road. It's now just a kitchen or bathroom that someone's been using for years.

following