So we should all be sitting on tree stumps, because that was the first furniture and we should never update it?

I have knotty pine cabinets, and if I live long enough, someone is bound to love them as much as I do. Do I care? ...Not really

cty-all I can say is I l-o-v-e knotty pine(and rustic cherry) and would have preferred those cabs instead of the white pressed board cabs that I lived with for years.
desert-I buy most things used which in itself may be considered "trendy'(unfortunately for me as now these idiots want exorbitant $$$$ for my beloved pyrex) but for me I just like older items(kitchen gadgets/cookware, furniture, electrics). I did however buy new cabinets because I couldn't figure out how to fit used ones in my kitchen and I couldn't DIY to make them work.

hemera - those tree stumps are all the thing in some markets!

desertdance - I get your point, but if you think about it, there is no way to be "classic" for all time. "Classic" from my childhood is what is now called MCM. A friend's dad never updated from the 50s. It really doesn't look "classic" at all. It looks like her darling father never moved on and that's the way it will be until he passes on. The kitchen in that house will be totally unacceptable to any new owner, and this is a house that couldn't be acquired for less than $1M. When new, that kitchen was all premium. When new, 33-1/3 records were the newest, hottest thing.

The good news is that anything you choose today will be perfectly acceptable for a good long time before people start looking at you funny.

Mediterranean style.

Giant pulls in the centers of doors.

White laminate with oak edges. Miami Vice anyone?

Pickled Oak.

Printed ceramic knobs. (Bonus points if they are of geese with bows around their necks.)
{{!gwi}}

Maple and black with black accent molding.

Disneyland Tuscan (too soon and too close to home still?)

And you may laugh, but how is any of that stuff that was trendy at the time it was installed any different than modern "on trend" choices that people love now and will quickly date the kitchen in just a few years??

Mangle Hoods (Adopted term from my 6 year old niece that I rather treasure.)

Java colored cabinets. This gets bonus points because it combines the TWO LARGE OUTDOOR LOOKING PENDANTS above the island.

Focal point backsplash (Bonus points again for no hood and putting wood above a combustible surface!)

White on White kitchens (More bonus points for the large windows and the multiple oversized light fixtures used above the island!)

EVERYTHING becomes dated. Just because you happen to love what you have doesn't make it a sacred cow. It too will become the orange shag carpet of 2030. Yes, even the "timeless" stuff will shout out it's age and not be so timeless. Get over it. The only time that you need to worry if your space is dated is if you are a high profile company person and entertain a lot, or you need to sell the house. If you are the former, you hire a designer. If you are the latter, you usually cover your sins with a coat of paint and lower the price.

This post was edited by hollysprings on Sun, Mar 17, 13 at 10:13

I was just thinking about the "everything becomes dated" statement and my immediate reaction was that my parents' 1964 kitchen is not in the least dated. Sure, they've replaced the avocado green appliances and the white with gold flecks formica counter (which I understand now go for thousands of dollars in the used market), but the rest of it feels very current.

But then I realized that it feels very current TO ME. Because I love that kitchen and have wonderful memories of that kitchen. If they put their house on the market today I'm sure some buyers would think that kitchen was dated (or, um, "mod").

So here's what I think: If you build a space that you love, you can and should love it for many decades, and it shouldn't matter if it's not what is popular in magazines at that time.

And hollysprings, I'll have you know that my white on white kitchen will not have ANY computer screens, unlike that lovely example you posted above. ;)

LOL! Love it Hollysprings -- thanks for putting it all in perspective. Given that, should we be rethinking spending $50,000, $75,000, $100,000 and more on a kitchen, and maybe just go to IKEA so we can change out the doors??

OMG hollysprings I would have sworn no one could get a laugh out of me this morning, but you just did! Thanks for the straight talk, and your great sense of humor. You just made my day, esp with the OR photo.

I hate the term "dated". To me it implies that something is ugly or bad. When in my opinion, its just someone's opinion on the style, whether they like it or not.

In reality (to me) better terms are "currently popular", "trendy", or "not currently popular", "not trendy".

All those kitchens posted above may or may not be currently popular. If you don't like them then that is your personal opinion.

Many become tired of seeing a style that has become popular, so they say its dated.

