To each his own. I have seen beautiful non-white kitchens, but I have wonderful childhood memories of my Mom always making delicious family meals from scratch in our kitchen that had white St. Charles kitchen cabinets. No surprise, I have a preference for white kitchens. It would be boring if we all preferred the same things.

After owning a couple of them already I'm done with white, unless it were in super gloss, clean and modern form. It seemed like I was always cleaning everything, but who knows what kind of paint was used.

That is what I said, until we decided to buy a house with an interior kitchen. The current kitchen is very dark stained alder with dark travertine back splash and dark granite. Very dark and gloomy. So, now we are looking at white wall cabinets and a painted light green island. I am not too thrilled because we are a bit messy by nature, but we don't want dark and gloomy. We might reconsider and go with a lighter alder, but white is definitely a contender now.

"Every other kitchen photo on Houzz is an all-white or hugely white kitchen. Is it just me or do they make anyone else feel they are in a sterile laboratory rather than a warm kitchen? I am sick of them. Thank you for letting me vent. I just hope the fad passes pretty soon."

Every other kitchen photo on Houzz is all golden oak or McMahogany or McBrownGranite. Is it just me or do they make anyone else feel they are in the '80's, rather than a white timeless kitchen? I just hope the fad passes pretty soon. I am sick of little blue geese and cut out hearts dancing in my home

See, not so nice. Dang, I have a small white kitchen and like it! I even have new white-ish countertops ordered. I have had oak, hickory with cobalt blue countertops, and cherry cabinets in different homes and liked all of them for the type of home they were in. I enjoy looking at all homes and different kitchens. Everything circles around, enjoy the ride!

I have yet to see one in real life.

Linelle said: "chezron, be of good cheer. The good news is that you can pick whatever kind of kitchen you like, in any color, in whatever finish suits you best. It's just that easy."

Well-said, lol!

I do find it strange that this happens a lot....one preference having to defend their choices to another preference. People choose their kitchen style for three main reasons:

1. It is what makes them happy
2. It is what trend or resale value dictates
3. Someone else told them to or made the decisions for them.

So then why does it matter so much? For that matter why do I feel compelled to defend my not-quite-white kitchen? Why do I care what anyone else thinks about it?

I am not fond of the "modern" or "transitional" styles even though I truly admire some that are like works of art. Good design just gets my juices flowing! But if I were searching kitchen photos and was so offended by white I would filter white kitchens right out of my search parameters.

I truly agree with something someone else said some time ago, though; it was something along the line of how the best kitchens were ones people found a way to make their own, put their own stamp or twist on it, and who were not afraid to buck trends and go out on a limb and be shamelessly happy with the results. Wish I could remember who said that.

I don't post often, but I have to say: I have been around for a long time, and have never, ever had (childhood or adult) anything but a white kitchen. My mother's, grandmother's, and great grandmother's kitchens were white. I don't think white kitchens are going away. I am doing a kitchen now and, hold your breath, it is WHITE! I don't think I could ever do a kitchen in another color; I would never feel comfortable or at "home" in it.

Wow!! I'm hoping you realize that a bunch of us on here have white kitchens or are designing our own white kitchens. I'm sure you didn't mean to offend anyone. One of the great things about building your own home or doing your own remodel is that you can do WHATEVER you feel like. :) I honestly don't have warm fuzzy feelings about dark kitchens but I know a lot of people who do and would never want to put their kitchens down. When I reveal my new kitchen in a few months you will probably want to pass over my thread because you will be guaranteed to be sick of it. Just saying.

This post was edited by robynstamps on Wed, Jun 25, 14 at 0:38

I was raised in a home with dark-stained cabinets to "hide the dirt." I never understood this logic in a kitchen. Don't you want to see where it is? My cabinets are white. If my cabinets are dirty, I want to know about it.

Also, am I the only GWer who doesn't have a Houzz account? I've never found the need, since most of what I read are complaints about it. I can scroll through a few pictures here and there on the site, but I don't find it user-friendly in the way that I search and find information.

