One kitchen does not change the course of human events.

Nor are kitchen design choices in the category of ”the course of human events”, a phrase used in the opening statement of the Declaration of Independence.

5 or 10 years from now, the owner will redo it because it looks dated.

It's still gray.

Of course high end kitchens don't have to be current. They aren't thinking about resale.

Design is trending STRONGLY towards sleek and contemporary Modern looks.

And there’s another lesser trend to Maximalist Traditional.

That leans towards that, but with far less color than is usually incorporated.

No this isn't gray ... it is taupe. Gray is transitioning to the warmer taupes and even back to some beiges!

I did a more detailed recessed panel cabinet door 3-4 years ago when I remodeled the kitchen in my previous house. It was a Spanish style and the more detailed door fit with the style of the house. It won't look dated for a long time in the context of that particular house.

It's an interesting juxtapositioning of the elaborate detailing with the rustic simplicity of the logs. Not my cup of tea, and the integration of the fridge, to me, looks like it's already dated.

To my eye, the log walls and the ornate cabinets are a mis-match. "Too much".

I don't think this is an indication of any overall changes in styles.

I actually find it quite unnattractive: the combination of fussy cabinetry and industrial fittings with rustic logs just seems like an attempt to incorporate all the latest ideas without any actual vision of a cohesive whole.  This is not, for me, a design at all: it's a pastiche that doesn't sit well in its environment.

I think this is an interesting design. I am finding a number of my clients are moving toward more embellishment in their cabinetry and millwork and requesting more detailed door styles than I have seen the last decade. The challenge is to incorporate it in a way that references and modernizes actual historical design so we do not repeat the cheesy McMansion trend of the 90's where these design elements were mixed and matched with little regard.

I think the scale and proportion of this space are successful. And the ornate cabinetry balances with the heavy timbers instead of being overwhelmed by it. Plus, that view!

I'm not a fan of the intricate and numerous mouldings and the range hood looks like it's out of some medieval castle. If a design can be described as influenced by "Japan", "Arts and Crafts", "MCM" or "modern Scandinavian" design I'll probably like it.

This kitchen looks very European to me, especially with the gorgeous mountain views….think Alps!

I agree with @Jeff Meeks. The style looks very medieval and although it's shocking at first glance, it's grander is kind of magical and fun. I love how the hood mimics the imposing nature of the mountains. This is not a kitchen for the masses or everyday living. This is a fantasy-escapism type space.

When we did our first kitchen 25 years ago that was my absolutely favorite door style!!! We couldn't afford it though and went with laminate slab. LOL

In this particular house and setting, I think the effect is stunning; it feels like an elaborate vacation chalet!

I can see the owner and designer loving that kitchen...I'd hate to have to clean it though.

The recent past and present feature Shaker cabinets in white. Then came grey. Then came blues or greens. All are in cool tones. At some point we will rediscover the beauty of warm natural wood grain.

Eventually trends will move away from the plain and towards ornate. But I can't help but think we won't go back to raised panels. I love the idea of dressing up our Shaker cabinets with lovely wood appliques in a nature-based theme.

I'm not crazy about the kitchen featured, but I share your thoughts and questions.

Even Shakers have that lower inset to clean.

Key word may be Telluride. This is probably a second home and the owner won't be the one cleaning the cabinets.

I don't see that as more than personal taste. I don't think it'll be trickling.

I think the combination is a one-off, because it's in a mega cabin. There are bits and pieces that are more or less of the current period, the cabinets style is the thing that seems unusual. Unfortunately, I find the cabinet detailing ungainly and unattractive. But it would be almost impossible to design a normal kitchen in a "log cabin" of this scale. I don't think anything would look exactly right as a kitchen in this house. The mega houses of the past had commercial style kitchens in the background somewhere, and honestly I think that is what would look best in a house like this even if it was front and center.

Everything old is new again. I see the style of this kitchen as a reaction against the cookie cutter white shaker/white tile/marble-look quartz look that has become ubiquitous. The door style and embellishments are not my taste, but are interesting nonetheless. The zinc backsplash and hood are unique, as is the log wall. Still, the grayish flooring, black windows, pendants, and island with stools lined up like soldiers are part and parcel of the typical kitchens seen all over Houzz.

It is a grand-style kitchen that stands up to the incredible grand view. It works.

I think the word to describe this space is TEXTURE. Anything less textural would need SCALE to compete/appear balanced.

