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All white kitchen- new classic of fad?

marvelousmarvin
10 years ago

After that Diane Keaton movie, it seemed like it spawned this trend of white kitchens with white shaker cabinets, white subway tiles, dark soapstone/granite countertops, stainless appliances, dark wood floors, etc..

In a era where advertisers try to generate new trends every couple of years, that kitchen style stayed popular for a long time and remains relevant today. Some might even call it a new classic, where that look may remain still popular years later.

But, in the last couple of years, I've been seeing more and more kitchens with white cabinets, light colored countertop like carerra marble or quarzite, white subway tiles, stainless steel appliances, and dark wood floors.

If the Diane Keaton kitchen is a design classic where it'll still be popular years from now, what do you think will be the fate for this white kitchen with carrera marble countertop look?

With all that white, will that look be dated in a few years?

Or, since white is classic and neutral, do you think that white kitchen style will become a new classic?

Comments (36)

  • marvelousmarvin
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    D'oh!

    I mistyped the subject heading- I wanted it to say All white kitchen- new classic or fad?

  • deeageaux
    10 years ago

    The all white kitchen is neither new nor a fad.

    The Neo-English Kitchen or One True Kitchen as coined by the detractors not the fans of the look will IMO ebb and flow. Because it became extremely popular in the Hamptons and for users of GW Kitchen Forum does not mean it was replicated to any significant degree out there in fly over country or real America(depending on your POV.)

    There are a certain number of people who love the look. Some bought others hope to have the funds in few years to buy one. So people years from now will still be buying them. There will be updates making them more modern others will chose to go more retro or authentic to distinguish them from the 00's kitchens.

    Almost every kitchen reflects the time period in which it as built. Very few kitchens can you post a picture of and people can't tell the decade it was made. It usually contains a lot of custom made pieces. Most of these "unique" kitchens are laughingly bad. To go completely against convention, make your own design statement and have it stand the test of time is a rare accomplishment. Kudos to those that achieve it.

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago

    I think it you look, you can find pictures of all white, or nearly-all white kitchens from every decade of the 20th century, at least after WWI. Some of them are obviously of a particular period, some of them it's harder to tell except for the appliances.

  • pricklypearcactus
    10 years ago

    I'm seeing all white kitchens in high end homes in my area now. I suspect all white in and of itself won't be a fad, but over time details of the kitchen will probably date them to a specific era, just like most kitchens.

  • ellendi
    10 years ago

    I agree with all of the above. This discussion come up on occasion. In ten years, your reno will look dated.
    But, I wonder too, my white kitchen reno with subway tile backsplash will be five years old this coming winter. I still see renovations on here of white kitchens with subway tiles. Does that mean my shelf life will be extended? :)

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    I got an all-white kitchen in 1991. I LOVE white kitchens and would want to replace my kitchen with an all-white kitchen again, but, yes, I am concerned that the white shaker, white subway tile, white counter will look so 2010ish soon. At least in my area, about 3/4 of all kitchens are now white.

  • krycek1984
    10 years ago

    It's not new...white kitchens have been around a long, long time. My mom has a Tudor house and the original kitchen was white. It is the door designs, backsplash, etc that dates a kitchen IMHO.

  • Vertise
    10 years ago

    White kitchens are classic. Wood kitchens are classic. It's only dated if you decide you don't like it anymore and want something more current looking to the times. Everything carries its time stamp. Who knows what will come down the road next to entice the senses into a desire for change.

    I kind of expect my kitchen will probably wear out before I tire of it because there are things about it that I have always loved. So it's classic me, lol.

  • Bunny
    10 years ago

    The house I grew up in was built in 1948, a custom design, considered very modern for its time. The eat-in kitchen had sleek white metal cabinets, top and bottom. As I recall, there was a dark blue formica counter with a metal edge and dark blue linoleum floor. Later there were updates (newer appliances, daisy wallpaper! and white shutters at the windows), but the cabs, counters and floors never changed. It was a great house with a wonderful kitchen. It was like a third parent to me.

