Trend shows a move toward soft contemporary

One popular option is using glass panels with wood frames.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

FRESNO, Calif. — Ellen Thomas of Fresno, Calif., searched high and low for new kitchen cabinets to replace her whitewashed oak ones.

There were a couple of requirements, however.

“My husband said, ‘I don’t care what you get, as long as it doesn’t fall apart,”’ says Thomas, a stay-at-home mother. As for her, “I wanted the cabinets to look like beautiful furniture.”

So when she started her kitchen-remodeling project a year ago, she hunted for cabinets that were both elegant and functional. What they looked like was important since they would set the tone of the room, she says.

After searching throughout the area, she finally found cabinets she liked. They were solid cherry with an amber finish. The cabinet style was modern, with a simple, clean look. But the look wasn’t as stark or cold as contemporary can be. Instead, the look is soft, with warm colors and slight detailing.

Thomas’ tastes fit right in with the trend experts say they’re noticing in kitchen cabinets. As the new year starts, several interior designers and cabinet business owners highlight what they expect to see more of in the coming months.

While dark colors and the Old World look are still being requested, they’re becoming less popular, says Leonore Van Dalen-Seng, an interior designer who worked with Thomas on remodeling her kitchen. Instead, she’s seen a rise in contemporary, especially soft contemporary.

“Contemporary was always a specialized niche market,” says Van Dalen-Seng, who owns Van Dalen-Seng Interior Design.

“It was like 5 percent to 10 percent [of the business]; now it’s like 30 percent. ... They’re looking for something easy to take care of and with a wood look.”

Cabinet finishes are going lighter, say Van Dalen-Seng and Elvia Smith, a sales specialist in the kitchen cabinet design center at Lowe’s.

“They want to lighten everything up,” Smith says. “It makes the kitchen lighten up and appear bigger.”

Experts also say they’re seeing more examples of two finishes or styles used in the same kitchen. For example, the wall cabinets may have a light finish, and the cabinets around the island may have a darker finish.

In addition, glazing has become a common way to accent design details on doors. This is a technique that leaves corners and curves with darker shadowing.

“Glazing really gives it a matte finish,” says interior designer Chris Hays of Chris Hays Interiors.

In terms of wood materials, oak for cabinets is out, experts say. Cherry still is in, but people are starting to lean toward maple in solid doors and veneers.

Bob McGrath of McGrath Kitchen Bath says maple seems to be the top choice right now. “People have had oak for so many years, they’re tired of it,” he says.

Will Falk, an owner of Cabinet Connection, says: “Everybody’s had oak, and they like the distinct maple and cherry grains.”

Exotic woods, such as zebrawood and wenge, a dark wood, also are available as veneers.

Another popular look is using glass panels with wood- or metal-frame doors. “They might not do a whole kitchen, but a couple doors to stand out,” McGrath says. This also gives homeowners places to display items such as dishes and glasses.

Smith has seen an increase in these glass door selections because of the demand. Lowe’s used to offer four or five standard styles. Now there are several catalog pages full of numerous designs and styles, she says.

“In the last three years, glass has exploded,” she says. “With glass, it opens up your space even more.”

If you do opt for glass, Hays suggests staying away from clear glass. “Plain clear [glass] is too plain,” she says. “It softens it if you use a slight design [on the glass], and plain is easy to see finger prints.”

You also may notice a few things missing, such as hinges, on kitchen cabinets. They’re still there, but instead of being on the outside of doors, they’re placed inside.

The exposed-wood frames around doors and drawers also have shrunk or disappeared. Doors and drawers are covering whole cabinets and, thus, show no wood frame.

Some other extras you might see are drawers that can be fully extended. Standard drawers usually don’t open all the way, leaving about 2 inches still in the cabinet.

Pull-out spice racks are finding homes in gaps between stoves and cabinets.

And for people who don’t like the slam of cabinet doors, they can get cabinets that use a spring to softly close drawer doors.

The cost of these new kitchen cabinets will vary widely. Often it will depend on the combination of style, material and the amount of cabinets you need. McGrath prices cabinets by the project, he says. On average, his projects run between $12,000 and $15,000.

Some places, such as home-improvement stores, do have prices you can check out as you browse through cabinet samples.

But they are just starting points, and the cost can change if you add on any extras, such as glass panel doors. If you want one, it can cost you $170 to $375 per door at Lowe’s.

Also, depending upon the manufacturer, especially higher-end ones, some features may come standard, such as the drawers being able to close softly, whereas some features might be considered upgrades that will cost extra.

While Thomas wouldn’t reveal how much her cabinets cost, she says, “They’re expensive, but you get what you pay for.”