Builders' Show: What's in and what's out in kitchen design

Consumer Reports News: January 17, 2011 11:52 AM

Kitchens remain the most popular room to remodel, according to housing experts, architects, builders, remodelers, and manufacturers we spoke with at the International Builders' Show. But a tough housing market and continued concern about high unemployment rates has changed what's popular and what's not in kitchens. If you want a kitchen remodel that keeps its value and doesn't look dated the day after it's done, here's our take on what's in, what's out, and what's timeless in kitchen designs based on interviews with the experts at the show and what was on display by manufacturers.

What's in:

Conscientious consumption
Clean-lined cabinetry no matter the style
Cabinet-depth refrigerators or enclosing a freestanding refrigerator (for a built-in look for less)
Entertaining at home
Combination kitchen/dining spaces for flexible entertaining
Using ceiling treatments, not walls, to help define spaces
Energy and water efficient appliances and fixtures
Using color on accent walls, fabrics, and tiled back splashes to personalize the kitchen

What's out:

Conspicuous consumption
Lots of applied corbels, do-dads, and heavy molding on cabinetry
Built-in refrigerators
Separate formal dining rooms
Gigantic refrigerators and ranges

What's timeless:

Warm wood finishes on cabinets and floors
White kitchens
Granite countertops
Connecting the kitchen to outdoor spaces and bringing the outdoors in through use of windows and plants

--Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

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Builders' Show: What's in and what's out in kitchen design

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