Top 5 Trends in Kitchen Cabinetry for Your Kitchen Remodeling Project

These 5 kitchen cabinetry trends are all versatile, can be used in multiple kitchen styles, and are a great foundation for your kitchen remodeling project!

Last month, my blog post focused on the most important things to consider after you decide to “pull the trigger” and move forward with a kitchen remodeling project. If you missed that post, you can check it out here, but one of the key points I mentioned was simply having an idea of what you want. Have some sort of vision for your new kitchen. If you have made the conscious (and rather big) decision to undergo a significant kitchen remodel, then hopefully you have looked through some design magazines, online resources like Houzz.com and even Google images to gain some inspiration. However, after a while of searching, you may start to feel a bit overwhelmed at the seemingly endless possibilities for what your dream kitchen could look like. You may see countertops made of recycled paper, bright blue kitchen cabinetry, backsplashes made of mirrors, a wallpapered ceiling—the infinite possibilities can certainly start to get overwhelming.

Start Your Kitchen Remodeling Project with the Kitchen Cabinetry

To perhaps alleviate some stress in the selection process, I tend to recommend to start with the kitchen cabinetry. In almost any kitchen, the cabinets are going to be the most prominent and featured element in the kitchen—and typically the biggest investment. Take a look at these aesthetic and versatile trends in kitchen cabinetry that we are seeing most frequently in kitchen remodeling projects in Massachusetts and throughout New England. Hopefully they will inspire you and bring you a few steps closer to that beautiful new kitchen.

Dark Cabinet Finishes

This trend may be surprising to some—especially those with the dark brown stained Oak cabinets from the 1960s and 1970s, hoping to get away from the dark cabinets with a remodel. However, tones of chocolate and espresso are a very current and prevalent trend, both according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) and also from personal experience. A dark finish adds warmth and sophistication to the space. Using a cherry or maple wood, which has a much tighter graining pattern than the dated oak cabinets, makes this much more current and classic. Depending on the door style, this multipurpose treatment can make the kitchen range from feeling traditional to contemporary to modern, also adding to its increased popularity.

Shaker Style

Similar to a dark stain or glaze, the shaker style cabinet door is another trend that has gained immense popularity due to its versatility. A shaker style door is a door with a flat center panel framed by stiles and rails with generally square edges without any profiling. It is a very simple door style that can read very traditional when treated with an off white finish and/or a glaze, while it can also feel very sleek and contemporary when finished with a stain. Because of the versatility, the NKBA reports that the shaker door style is rapidly approaching the top spot for most popular cabinet door style. It is truly one of the most popular styles of kitchen cabinetry we work with at Masters Touch.

Classic Cherry

Although it may not be a trend in the true sense of the word, Cherry cabinets are still the most popular wood specie used for kitchen cabinets. I hesitate to say trend here because Cherry wood cabinets have been immensely popular for years, but they continue to be and will continue to be for years to come. Cherry is best when stained rather than painted, and it darkens naturally as it ages. It is great for bringing traditional and timeless elegance to your kitchen.

(A Shade of) White Cabinets

Anyone who has read design magazines, perused through online design blogs, or has watched some of those design shows knows that white kitchens are all the rage. Like the cherry kitchens, this is a style that has been popular for some time and will continue to gain popularity. White (or whitish) cabinets create a bright, clean and crisp look. The Better Homes and Gardens website says it best: “cabinets in shades of white are enduring and versatile, appearing in cottage, traditional, and even modern kitchens.” My kitchen remodeling experience is that going from old stained cabinets to new bright white cabinets is a dramatically breathtaking transformation.

Glass Doors

Something I find very important in cabinet design is adding elements to visually break up long stretches of solid wood cabinetry. Glass doors are a great way to visually give your eye a break from what could be an overwhelming amount of solid cabinetry. Doing this in a small or inherently dark kitchen can also add an illusion of lightness. This trend can again be used across all spectrums of design: options could be clear glass in a contemporary, frosted glass in a modern, and seeded glass in a traditional. All will serve to add interest to your cabinet design. Just remember: keep those bowls or plates that are behind the glass doors neat and tidy to not distract from the rest of the kitchen!

These are the five trends I’ve noticed most frequently while working at Masters Touch, a design-build firm in Holliston, Massachusetts. Hopefully these five kitchen cabinetry trends will help inspire you and give you ideas to help finalize some of the aesthetic elements as you move forward in the design process of your kitchen remodeling project. Next month, I’ll dive a little deeper in to the organizational tools and functionality of your kitchen cabinetry.

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