Kitchen Appliances, Kitchen Cabinetry, Kitchen Design, Kitchen Remodeling
Sandra Brannock, Expert Kitchen Designer
Today, I touch upon my impressions regarding color, finishes, and form trends. All four at the show were combined in different ways perhaps described best as: the rustic with the sleek, the industrial with extremely polished, something vintage with something brand new, commercial styles morphing into residential. Of course, my blog below could never capture every impression made upon me. But all below made significant impressions on me making them all “blogworthy”.
Kitchen Color Trends
Neutrality is Still “In”
Would you be surprised if I told you that the palette of neutral colors gray, white, and brown are still going strong? And that this palette consistently appears in cabinetry, countertops, and flooring-—the three main building blocks of any kitchen?
A neutral color palette remains, at least at for now, de rigueur.
At the show, almost all kitchen (and bathroom) vignettes featured these neutral color schemes. They dominated the “canvas” and, then, on occasion, bright “pops” of color would be introduced in the space, such as a tile backsplash or a single furniture piece in a bold color such as red or orange.
The guideline followed is: fixtures that are not easily changed remain neutral in color. If color vibrancy is needed, it is found in items that are changed more easily, such as these stools:
Finishes
Hardware — A Slight Surprise
For metal finishes such as decorative cabinet hardware, pulls, knobs and the like, the standard polished chrome and nickel, brushed nickel, black, oil rubbed bronze types were displayed in booths as always.
What made a bold “new” entrance was something that most have considered forever in the history books: antique and polished brass.
The pulls and knobs on display this year were not in their traditional form, but rather presented in contemporary or modern ones:
Simply by changing the form, but not the finish, the whole feel is transformed. Applying this concept to almost anything sheds light on how something old can be new again.
Appliances — The Continuing “Go To” Finish
As for appliance finishes, if you heard a rumor that stainless is going “out”, this is not entirely true. It is true that more and more appliance manufacturers offer “panel” ready appliances — meaning you can have a matching cabinet panel made to make the appliance look like the front of a cabinet. But, outside of this option, stainless is still the most popular appliance finish. Although there continue to be a few appliance manufacturers, Viking, La Cornue and Big Chill, to name a few, seeking to distinguish themselves with bold vibrant colors, the standard “go to” is stainless. It remains so because it is neutral in color.
Engineered Quartz Finishes
Caesarstone, an engineered quartz countertop manufacturer from Israel, displayed some of its new finishes that mimic concrete: Raw Concrete, Sleek Concrete & Fresh Concrete. They also have improved their “art imitates life” with their Concetto series. If you are one who needs color, take a peek at this:
Laminates
Another “wow” at the show was revealed to me when I explored Lab Designs’ booth. Incredible samples of high pressure laminates, one after another, were displayed, and many I had ever seen before. Some of these laminates were so compelling, you wanted to touch and feel them — because they had a 3-D quality to them.
Tile: Art Imitates Life
If you are in the mood to stretch your creative brain even more, the tile industry is not lacking for material to help you do so. Tile has truly become “art”, and the choices are infinite for anyone wishing to expand their options to be creative. A few examples:
Porcelain Tile with Wood Finish
Weathered Concrete Tile
And then, if you are tired of tiles offering repetition with 90 degree angles, you can enter the world of Ann Sacks. Below is a photo of Sakura tiles which create an Asian inspired wall.
Form
If I had to assign a “gender” to the type of form trends I saw at the show, I would say without hesitation: masculine.
- Countertops—thick, simply in form in edge detail, often 6 cm thick.
- Kitchen sinks and faucets—straight, linear, minimalistic
Cabinetry—rustic or sleek. Less details.
- Hardware—minimalistic with right angles. Some outright “rustic.”
Stay tuned for my next and last article on the show. This one will cover new storage solutions for the kitchen.