Anything less (sleek, slab, shaker) would fail.

Yuck. I dislike the industrial look which is what this kitchen reminds me of. There is no warmth which to me is important in a kitchen. And the trim on the cabinets is hideous. I didn't like it in Tuscan kitchens and I don't like it here.

Here is another photo showing the scale of the space, but most of all, the stunning view.

There was a time when windows built with small pieces of glass was an economical choice. No longer because window technology has progressed far beyond that. These window/doorwall are not the choice of someone who prioritizes and is sensitive to that view. They're not the choice of someone who has experience with that type of view. Those windows neuter that beautiful view. Style is more important. Poor style, imo.

I am guessing that the enormous size of the window wall dictated how they are framed. You said those windows "neuter" that beautiful view? Do views have genders? Are views able to be neutered? Regardless, I'll take that window wall in a heartbeat! I imagine that waking up to that view every morning must be glorious.

I like it because it suits the grand scale of the room, and it's counter-trend. It's only a difference of a few inches, but to my eye, if the perimeter of the hood was just inside the metal straps, it would more evoke the mountain view.

I don't care what it costs, I think it's ugly. Those cabinets don't look good with the log walls, and that hood and stove set-up makes me think of a Grimm fairy tale where wayward children and small animals might be thrown into the cauldron.

I think you could get rid of the appliques, varying heights, double cornices, and stick to a single panel style and tone it down a lot without making it "too plain" to stand up to the logs and such

@palimpsest - I do like that better!

M Miller, I'm glad you posted it, and I think your musings are really interesting. If I were in the market to buy such a home, I wouldn't hate that kitchen.

After reading some of the other comments, I wonder if it was one of those situations where a couple were commissioning a design, and one wanted rustic, the other wanted ornate traditional, and this is where they ended up.

I do love the logs, the floor, the view/windows, and will be thinking about trends some more. Thanks for the post!

I like it, a lot, everything except the zinc. I just find that too harsh and cold, especially with a snowy backdrop.

Pal, thanks, that felt better.

That view is incredible. But those cabinets are truly awful and they look ridiculous against that log wall. There is no cohesive design vision here. Bad taste is not a trend, it's forever, imo. (And, I still love my now-16-yo natural cherry Shaker cabs...)

Mountains wild. Cabinets pretentious.

Wow, I just love this!!!!!!!

Oh, we were talking about this kitchen? Sorry, got wrapped up into the view.

I do think the cabinetry a bit too pretentious and that hood a bit more dramatic (and gray) than my own personal druthers. I don't mind the differing cabinet heights. And the windows do a great job at highlighting the view. But as has been noted, cabinet style seems to be fighting with the logs. And, losing.

We vacationed in an English manor house that had a kitchen with similar baroque-ish cabinets and high contrasts, but to fuss it up even more they had victorian taxidermy dioramas on top of the cupboards and side tables. No mountain view, but a nice view of the fountains and pastures. As a vacation house/change of pace it was fun but I was glad to get back to simple American kitchen.

I do not like the cabinets at all. the kitchen is beautiful despite the design, not because of it. its just a beautiful room with the light, the view and the timber, but the kitchen design looks misplaced and mismatched not in a cool way. it looks like that furniture you find in like those furniture warehouses that are surely just a money laundering buisness for some mafia. i wouldve liked to have seen something fresher and cooler, like hammered metal cabinets or idk, this is just kinda a let down for this room. i get what they were shooting for but its a fail for me.

I call this type of cabinetry design a "castle kitchen".

Jinx, i was looking at the zinc and liking it bc i see it as evocotive of a moody, overcast winter sky. i do perfer pals’s version that levels the cabs and eliminates the decorative end panels.

Maybe I missed something but of all the kitchens in all the design publications, why is this kitchen the one that people look to as a sign of the future? I feel like the European styles are more predictive of future designs and when they make it to the US the US mixes in a twist of traditional US elements and then variations of that become the trend. The kitchen in the picture above looks to me like an updated version of the lavish faux-Tuscan style from the 90's. But then again I'm just some guy.

I think it's a beautiful kitchen although cabinets or furniture with such intricate design aren't my style. @Diana Bier Interiors, LLC, your comment has me thinking. As a current home builder in the process of picking out kitchen cabinets/countertops, is anything really timeless?

I think very few things would meet a definition of "timeless", I think that it pretty elusive when it comes to design. A lot of things that are beautiful are very much "of their time."

