More Modern Natural Wood Tonesīecause of technological improvements, wood finishes don’t yellow the way the old lacquers and alkyds did. Here’s the pretty butler’s pantry from the same kitchen below.Īnd I’ve always said that the way to make a wood stained kitchen look fresher and more timeless is to install a white countertop and backsplash. Natural Oak and White Kitchen via Luxe.Daily In the nicest current wood stained kitchens, there is a beautiful balance of natural wood tones and crisp white. Second, they are much less likely to be combined with busy earthy granite and tile which is what made the dated warm wood kitchens and made them so heavy and hard to live with. Here’s why.įirst, they are lighter, airier and more natural looking, which has broad and enduring appeal. New ashy (cooler), unstained wood tones are cropping up in kitchens everywhere right now, and I think they will have a bit more staying power. It’s much more difficult to guess the date of white cabinets, unless a trendy backsplash gives them away. Right now, the wood stain that will be associated with this trend at the moment is anything grayed, weathered or “reclaimed”. Should you paint your cherry cabinets? Read my Third Rule of Design: Expensive Does Not Equal Timeless They look like relics of their decade, and this is why I caution against installing a wood stained kitchen. For example, although there are outliers, generally, golden oak kitchens peaked in the 80s, cherry and orange maple wood kitchens 10 years after that, and then espresso kitchens had their moment in the early 2000s. Lots of recently designed wood kitchens I have seen, manage to sidestep the main issue with traditional ones: dated stains and finishes that are intended to create a “rich” look like cherry, golden oak or espresso tend to look heavy, dark and overly formal.Īnd I’ve talked a lot about how a particular stain will date a kitchen quickly.
But since white kitchens have (happily) been trending in the last 9 years since the fresh (grey) trend happened (and the average trend cycle lasts about 10 years) … well, there are naturally those who are looking for something new or different.Īnd guess what? There’s a whole new look for wood kitchens, and it’s so much fresher.
I’ve received a lot of requests lately for this post about an unstained wood kitchen so here it is:Ī classic white kitchen will always be my first choice. New unstained or natural wood tones are cropping up in kitchen designs everywhere, and I think they will have a bit more staying power because they are lighter and more natural looking.
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