It also depends on if the fixtures are worn out. I find it funny that when you see an older kitchen (50's) with cabinets falling apart, peeling laminate, etc. Everyone says its dated and must be gutted. Put in new (or repair) cabinets in the same style, new laminate in the same pattern, fresh paint, etc. and everyone ooohs and ahhhs over the kitchen.

The term "dated" is dated

ctycdm, I've asked for knotty pine cabinets and was told they are custom and way out of our budget! Ha!

The home we are remodeling (not just the kitchen), is 25+ years old, custom, and yep! Outdated!!

The home is on 1.4 acres of rocky hillside with city light and mountain views. There are two groves of pines down that hill, and those stump seats sound perfect! I may install them around a fake stone fire-ring next to an old grayed picnic table..if I can find a dated one someone is tossing.... Would love your knotty pine cabinets!

I loved the photos of the outdated looks presented here! I'm hoping to settle on something classic that won't be outdated next year, and will continue the theme of rocks and pines that is prevalent in the setting.

I think my beef began with the whole house remodel price of over $100,000, and the reality check of "I can't have my dream kitchen!" Since the floor is white tile, and will remain so, the cabinets will need to be somewhat darker for contrast, and to save money on the counter tops, I am considering going with a semi-stone looking 12" porcelain floor tile on a diagonal with interesting trim, instead of a granite slab. NOBODY does that, so it can't be considered trendy, right? And hopefully won't become outdated. Still making decisions. Maybe you can't out-think "Dated."

Suzi

desertdance/suzi: Around here, builders in certain price ranges were using stone-look porcelain tiles some time ago It fell out of favor mainly because of the grout lines and is considered less desirable.

Since our kitchen is now torn apart, I was able to see how the kitchen has transformed over the years. You can see the transition of styles over the years. The flooring seems to have gone from black and white checkerboard to harvest gold vinyl back to black and white checkerboard to tile-look laminate and then wood :)

The cabinets I think originally were painted white, then green, then pink, then white. They were then replaced with white thermafoil and now will be going to white painted maple I don't think in 75 years the house had ever had a wood stained cabinet, so my island will be the first. I do see some knotty pine in the neighborhood that seems original, but those could be artifacts of another decade.

I love this thread. Its shocking how many of the kitchen styles are now considered dated from when I was looking at kitchens 5 short years ago. I guess if your going to go with a tendier style kitchen like I did keep a eye out for how you might want to change it out in the future. Cabs are just boxs after all , easy enough to add or subtract from to change the over all feel.

I think the trends for things like kitchens are changing much more rapidly than they did 50-70 years ago. There have always been trends, and a practiced eye can spot a kitchen from the 20s and tell the difference between that and a kitchen from the 30s, but the changes happened more slowly. And the changes were not just about appearance, but about new inventions and functionality, as well.

The style cycle seems to have speeded up immensely.

What bugs me a bit is when someone says, "Well, we need to redo the kitchen. It's dated." As if dated makes something bad, or wrong, or unusable. Dated just means that it's a bit older. Redoing a kitchen that is functional is a want, not a need.

For me, and I realize this is a personal thing, if the appliances work, there's a decent work triangle, the surfaces are easy to clean and there's enough storage space, the kitchen works. I may not like the way it looks, and I may try to spruce things up with a coat of paint, but the kitchen works. You can rip it out and put in all new, but that's because you want to, not because you have to.

Now my SIL, who moved into a kitchen with the refrigerator on one wall (with nothing else on that wall), the stove on another wall (with nothing else on that wall), and a sink with about 2 feet of counter space on a third wall, all separated by about 15 feet of floor, not a single upper cabinet or shelf in the room and a pantry with the most bizarre cupboards I have ever seen--she *needed* a kitchen remodel. That kitchen was totally unworkable for a family of five.

But the house next to my Dad's? That's another story. Lived in by an elderly couple for over 40 years, when new owners bought the house, they redid the kitchen. Last remodeled in the 50s, it needed it. The new owners stayed 2 years. Then a new family moved in. They gutted the kitchen and put in a new one. They stayed four years. The next new owners gutted the kitchen and put in a new one.

The 50s kitchen needed updating. But the next two? They were probably nice kitchens. Not to the taste of the new owners, obviously. And they would have been dated at some point. But did they *need* to be replaced or did the owners just want new?