Sandra Brannock, Owner, Expert Kitchen Designs, Virginia
Call Sandra today at (703) 801-6402 to schedule a kitchen remodeling consultation. Sandra will help you get the most value out of your kitchen remodeling budget and ensure that all the details of your kitchen renovation proceed smoothly, on time and within budget.
Kitchen Cabinetry
I recently had the pleasure of participating in a video commercial for Pennville Cabinetry. You can learn why Pennville Cabinetry is my top choice for custom kitchen cabinetry when you watch the video below. I am standing in a beautiful Pennville Stanford Collection custom kitchen that was completed a couple of years ago. It is absolutely gorgeous and the total example of what Pennville does with a lot of value. When I was first introduced to Pennville, I thought they would be like any ordinary cabinet company until Mark showed me the finishes and the construction and the door styles. My mouth fell open. I fell in love. This is the most incredible product I work with today.
Who would not want to cook in this kitchen? It is where everybody wants to be. Family and friends can gather around this inviting and beautifully designed kitchen for meals, enjoy themselves, connect and share and love.
One of the reasons I love to work with Pennville is their ability to add some personal custom touches to the cabinetry. We have a pantry cabinet here that they were able to inscribe for the homeowner with her own inscriptions, one saying goodies, one saying bread. Another thing that Pennville does is combine the cabinets so that they look seamless and like they were meant to be there forever.
This is a very clever way to use space on the side of a tall cabinet. We basically made this little secret compartment where keys and another items can be stowed away in a secret place that is very nicely concealed top and bottom.
Sandra Brannock, Owner, Expert Kitchen Designs, Virginia
Call Sandra today at (703) 801-6402 to schedule a kitchen remodeling consultation. Sandra will help you get the most value out of your kitchen remodeling budget and ensure that all the details of your kitchen renovation proceed smoothly, on time and within budget.
Kitchen Remodeling
How do we get those cabinets and appliances up those very narrow stairs?
Several weeks ago I blogged about how to pick finishes for a kitchen. The kitchen referenced in that article is located in a large 4-story townhome right next to Reston Town Center in Northern Virginia. This townhome has extremely narrow staircases that do not easily accommodate the 100” tall oven and Sub Zero refrigerator cabinets the client wanted so that the kitchen could be “all that it can be”.
If you do not think ahead about entry and exit points for the delivery of new kitchen appliances, you can become quite unnerved on the day they arrive!
Thankfully, our careful advance planning prevented a panic attack.
Delivery Day
The cabinetry for this kitchen had been ordered 12 weeks earlier. Finally, the “big” day — delivery day -— arrived. I left early in the morning to drive directly to Reston, Virginia to meet the Pennville Custom Cabinetry truck and Brannock Built contracting crew.
Pennville Custom Cabinetry truck
The first few cabinets were unloaded off of the truck. As expected, each was wrapped carefully with a its own blue quilted blanket for additional protection during transport. Nevertheless, as the cabinets were unloaded I still braced myself for possible damage just before examining them (a normal OCD trait of mine).
Thankfully there was no need to worry — after all, this was top-of-the-line Pennville Custom Cabinetry! Pennville cabinets take longer to engineer and build (right now, a 12 week lead time), but in the end, when you run your hands over the finish and view them in the sunny daylight, their exceptional high-quality construction makes them worth the wait. Pennville goes the extra mile to ensure that each cabinet is dimensionally correct and exemplary in its final form. In my experience, I have never seen a cabinet company with such high quality control standards. For discerning clients, Pennville cabinetry is always my top recommendation.
Forklift
Lazy Susan transport
Next, we brought in the Sub Zero refrigerator. Yes, it came in through that window.
Other large cabinets making their way through the window….
These pictures document our how our advance planning prevented last-minute delivery issues. We examined all the steps and logistics that could present a problem during delivery, and by doing so, we were able to carry out this phase of the kitchen remodel successfully and with minimal stress.