This is the dead horse that I beat for the people who have read my opinions before: I think it is a matter of what looks right in the house it's in. Appropriateness rather than timelessness. But I don't think a lot of people can decide what that is, and I think that is because a lot of people do not have a well-defined taste. I don't mean that they have bad taste or good taste per se, they have taste defined upon what is popular or trendy at the moment. So they may like something that is trendy and considered in very good taste at the moment or they may like something trendy that is considered in very vulgar taste at the moment, but whatever it is it is trendy. and then when that trend is passe they no longer like it any more because they are "not supposed to" like it anymore. So the beautiful kitchen that they loved in 1992 is the hideous kitchen that they hate in 2021, and they aren't looking at it in relation to what it really looks like in the context of the house and so forth.

My feeling is that if you have a kitchen that was good quality and considered up market good taste in 1980 and the house was built in 1980 it should still look appropriate to the house, and you may need to replace it because of wear and technology improvements but somehow I feel like it should still channel 1980 on some level rather than being everything a 2021 kitchen is supposed to be. Nothing is ever is going to look more appropriate than the original, whether that is currently in fashion or not. The problem is, if you are redoing a kitchen is how to decide what is close to the original without being a pastiche or a recreation, and also the problem of certain finishes or styles not being readily available.

I think one of the problems right now is that most kitchens in need of rehabilitation now are much more modest in nature than current kitchens and the materials going into current kitchens are relatively elaborate. Marble and quartzite and their lookalikes to me look out of place in a split entry ranch or smallish tract house of 1980, unless every single finish in the entire house has been upgraded in kind, and I think as a result when they are no longer fashionable, then they will be the anti-timeless. And I see this happening already in these forums, the same people who said not to worry, that the white kitchen with x countertop and x backsplash were going to be classics and "timeless" in 2011 are now telling people who are picking those very same finishes that they are overdone, dated and so forth.

My house was built in 1965 and it had a small kitchen with partial overlay cabinets. The kitchen was flipped in 2008 or so when the house was temporarily on the market at that time (and I think it was done in a day or so, the cabinets were shimmed with cardboard). I am doing a modest-"looking" kitchen with partial overlay doors and exposed hinges and a VCT floor and it will probably be the most expensive kitchen I have done, simply because all sorts of elaborate looking things are available at every price point from discount to sky's the limit, and plain and sturdy comes at a premium. But a white shaker kitchen (as much as I like them) will just never be quite right IMO.

Hi @Steph, I didn't mean to imply that anything was timeless, just that trends come and go and then come back again, albeit in a different format. Personally I know what I like and don't care if anyone thinks it's outdated. I purchase high quality items for my home and like fine wines, they become vintage, not dated. Solid wood floors, solid brass, natural stone (marble, granite, soapstone, quartzite), good quality natural fabrics (linen, cotton, silk) can wear out but the wear and tear is part of their charm ;)

I think it is a matter of what looks right in the house it's in.

Bingo. When clients ask for white farmhouse kitchens for their brick Tudor homes. Or waterfall countertops on their traditional cabinets. Or shiplap in their mid-century modern rooms. I 100% agree with @palimpsest that timelessness comes from a respect to the architecture of the home and a cohesion in design that flows from space to space.

This is probably the most difficult thing for a homeowner to reconcile...that their home does not work with the design they want. Trying to force it only highlights that the design is just a trend.

I don't think it was until after WWII that the fully modern kitchen that was in a style somehow integrated into that of the house was developed, because before then, many houses were getting their first modern kitchen ever, so a farmhouse with a metal streamline moderne kitchen was not uncommon. But I think the problem now is that older houses(1970s,80s) are more modest in many ways than newer one and the "romantic" styles that are popular now with all the expensive stones and such are just too elaborate for houses with modest details, but there are not a lot of plainer options. Few people want laminate anymore when natural stone is cheaper and more durable, for example. It would be nice if they made more very plain manufactured quartzes as an option I think.

I love that kitchen!

I simply do not like this litchen - at all!

I love it. Tired of all the white sterile kitchens.

Does anyone else see all the white sterile kitchens and get reminded of the metal ones just past WWII? I'm sure they were exciting in their day. The large connected countertops that came with all the built in cabinetry seem to be so useful that they are the "timeless" part. Dare I use that word? It's just the finishes and materials that can change now. Or maybe there is still the option of putting everything behind closet doors except for a big table that can be raised to counter height when needed or lowered for table height for eating. Could that be the future?