  • tbo123
    10 years ago

    I've been pondering this for a while.
    I think a lot of it (white) is geographical for the U.S.A.

    Here in South Florida, you couldn't sell a house if it didn't have a white kitchen 20 years ago. Now, I think everyone wants dark stain wood look.

    However, up north, I think it is the opposite. And, I get the feeling that the majority of GW posters are Northerners (which to me is any place North of Florida...LOL).

    Anyway, yea, Northerners have been living with dark wood look cabs for decades/centuries and now want a lighter look.

    I do find it bazarre that most all the kitchens I see posted here on GW are pretty much the same. That's not a bad thing. They are all gorgeous. Just the same white shaker, wood floors, dark counter. It's just a little odd to me. And, it is sort of what I was thinking of for my reno.
    Makes me wonder about the psychology of all that.

    I don't think the white is a fad. But maybe shaker, wood floors and granite are. I prefer laminate to granite just because granite is so hard, heavy, and expensive.
    Unfortunately I understand that I pretty much HAVE TO do granite or whatever solid surface.

    Anyway. just babbling.

    I'm not familiar with which Keaton movie you referred to.

  • Buehl
    10 years ago

    The kitchen referred to in the OP is the kitchen from the movie "Something's Gotta Give". See the link below to see the house, including several pics of the kitchen starting with the 12th picture down.

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Beach House in

  • tbo123
    10 years ago

    Thanks buehl

  • Holly- Kay
    10 years ago

    I think white kitchens are classic and timeless. A white kitchen is my dream kitchen but when we renovated our's white just didn't seem the right fit so I went with glazed and stained maple. I truly love it. It is very far from perfect but it fits our imperfect home perfectly. As much as I love it I will always crave a white kitchen.

  • lavender_lass
    10 years ago

    This is not meant to insult anyone...I know people spend and have spent a lot of money on their white kitchens.

    I have always liked white kitchens (even when dark wood was everywhere) and I still do. But for years, white and other painted kitchens were what you did, when your wood cabinets were getting too old/beat up...or you wanted a lighter, fresher look. It was also an easy way to tie together new cabinets or added pieces...just paint them all to match.

    These large, white/marble Edwardian(?) kitchens are beautiful, but I think they will be very dated. That isn't a bad thing, but I think darker woods will make a big comeback...just because it will be different. Once the public realizes that white is 'in' then all the trendsetters will have to find a 'new' look :)

  • Bunny
    10 years ago

    I live in a progressive, desirable area just an hour north of San Francisco and I'm not seeing the proliferation of white kitchens in the average middle-class home. I have one and I don't know anyone else who does. The neighbor across the street freshened his old cabinets by sanding and resealing. He didn't add any hardware. They still look 1991 although less grimy. My friend a few blocks away gel stained hers a murky java, again preferring to add no hardware. Both of these households have access to design trends and influences, but have chosen looks that are not white.

    I have learned a lot here at GW. I look at things differently, including my own kitchen and those of others. But just because we see so many white kitchens here or in This Old House magazine doesn't mean they're a trend (or even desirable) in the mainstream.

  • joaniepoanie
    10 years ago

    MarvMarvin....not sure if you are just posing the question, or are embarking on your own remodel and want input on which way to go. If it's the latter, I say don't pay attention to trends and get what appeals to you and fits your budget. Trends come and go...although shaker is considered timeless I'm sure at some point it will also be considered "outdated." Many people also think granite will be "dated" even though it is a natural material. Unless you are remodeling for immediate resale...please yourself.

  • rosie
    10 years ago

    White kitchens have not been out, anywhere in the West at least, since the separate kitchen was developed, for servant use long, ago in large homes, and in modest homes here well over a century ago now. Like wood-finish kitchens, the basic idea of a white kitchen is always in and becomes extra popular in waves, during which time every possible new variation has its day, more to come no doubt.

    As for white stone/composite counters, they truly are new for the typical kitchen owner over the past few decades, a product of newer technology, and now that they're here white stone-type counters will remain classic.