Here is the contractor, Guy Brannock who, after everything made its way into the house, is very happy that all of our preparation paid off. Bravo Guy!
Mission Accomplished!
Stay tuned for the next phase: the installation process.
Sandra Brannock, Owner, Expert Kitchen Designs, Virginia
Call Sandra today at (703) 801-6402 to schedule a kitchen remodeling consultation. Sandra will help you get the most value out of your kitchen remodeling budget and ensure that all the details of your kitchen renovation proceed smoothly, on time and within budget.
Kitchen Design
Sandra Brannock, Owner, Expert Kitchen Designs
To stay within their budget, we implemented kitchen upgrades that did not require major structural changes. We improved the kitchen layout and installed new kitchen cabinetry, appliances, countertops, sink and faucet.
After renting out their condo, Suzanne and Mara purchased an open-floor planned home in Alexandria, Virginia that was well-suited to their contemporary/mid-century modern taste in design.
The only downside to their new home was the galley kitchen. It was pedestrian in all ways: cheap white cabinets and appliances and an ordinary laminate countertop. The one positive feature of the kitchen lay below the nasty vinyl flooring: here we discovered well-worn oak strip flooring that could be refinished to enhance the existing space.
Since I had a established an effective and congenial working relationship with these clients in previous kitchen remodeling projects, we were able to proceed smoothly with the new kitchen design project. I began as I always do by asking lots of questions to identify their goals and objectives:
- How long do you plan to live in this house?
- What don’t you like about the kitchen now?
- How much do you want to spend to get what you want?
We determined that they wanted the kitchen to open up into the dining/living area. I worked on the CAD drawings and provided a few perspectives to show them what the space would look like with two walls eliminated and other walls painted with their chosen color scheme.
Below are two renderings done with my 2020 CAD in a “live” perspective:
The view above is taken as you stand in the dining room. On the left side, we eliminated the back and end wall to allow for deeper counter space with a small overhang for casual dining. On the right sink wall side, we eliminated the end wall.
The view to the left is what you would see from the living area. This was designed after Mara and Suzanne had indicated they wanted a Soapstone countertop, and that the overhang on the living room side should be minimal. They also weren’t sure about the white subway tile. I left it out in this last rendering.
Once we were agreed that we had a plan that Mara and Suzanne loved, we could move forward with calculating all costs associated with the project. As I have said many times before, design is first and foremost to cost estimation of any kitchen remodeling project.
Now, Eric Pilka of Oakmont Homes had the scope and structural requirements he needed to proceed with construction. Eric determined weight-bearing loads from the walls we wanted to remove, then had supporting beams engineered for these walls. He also had a defined plan that allowed him to accurately calculate all costs for this kitchen remodeling project, which eliminated unpleasant cost-overrun surprises later.
After we determined all cost elements, agreements were signed and all systems were “go,” full overlay construction cabinetry by Dura Supreme in Classic White with the Craftsman Panel was the cornerstone.
The oak floor was uncovered and refinished. Soapstone countertops were installed. And the coup de grace was the marble backsplash in a subway tile pattern installed expertly by Eric’s tile installer.
Below are a few pics of the final outcome. See how they compare to my perspectives above…
I selected the perfect lighting fixture (right) that allowed the entire counter-space to feel open and flowing without a “geometric” light just hanging over the large countertop.
We still need to repaint the walls. I always advise clients to postpone repainting walls until all elements, fixtures and finishes have been installed, as they will influence how light is reflected in the kitchen. Take some time to observe the colors in your kitchen at different times of the day and then decide see which colors suit you.
In kitchen design and remodeling, advance planning, accurate costing and patience pay off—– always.
Sandra Brannock, Owner, Expert Kitchen Designs, Virginia
Call Sandra today at (703) 801-6402 to schedule a kitchen remodeling consultation. Sandra will help you get the most value out of your kitchen remodeling budget and ensure that all the details of your kitchen renovation proceed smoothly, on time and within budget.