I can't imagine going through a kitchen remodel with a layout that already functions well unless it's majorly dated by most anyone's standard. It's a lot of work!!!

I want to ensure I have a layout the functions well, because not only do I want to reap the benefits of a well laid out kitchen, I NEVER want to go through all this again. We found that with our current layout having only a 21" cabinet between the cooktop and a corner sink, we're barely using the rest of our medium sized kitchen. It feels so cramped even though it looks like we have at decent sized kitchen. Our last kitchen remodel (another house) had a refrigerator I could only open up 90 degrees next to a 18" cabinet and then my cooktop. Again it was a decent sized kitchen but it felt really crowded. How can a person trust an architect when for both of these houses, this is how they were built (fairly recently) initially.

Dated, I could live with, not functioning is a pain to cook in!

Camlan, you are right! Trends are changing fast! I think the kitchen designers/appliance makers need to advertise these changes, and make the buying public "think" things are outdated so they can make $$$, but two years is wow!

I'm OK with the clothing fashion freaks. The stacked 5" heels, that next year will go low due to serious knee issues with models, the high prices for the latest and greatest... In a kitchen, flip flops and an apron are pretty much as fashion forward as you can get!!

I'm trying to choose not to participate with the trendy kitchen designers, and I am remodeling a kitchen in a house where I will enjoy my final years.

I think if your kitchen choices please you, anybody that walks in, puts up their nose, roll their eyes and insinuates "dated," should not have any sway on you! You like what you like! It's yours! It aint broke! Don't fix it!!

And, Aloha, non-functioning is an entire different story.

Suzi

Dated happens when you do what "everyone" else is doing and do what magazines tell you is the current, cutting-edge design or color or trend or model. And, how do magazines and home improvement stores make their money? It is by convincing the consumer they need new.

Stay away from those types of rapidly trending things, do what you really love, and you'll be fine for a long time as long as your kitchen works well and is in tune with the style of the rest of your house.

Honestly, this is just another example of our society that encourages consumerism as a part of a "just toss it out and buy a new replacement" mentality.

Like so many things in life, a nice medium point, a nice balanced approach is probably best. Thinking that you "need" to re-do a five year old kitchen because it's out if style is crazy. On the other hand, if you're still using a harvest gold refrigerator, you could use an update. Also, many things have improved in quality over the years (drawers instead of cabinets, energy efficient appliances), and improved functionality is a good reason to change.

I do think it's best to stick to classic things that you love, especially for the expensive stuff: cabinets, tile. If you want something trendy, make it paint, a light fixture -- or, best of all -- accessories.

I totally agree with the poster who said this is about living in a wasteful, consumer culture, something we should all fight.

I'm with camlan - I think these HGTV shows have spoiled us in some regard. On "House Hunters", I see young couples saying they need to replace functional appliances because they are not SS or a perfectly clean kitchen that simply MUST be updated.

Remember "My House Is Worth What?", the show where folks fixed up their house and realtors and designers walked through and assessed their improvements? Fun show...up until the market crash, that is. For example, the experts would say the kitchen reno added $40,000 to the home value. Fantastic, right? What they forgot to mention is that is a depreciable improvement! That kitchen reno (assuming no new SQ FT) doesn't hold it's $40K premium in perpetuity. It maybe has a useful life of 10-15 years (for a prospective buyer, at least).

I wouldn't have redone our kitchen unless we were changing the footprint which required architectural changes as well. Functional changes never go out of style.

10-20 years ago, no one wanted MCM. Now it's all the rage. I can't stand 80-90's style anything. But who knows how those will be viewed by the next generation.
I think my grandmother's Carr kitchen from the 1950s is cool. Remember...style is relative.

It takes a very, very low level of intelligence to point to a material and identify whether it matches the list of what's trendy now. You can literally train an animal to perform this task. A dog can learn to smell out stainless steel.

Yet today millions of people consider themselves "stylish" because they can demonstrate this animal level of intelligence. You can see it on House Whiners, um, House Hunters on HGTV every day. "Awwwmmmmnn, I reeeallly wanted graaaanite, wmmmm-Mmmmnnnnn."

Ironically, it's the rooms that meet every part of the dog-sniff test today that are really going to stink tomorrow.

