Q: We are finally redoing the kitchen in our l898 house (after living here for nine years!) I am struggling with a "bewilderment of riches," to quote my husband.
There are so many options. I can't make a decision. All I know for sure is that I don't want dark wood — the rest of the house is paneled in oak. Could you give me a few tips on current kitchen trends, mainly colors?
A: "Trends" and "kitchen" really don't belong in the same sentence. You're about to spend a lot of money and endure a long spell of inconvenience during renovation, so don't even think about being "trendy." You want to make decisions you'll enjoy living with for many years, not something that comes and goes on the tide of what's trendy.
Enough pedantry. Let's talk about the fun part of doing over a kitchen, such as choosing a style that suits your house, colors that suit you and conveniences that will make you love coming into your kitchen every morning.
That's just what its owner says about the kitchen we show here.
She worked with a professional kitchen designer — a good idea for you, too. A kitchen pro can banish your "bewilderment of riches," explain all your options and then order everything you desire and see it properly installed. (To find a certified kitchen designer in your area, go to the Kitchen and Bath Association ProSearch at nkba.com.)
In this case, the homeowner teamed with a pro designer who works with one of the top custom cabinetry makers in the U.S., Plain and Fancy (plainfancycabinetry.com), smack in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Acclaimed for its craftsmanship for the past 45 or so years, Plain and Fancy builds every door, drawer and cabinet to order in the vanishing point perspective of its 250,000-square-foot-Schaefferstown facility.
Most of the work is done by hand, including "distressing," that is, beating up cabinets with chains and awls to make them look time worn, worm eaten and loved. In fact, the same craftsperson does the work on every piece that's going into the same kitchen because "everyone has a signature style of distressing," Plain and Fancy sales manager Brian Yahn told reporters during a recent visit.
Brian also passed along insider info on what's currently hot — we won't say "trendy" — with Plain and Fancy's customers.
—White or light-colored cabinets with a darker center work island. In this kitchen, the homeowner was inspired by a piece of furniture she'd seen in Savannah and asked Plain and Fancy to match it. No problem: The color lab can match almost anything. "People have sent us fabric swatches, photos of antiques, even a toilet seat for color matching," Brian reported.
—Brighter colors are coming back with the rising economy. "Colors get muted when a recession hits," he said. A good sign for the times: Emerald green is Pantone's Color of the Year for 2013.
—Watch for new hardware that facilitates space-saving doors that slide open or lift (like the Delorean auto). Also, look for LED lights built into cabinets and drawers — a bright idea we didn't know we shouldn't be living without.
Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Manhattan Style" and six other books on interior design. To find out more about Rose Bennett Gilbert and read features by Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.Creators.com.
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