Well, good thing you aren't required to have a white kitchen.

Seriously, why the need to come on and randomly insult a good number of posters carefully designed kitchens, oh, I'm sorry, "vent?" Are you normally rude or just cluelessly inconsiderate?

Have to agree with Linelle and others. Sorry that other people's choices are making you ill. And that you needed to share your negative feelings with many who have poured their heart and soul into creating beautiful white kitchens that they love. Care to share yours?

We have stained cherry with soapstone - which was done by PO's and we love it. But love all the new white ones as well (which I am seeing ALL OVER Silicon Valley).

Lucy

LOL. My white kitchen doesn't look sterile; it's too messy (some of the time). Also we have wood countertops and a wood floor, and the cabinets are actually off-white, so the overall look is warm. The old kitchen that we replaced was also white. The reason we have white now is personal preference plus there is very little natural light in our kitchen.

I think if I ever do another kitchen (not planning to, but you never know) I either want white cabinets with wood counters again or oak cabinets with light counters. Yes, I said oak. Swirly oak if I can't afford quartersawn. It'll probably depend on the house layout and the level of natural light in the kitchen.

Y'all are going to get sick of me talking about IKEA kitchens all the time, but I'm just saying: IKEA is going to carry what sells, so their offerings ought to pretty well reflect US tastes, even figuring that they don't catch the high end (most of it anyway). And on the IKEA site I am counting 5 white door styles (including Harlig, which very few people put in actual kitchens) and 10 wood-tones. No idea of whether or not they sell more whites than wood-tones overall; just pointing it out.

I'm sick of posts bashing white kitchens!

These threads come up every few months like clockwork. They are ubiquitous and boring, OP. Sort of like you feel about all the white kitchens on Houzz.

I love white kitchens, definitely not a fad. White kitchens have been a standard in average American homes for many generations. And I have seen some absolutely gorgeous white/shades of gray kitchens that are all the rage on houzz and GW, but I don't love that style. My mom put in a white/gray/marble kitchen in the late '80s and I didn't like it then either! Fortunately, it wasn't my kitchen and she absolutely adored her new kitchen. I will say though, if the white/gray/marble look is not your style, it is harder to find inspiration for different looks. Filters will make it a lot easier to find what you are looking for.

Now, can we all get back to bashing oak, lol!

It's cool, I see the same thing pop up from time to time about granite and stainless.

I'll be sure to post up a few pictures in August/September of a kitchen in a 1920 foursquare that I'll be doing. They'll cheer the old white cabinets going out, then boo the new white ones going in :)

White is not for everyone, but it is a timeless choice.

Me, too, because I want to be in the minority with my white kitchen :) More accurately, I'm sick of other people's white kitchens )>

I love white kitchen. I've always had white kitchens. My current white kitchen (20+ years old) needs to be replaced sometime soon, but I have to admit that I'm worried it will look sooooo 2010s if I go with a white kitchen again. In my neck of the woods, the vast majority of kitchens over the last few years has been white.

So, I may go with an oak/white kitchen or high gloss white.

When I bought this little old house three years ago it had white cabinets and I'm going to keep them that way. I like them. I'm going to repaint the kitchen walls, but the cabinets stay as is.
I think some people like to be like surfers, riding the crest of the wave as it rolls in.
I love looking at pictures of other people's houses and interiors (I love Houzz) but if I'm happy with a choice I've made I'm not going to change it because other people are trending either toward it or away from it.

Mine are ikea abstrakt, so very white and very shiny. However, the walls are pear green, the ceiling is darker pear green, countertops are black, floor is painted black. Does not look sterile at all!

Love, love, love white kitchens. I find them classic and timeless. That said, we tore ours out and went back with an antique ivory because it went much better with the rest of our house which is semi-open plan and full of dark antiques, etc. The white glare in the corner just didn't match. But in a perfect world, I would never have anything but white. Ask me again in 20 years and my answer will not have changed. I can easily see not preferring them, but like white bath fixtures, they aren't going anywhere, IMHO.