In order to stay current, I always recommend to my clients that they do a remodel every 5 years.

oceangirl, would love to see some of your recent work. :)

This is a link to a really good documentary titled "Century Of The Self". Story of the evolution of what has become modern advertising and its goal of making us unhappy with what we have and 'who we are'. Quite a process and it really, really works!

Dated is what we are told it is. Fashion is what 'they' say it is.

I think the fixation on 'dated kitchens' came about with the recent real estate market craze. Every one wanted to make big money on flipping a home or selling their own home. Buyers were demanding 'new kitchens' as part of the package and everyone wanted to lend you money.

Those days are gone (at least in our area) and I think people are finally starting to settle down and think about what THEY want in a kitchen. A home is an investment, but ultimately, it's your home. If you design a kitchen that you like, that functions fairly well and hopefully somewhat suits the house...who cares what everyone else thinks?

No matter what people see on TV...if you like granite counter tops, ceramic tile, marble, wood, quartz, or anything else...they all work and they're all good choices. Homes are a place for family and friends to make memories and enjoy spending time together...as well as an investment.

Dated can often just mean kitchens that were never good looking to begin with. Or kitchens that were good looking to very few sets of eyes. Most dated kitchens that are being torn out were built on the cheap by the dozen, so it's unfair just to call them dated. They're cheap and ugly.

Of course, I'm probably not the one to speak on this issue. My absolute favorite, all-time kitchen was my grandmother's. They had to re-do the kitchen in 1940 when lightning set fire to the house. They remodeled based on the most current principles of kitchen efficiency at the time.

Excellent work triangle. Long, uninterrupted stretch of counter space for working on. Breakfast nook off to one side. Tons of cabinets and drawers. Big window over the sink. Classic white metal cabinets. Classic white, red, black and grey color scheme.

Plenty of room for everything, even though they took one of the pantries and made it into a half-bath. They still had the butler's pantry between the kitchen and dining room with counters around three sides, with drawers and cabinets below and glass-fronted cabinets above.

It was massively "dated" by the time I got to know it in the 60s, but it worked. It functioned for Grandma and Grandpa by themselves, and when all 60-odd children and grandchildren descended on them.

Unlike the badly flipped kitchen in my brother's house, which is only 4 years old. Looks great, with the stainless appliances and granite countertop and tile floor. But open the oven door and you can't open one of the cabinets. And the oven door hits the side of the refrigerator and can't open fully. There's one stretch of counter that's about 2 feet long, but you are boxed into a corner with the stove on one side. There's no room for a dish drainer on the counters near the sink. Literally, not enough space to fit even a small one. And that's all the counter space he has--the bit in the corner, about 12 inches between the stove and the sink, and a stretch over the very small, apartment-sized dishwasher.

I can see that the space had challenges, the biggest of which is two windows opening on to the three season porch, which you can't close up because the kitchen would then have no daylight at all, ever. But the choices the flipper made have everything to do with looks and nothing to do with function.

I'd rather have a kitchen with non-trendy finishes and appliances that works on a day-to-day basis than one that looks greats but drives me nuts every time I try to boil water.

We are all dated with an expiration date!

I actually like my stainless appliances because in my kitchen, they blend in more than something else would.

Well, at least stainless appliances are easy to switch out...not so easy with those trendy wild tile backsplashes...

I like any style as long as its done well with the rest of the house in mind. Two houses down from me theres a new home with a stunning over the top tuscan kitchen in a traditional arts and crafts home. It looked off and dated the minute it was put in.

"Dated can often just mean kitchens that were never good looking to begin with. Or kitchens that were good looking to very few sets of eyes. Most dated kitchens that are being torn out were built on the cheap by the dozen, so it's unfair just to call them dated. They're cheap and ugly."

This was my MIL. She had a bunch of old junky furniture that she insisted on moving twice because they were "antiques". No, they were old. If it was crap when you bought it 50 years ago, now it's old crap.

I am not sure when being able to specifically identify something with a particular period became such a negative thing, when applied to what is essentially interior architecture. I am not sure that it was always like this.

Fashions used to come and go with things such as finishes and colors, upholstery and trimmings, and patterns--things that could be changed.