    You know, there are only so many colors to choose from. For the most part, virtually all-blue, all-orange, all-green, yellow, red, etc., kitchens just don't give virtually-all-white much competition.

    Virtually-all-brown, as long as the brown's from wood, is the only virtually-all-X look that has ever competed.

  • quiltgirl
    10 years ago

    White kitchens are classic and IMHO do not go out of style. In thinking back, my parent's kitchens from the 50 and 60's had white painted cabinets. They had wallpaper instead of subway tile. My husband's grandparents had white cabinetry with pink and green ceramic tile! Perhaps the accessories change (tile, countertop material, appliances etc) with each decade, but the white cabinetry transcends the years. It is a "timeless" look for a traditional or period house.

    If you have a modern, futuristic or a "Frank Lloyd Wright" look, then wood could possibly be more appropriate. Fit the style, color etc. to your home and pick a look that pleases you.

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    10 years ago

    There is a look that I have always loved, and it is the shaker style cabinet. When I say Always, I mean ever since I visited Pleasant Hill KY as a young teenager. So I love the white shaker, but also if it is blue, red, green or natural wood, painted or stained. There is something about that utter simplicity that just pleases my eyes.

  • susanlynn2012
    10 years ago

    I always loved both white kitchens and cherry kitchens. My favorite is Beaded inset white kitchens but for my kitchen when I saw the pictures with the same style in the middle I have now as most of my cabinets are 39" wide, it no longer appealed to me for my home. I do not want a style in the middle of the doors as I have a small kitchen and need more space. But I still love the look and if money was no object I would just have smaller cabinets and more of them so I would not have to have the stile and still do the inset look. I feel white kitchens will be in style for a long time.

  • fourten1j
    10 years ago

    I think a lot of the granite slabs I see in the warehouses out there already look dated, and I think this is what's going to show the era of the kitchen in the next decade. You only need to look at kitchen styles in Europe and Australia to see where designs are headed...

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    If Europe is an indication, and where I live European design is certainly a trend, then we're seeing a comeback of wood, including oak, slab doors, integrated handles, paneled DW, fridge. And yes, the wildly patterned granites are out.

  • Paul Doherty
    8 years ago

    I feel the current use of tons of white in kitchens is a fad, and not a great one. It shows dirt too easily, it obscures the natural grain in the wood (when used on cabinets), and makes the whole affair look like an institution to my eye.

  • rebeccamomof123
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I've already seen a movement towards light, natural, more sustainable woods as well as brass and copper in the kitchen (says the woman sitting in her all white kitchen with white granite counters and gray subway). I went with white because it's classic and I've always loved white kitchens. Growing up, my mother had a white kitchen too, so for me its a personal taste not a trend. I will say I really wanted a farmhouse sink but that was one thing my contractor said with surely date my kitchen to 2012/13. Either way, I think if you go with what you love you'll never be sorry. More importantly, I think consumers have become much more educated about functional layouts which has much more impact on the livability of a kitchen vs colors.

  • practigal
    8 years ago

    At the moment painted is the big look in cabinets... Could that be because painted cabinets don't need real or nice wood? The cynical me notes that means maximizing profits for some cabinet maker .... Eventually the consumers rebel against everything looking so identical and we're onto the next trend. Of course, along the way all of the factories that made the really wonderful wood things would have been sold to China and the next round of US factories coming up, well people in them just don't have the expertise or experience, that was found on the old production line, so everything looks just a little flatter and a little less interesting round after round. This flat featureless look is then lauded as the new trend. It is the Ayn Rand version..... The line and only the line stretching ever further ever further into the horizon....

  • Kompy
    8 years ago

    Don't be cynical, cabinetmakers and kitchen designers are just trying to feed their families like everyone else. With white kitchens, you may be able to use paint grade materials and MDF, but ask any cabinetmaker, kitchen designer or cabinet installer...."white kitchens have more potential issues"!