I don't have a white kitchen (never had) but I do love them. Yes, it is very popular now, but I do think white kitchens are as close to timeless as you can get. Of course, nothing is really completely timeless. Trends come and go, like the honey oak that everyone had, which today everyone is replacing. Just because I prefer a stained wood in my home doesn't mean I can't appreciate a beautiful white kitchen. I am in awe over the white kitchens posted here, so beautiful. But natural woods are beautiful too. To each his own!

poor chezron must be so ill after all this outpouring of white kitchen love that s/he can't even leave the bathroom long enough to rejoin the discussion.

As for Houzz, I find it incredibly helpful as long as you figure out how to filter your results. I discovered it too late to help me with my kitchen, but it's been great for my bathroom remodel. I thought my toilet roll holder was installed backwards so I did a search for "toilet roll holders." I found enough installed like mine to put away the wood filler and drill.

Ideabooks is my favorite, so much better than random bookmarks or ripping stuff out of magazines.

I don't consider white kitchen cabinetry to be "trendy", I consider it a classic choice that happens to be experiencing a wave of popularity right now. Compare it to popular names, for example: white cabinets are the "William" of the kitchen world. Fifteen years ago, maybe you would have known one person who named their son William - and you would have thought it was a perfectly fine, classic choice, etc. These days I know something like 6 Williams under the age of 8. You can't call it 'trendy', because it's always been around and in continuous use, but it is experiencing a wave of popularity. Just like white kitchens.

I love white kitchens and have since I was a kid in the 80s. But I also grew up in a northeast coastal area, so maybe they were just more common?

Absolutely nothing timeless about a white kitchen. It's a color not a style, and definitely a faded fad.

My dad built our house in 1948. It was considered "modern" but not "modernistic" as my mom called another house in the neighborhood that didn't look anything like ours. Our kitchen had white metal cabinets. Over the years the appliances and wallpaper changed, but never the cabinets and blue formica counters.

My grandfather, dad and brother were William. My husband and his dad were William.

I think we're all tired of the same 'three kitchens' being posted in magazines and other media. People like white, they like wood and there will always be one with color. Although the color right now seems to be turning towards gray.

If each person likes their kitchen and it suits their house, who cares what color it is? I like vintage, but I also like some modern, traditional, retro, country, cottage, even the occasional Steampunk (thanks Marcolo LOL) so I think VARIETY is what's missing in magazines and Houzz. Let's not be afraid to try something fun and paint our white kitchen walls yellow and have Fiestaware all around, or wood and granite kitchen with wonderful art, or soft green cabinets with floral wallpaper :)

I agree with Lavender Lass' thoughts on variety, and would enjoy seeing more individual personality, and even quirkiness, in kitchens, no matter what the color.

I find Houzz very useful, but mostly for helping to get a visual of how certain elements will work in certain settings. So when I was buying my DR chandelier, for example, a Houzz search showed me how people incorporated the fixture, in rooms of different styles, and it helped me to see whether it would work in my room.

But I think that if you look to sites like Houzz to dictate exactly what your room should look like, you risk falling into a trendiness type of mind set. A younger woman that works with me just bought a house, and she will often ask my opinion about various decor items she is considering. When say that I, personally, don't like a particular item, she'll say, "Well it's all over Houzz!" As if that's proof of something. It's funny and mind-numbing at the same time.

Love white kitchens but not for me. I find myself wiping down my daughter's off- white cabinets at least twice a week because they look dirty. Little smudge prints all over the place.

I really like your response Lavender. Personally I like my cabinets painted. I have lived all my years in a white kitchen since I was a little girl. I am branching out (in my mind) and painting my cabinets not only white, but also a wonderful shade of creamy beige. And my island is navy. I love it. It suits my "old house" style, but is also modern. Enough of this complaining about what everyone is doing. We all have our own likes and dislikes. Respect each others tastes, even if it isn't your own.