But people rarely changed door hardware or took out millwork--with certain exceptions: a lot of Victorian millwork like gingerbread and heavily carved details, and wood work with beads on it...was removed because it was delicate, it got damaged, it was hard to maintain and it deteriorated.

I think we have lost the ability to appreciate things for what they are, mostly because we can tell When they are from, not because there is anything else in particular the matter with them. This is complicated by the fact that there are a lot of really Bad examples of tastes and designs from some periods in particular.As far as telling when something is from, this has started to affect personal vanity as well. I have a group of patients with plenty of disposible income, and a few of them have transformed themselves into someone completely unrecognizable. One woman who is nearing sixty in particular, has the body of a 30 year old..when you look at her face though, it's actually scary. She doesn't look 60. There's not a wrinkle or a blemish. But she doesn't look young. She's actually starting to look alien. But she looks "new" --and looking inhuman but blemish free has somehow become better than being a nice looking 60 year old.

Back to design, though. Some of this was due to current tastes. but the current tastes were driven by economics to some degree, and with high inflation, high interest rates, high mortgage rates etc, the seventies and eighties have a lot of bad examples of design but it in a big part this is because the materials and construction methods were cheap.

My new house was designed as an early part of what was to be a development, by a somewhat well-known modernist architect. There are, honestly, a couple of houses in the mix that are awful. But if you look at his work for individual clients and then at his builder's houses, you understand that it's Mostly not that the ideas were bad...it's that the execution was bad.

Much of 60s-80s architectural design was plagued by bad execution more than bad ideas.

I think we have lost our way even more since then, and now, unfortunately, I think we are also plagued by bad ideas. I think a lot of current new house plans are awful. And, we are setting ourselves up for a faster and faster cycle of current vs. dated because we are often starting out with something that's already bad...we don't "see" that--at least the majority probably doesn't, because they see "new" ...But that's another topic really.

Hollysprings, I also wanted to add though--I don't think I would have liked a single of the kitchens you posted above when new. There are individual elements in most of them that are fine, but I am not that impressed by the overall look of any one of them, and for the ones whose periods I lived through I wouldn't had thought much of them then, either.

I recently rewatched "Mildred Pierce" with Joan Crawford. Great old movie, though the timeline is confusing. In the script, it's mentioned that the events of the movie span four years. However, the movie begins in a house full of 1920s decor and ends in high Art Deco in the '40s.

It's clear from the context that Mildred's house, a showplace built by her husband in the '20s, is supposed to be looking a little dated by the end. More strikingly, when Mildred really starts earning some coin, she purchases a stately old Victorian mansion and guts the dark old thing. Out comes all the gingerbread and dark wood, in comes '40s sorta glam sorta classical revival, if you know that style.

Whatever the fictional timeline, of course you're supposed to see things from the perspective of the original audience in 1945. The '20s interiors look absolutely darling to us, but old-fashioned to them. We're supposed to give an eye-roll at the Victorian even though we in 2013 shudder in horror to think of it being torn out.

The point is, from the perspective of the moviegoer, about 20+ years had passed since the '20s house was the height of fashion. That house gets redecorated, at one point, but not remodeled. The Victorian was already at minimum 50 years old and probably more like 60 or 70; that's the one that gets the reno.

From today's point of view, that's a pretty long time frame. Considering today people are already ripping out the One True Kitchen from the last decade, and light maple with AB polished granite is positively archaic.

The cycle has always been there, but it's shortening.

It's difficult because as a remodeler with a limited budget, I'd like to put in something that does at least have a hope of standing some kind of test of time. I can't afford to throw away a significant part of my yearly salary on something that will be a detriment down the road (my current builder-grade oak kitchen with shiny brass knobs, forest green laminate, and cracked shiny grey floor tiles doesn't meet that test).

But how do you avoid being too on-trend and create something that will modestly appeal in 10 years, or will at least be easily update-able? All the things that seem pretty classic to me and fit with my (somewhat modest and non-historic) house are also super trendy right now.

One advantage is that I live in an economically depressed area with kind of run down housing, so unless you've got a brand new box in the suburbs, ANY kitchen update is welcome. That is, most people in my area aren't in the habit of updating their kitchen every 5-10 years. Often, even the more expensive houses have laminate counters (even $600K+ ones, depending on the area!). So most buyers aren't like the ones you see on HGTV unless they're in new builds.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Mar 19, 13 at 13:43

Just to confuse, robo, brass hardware is On trend at the top of the market, and dark green in the cooler direction (hunter and emerald) is starting to show up décor, so a kitchen finish can't be far behind.

In your housing demographic brushed nickel and the bronze finishes may still be considered "new", a lot depends on location and price point.

I think "modest and non-historic" would be a good starting point for a new kitchen if that is what your house is: don't make it look too much like an old fashioned kitchen that would belong in a different house, don't make it too fancy for the house...those are two current errors, I think.

I would suggest that, if you want to do granite, don't do the same granites that are being pushed by the big box stores or that you see in the magazines. Pick something you Aren't seeing a lot of that you also like and can afford. Same with laminate: don't use the same pattern as the readily available post formed versions, you should be able to get something else you like. Hardware is easily changed if you stick to knobs or pulls with a common on-center size: 3", 3-1/2", 4". If you do extra long pulls, you may be stuck with your 9" bar pulls when you aren't so fond of them any more.

I am actually UNtrending a kitchen right now, for a client who is not particularly aware of the trends, she just knows she doesn't like some things about it all that much. This builder's house had her area's upgrades: a black-based granite, brushed nickel pulls and lighting, pendants over the peninsula. It has the 4" granite backsplash because the full backsplash is still a rarity in her locale.

The brushed nickel lighting and fan are all coming down and the pendants will not be replaced with different pendants, we are installing small close-to-ceiling fixtures. The hardware was changed to black, the trendy paint color has been repainted in one of the maligned "bandaid" colors. The windows are being covered with tiered curtains. We are doing what she likes because she doesn't know what the trends Are, but there will probably end up being something in there that is 2013-14 trendy by accident, and it will show up later.

Thanks for the smart words of advice! ORB is definitely JUST hitting my area, like, just now. I know what you mean about bright brass too -- as a child of the 80s I'll have to be off trend for that one, I'm a cool metal person so have tried to go with chrome as a never-too-in, never-too-out finish but who knows. We're planning this house as a longer term stay, which suggests "personalize" but the cheap scots in me says "don't just throw your money away" so we're trying to make smart choices as well.

Trendy or not, you'll have to install brass in my house over my dead body, LOL.

I really miss the kitchen in my previous house. It was built in 1960, had a great work triangle, pine cabinets, one brick wall (a nice one, not "sleazy"), and a butcher block countertop.

I also once saw a mid-century kitchen that had never been updated and it looked great in 2002. With almost every trend, there are things that would become "classic" and the ones that would be "outdated" pretty soon.

The iconic MCM designs look better than ever - unlike the avocado green appliances. I have noticed that the things I like, would show up on the market 5-10 years later. I'd say, one just has to trust one's instinct.

Desertdance, I have porcelain floor tile countertops, and I love them. Ours are about 10 years old, and I would use them again. You can put hot pans right on them with no worries.

Avocado green is one of the hottest paint colors right now. People have simply been told over and over that avocado appliances are bad, so they don't want them. Otherwise they're happily buying appliances in lots of strange colors, but not the ones they're told to stay away from.

Lifelong reaction against previous trends is how you get old lady decor. Like women of the royal family, who tend to keep the same haircut they had at 25 forever, a lot of people continuously reject new trends because they have it stuck in their minds that they're dated.

I'm avoiding the whole issue by installing a kitchen that is completely on-trend and a la mode...for 1927. It will be 80 years out of date the day it is installed.

I just have to say that Don Johnson was sure a hottie back in the day. Thanks for posting that HollySprings. Crocket and Tubbs, Miami Vice, the personification of cool. I loved the men's fashion and the pastel world they lived in. Not to mention it was pretty much pre-breast implants, fun to see real women in bikinis without coconut halves on their chest. I really miss shows back when America loved herself and we couldn't get enough of us. It was so much fun, every day was something new and wonderful even when it was a bad day, we knew instinctively it would get better or at least there was that hope. Those "were" the days.... No China, no Iraq, no barbarians at the door.

Ahhhh...ok I'm back, dated... I think people just like something new and different after awhile. Unless it's an historical look it's probably going to need a tweak now and then but maybe not a complete overhaul. If you have good basics you can do a lot with just changing some of the scenery but not have to do a complete redo.