I agree with Lavender Lass as well.

It would never occur to me to go to Houzz for design ideas - I know what I like, and I do care what anyone else is doing. Also, I am not planning on selling my house any time soon, but when I do, I am sure that if I like something, there will be someone else who also likes it.

When I was in design school in the 1980s, I only read Italian design magazines such as Casa Vogue and Interni, as I did not care for what was popular in the U.S. at the time. I loved the Memphis school from Milan, however, and found that my tastes were much more similar to the Italians'. In the 1970s I made my own clothes because I did not like what was in the stores.

Whatever you like is what will make you happy.

Lars

Lavender Lass and Sas you nailed what IS exactly wrong. Creativity in a narrow scope. Just conforming.That's what I am sick of. I want to see freedom of expression and I do not see it on Houzz. Where do you see it? Or do you see it?

I love seeing so many beautiful white kitchens and reddish wood kitchens, and other wood colors. I just love seeing finished kitchens. Before seeing so many wood kitchens, I planned to paint my cabinets white a few years ago since my new tiles that looked wonderful in my neighbor's house did not look so great with my builder grade oak cabinets. After trying to see which white looked best with my new tiles, I found out how poorly designed my current builder grade cabinets were and that got me wanting new cabinets either in white or a cherry reddish color. I even find quarter sawn oak cabinets gorgeous and even very dark cabinets if everything else in the kitchen compliments the cabinets.

I hope everyone no matter what their cabinet color is posts pictures of their finished kitchens since it is not the cabinet color that makes the kitchen I have learned but the way everything in the kitchen blends and goes together giving a overall pretty look that is functional.

When I am ready to finish my kitchen, I will not be so hung up with which shade of white but instead trying to get everything in the kitchen to work well and look wonderful together which truly makes a beautiful functional kitchen. Everyone on this forum has been so helpful to me.

We all have the ability to choose what we like and trends change but to me white kitchens are timeless.

I lived in 2 white and 1 natural oakâ¦.and plan get white for my new custom home :-)
My husband tires of it lol. Either white cabinets or white quartz for me.

Chezron, you can find creativity in kitchen design, but you have to find Web sites that don't rely on revenue from cabinet and appliance manufacturers. For example, I love a European country-style unfitted kitchen. For inspiration, I go to real estate listings in English and French rural areas, and look through the photos of older country homes that haven't been updated.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45187415.html

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p85756

Or, search for the elements you like... but skip to the latter pages of the search results, which tend to provide sites off the beaten path.

http://www.thecottagemarket.com/2013/03/country-french-kitchens-charming.html

I think I understand where OP is coming from. If you are trying to search kitchens, hoping you see something that might spark an idea or inspiration for your place and all you keep seeing is "classic" kitchens because its what's popular, it can be frustrating.

Maybe you should search traditional or transitional kitchens instead.

Classic kitchens, which is the current most popular style are white with soapstone or marble countertops.

Traditional are more ornate, lots of architectural details, more commonly stained wood, etc.

I don't think OP was intentionally trying to bash people here who have those, more frustrated that you can't seem to find images of other styles of kitchens right now.

It is the lack of variety that is causing the backlash to white kitchens. They almost all seem to follow the same inspiration photos. It's uncanny! How many times have you opened a thread here asking for countertop or backsplash help and thought "Here we go again"? Which white? Which quartzite counter? Marble or crackle backsplash? I just want to refer them to the dozens of other threads just like theirs.

I have only seen one white-bashing thread in the time I've been here. It didn't go over well. However, just last week someone with an oak kitchen posted a thread called "Why the hate?" People were vocal about their hate for oak, but not once did I see an oak kitchen owner take offense. And there are a few new oak kitchens on GW.

Love the comment re: individual personality. Is that not what makes life interesting? Not having everything similar? Besides, it provides a topic for conversation.

Living in a new, small subdivision, we love to peek into homes under construction, noting the 'interesting' choices our soon to be neighbors make.

Right now, I am watching orangey-brown stone facing going on columns on an intensely blue-gray house... emphasis on blue. They also painted the front door ORANGE. (I am beginning to think the builder's design coordinator has sorely failed these new homeowners!) Oh... but wait, they are unloading stone for a small retaining wall. It is a soft beige.

Fortunately, kitchen choices are confined to the inside. But, at the very least, I now have a new guidepost for directing visitors to my home...

Kitykat- your new neighbors aren't by chance Denver Broncos fans are they? First thing that popped in my head when you said orange and blue!

Our real estate agent told us that the off white walls in our kitchen were "too harsh" - she wanted us to paint them in a shade of khaki. I can't imagine the horror she would have had if our cabinets, etc. had been *white*!

Our new house has rustic hickory cabinets and tropic brown countertops. I haven't seen anything like them because it does appear that white kitchens are popular. But I don't care - I love them, they *work* in this house. Most of what we've done in this house would not be seen on Houzz or any other home decor web site, but we had a blast putting the house together; living here is fun. It's *us*.

So do what works for you, OP. It's YOUR home; you aren't out to win any popularity contests are you?

Chezron- if you are looking for something different, check out rhome410, 2littlefishies or badgergal. 3 of my favorite kitchens which aren't the standard white kitchens.

OP, your problem isn't white kitchens, it's Houzz. Too many photos seem overly staged. It's a really useful website for certain things but I think it can lull you into a stupor of gorgeous blandness if you're not really targeted in your searches.

But if you want to see kitchens with personality and creativity, all you have to do is go to the Finished Kitchens Blog or do a google search for kitchen reveals or finished kitchens specifying this site. You'll find tons and tons of beautiful kitchens that are totally individual. Warning: some of them are even white (not mine, but I would trade a limb for some of the showstoppers that people have posted on here, white and otherwise.)

Here is a link that might be useful: GW eye candy

I had two apartments in my early years (20's). The first one (c. 1920) had inset cabinetry (painted teal) w/ latches and a real original old wood top. It also had a free standing sink with legs and a drain board. Off to one side was a built-in breakfast nook w/ benches and an arched opening. It was so charming! I loved it. My next apartment, built in the early 40's was painted white, had "lipped doors" with the slatted air vents on the sink base panel. It has flush toekick and was just as charming as my first apartment's kitchen. This was the late 80's and I decorated it with pastel aqua, red geraniums and copper pots and accessories. Those two kitchens always made me feel GOOD. That was when I decided that some day, I would have a white, vintage looking kitchen...and I did it last year! I love it...it's my favorite room in my 1925 home! It suits my home...even when dirty, looks amazing. In my last two homes, I've had hickory and then cherry. They were nice but they didn't "sing to me"!

On another note, my father was also a kitchen designer from 1966 to 2000. He did a kitchen in 1983 and you know what? To this day, that kitchen looks current. Here's a picture of it. Only thing you would need to do is change out the dated navy blue wallpaper, brass fixtures and get a new countertops. This was Formica Butcherblock! :-) She had a white beadboard ceiling too. She may have been a little ahead of her time....or just timeless!

Kompy,
Nice job Dad!

I love those brass lights! See, to each his/her own;)

Wood is timeless, just as white is timeless. More variety is what is needed, like others have said.

May_flowers said it well: "Here we go again."

I predict that the white wave will die down after a few years, at most ten, when the finishes wear off of the white and many people go back to wood, or else just slap more paint on them.

I want my kitchen to feel like this...and still be a fun place to bake cookies :)
{{!gwi}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

As usual I want to go to the space LL creates and have the aforementioned cookies. :)

I have 2 white dogs, what other choice was there?

I have two (black and) white cats. It was preordained.