    If industry peeps truly want the best profit....they would pray for a trend in Framed, partial overlay Cherry or Hickory cabinets with a medium stain...and NOT taking the cabinets up to the ceiling (another current trend). These choices give tradespeople....the least amount of issues/problems.

    • White kitchens show every nick and dent.
    • White kitchens show joint lines in the doors and where cabinets are screwed together
    • White kitchens magnify the slightest imperfection
    • White kitchens show uneven ceilings and sloped moldings more drastically....even if you use a two piece crown application!
    • White kitchens with moldings up to the ceilings: Expect a customer call back in a year or tow: saying "my cabinets are falling off the wall...there's a huge gap at the ceiling". White moldings will show caulk shrinkage!!! Medium to darker cabinets show a shadow...no need for caulking.
    • White kitchens, especially with inset cabinets, can show slight differences in the gap around the door. Some variation is to be expected....if you get a client with unrealistic expectations, this could be a thorn in your side.
    • Many cabinet installers charge % MORE for white kitchens due to these issues

    But back to the original question. Will white kitchens be dated in a few years? It's been two years since the question was posted and white is still a top finish in cabinet sales!! I don't ever think the color white will ever be dated. It's the things surrounding them that may. For instance: the door style, the appliances, hardware, backsplash, flooring...etc. I have been selling and designing white kitchens for 30 years.

  • Lavender Lass
    8 years ago

    White kitchen are always popular, but they are starting to lose traction in the magazines....to other colors and wood tones.

    I don't think any kitchen is timeless....unless it fits the style of the house it's in. If it does, then it will never be out of style, just not as popular as the current trend.

    Timeless is rarely trendy. It's just always appropriate. Like a classic little black dress. What you put with it, defines the era you're living in :)

  • amylou321
    8 years ago

    While I was recently home shopping...almost ALL the "updated" kitchens were all white. I think that the all white kitchen has been a staple for decades...but I don't know why. I really don't like white kitchens. I guess they always look modern and feel clean. But I prefer warm colors and stained cabinets. To each their own I guess.

  • Kim Ladin
    8 years ago

    Yes. By definition, every trend in kitchen design -- white kitchens, unfitted kitchens, modern kitchens, dark wood kitchens -- is a trend that will wax and then wane. While simple white cabinets and white tile will stand the test of time pretty well, adding the white countertop to all the other white takes it over the top into "fashion" territory. And that's inevitably going to look dated at some point.

    I think the best way to avoid a kitchen that will rapidly look dated is to work in concert with the style of your house. If you have a house with some character, you're lucky. Take cues from that and style your kitchen to suit.

    But if you're stuck with a typical suburban American home built in the "mish-mash" style of the last 30 years, you're kind of out of luck. Whatever you do is going to look dated eventually.

  • Texas_Gem
    8 years ago

    You know, between reading this thread, following LavendarLass's amazing update and just a little bit of history; I've become even more convinced than ever that the ubiquitous "timeless" white kitchen is indeed a fad. There is nothing "timeless" about a kitchen that never existed 100 years ago.


    A hundred years ago, a kitchen was made of free standing appliances and cabinets, what is known today as an "unfitted" kitchen.

    Then, some brilliant ad maker convinced everyone that they should have cabinets built and "fitted" to their space. So begins the rise of the current kitchen trend.


    If you REALLY want a "timeless" kitchen than you would go for the MOST basic and simplest "kitchen" used since the beginning of civilization. An open fire (in or outside the house) with a single large pot suspended over it. And you would wash your dishes in the creek down the way.


    Doesn't sound like your cup of tea?

    Then ignore the trends and put in what you like! ;)

  • Amber
    8 years ago

    White cabs aren't trendy. White shaker cabinets with marble, wood floors, pendants, farmhouse sinks, etc. IS trendy. And you know what? I'm still doing 90% of that.. Because in 15/20 years when that's grossly dated I will probably want to redo my kitchen anyway! Might as well do what you love.

  • lam702
    8 years ago

    White will never completely be considered dated, it is a classic look. But, of course, some styles will change over time, its inevitable and people will want to remodel their white kitchens to something else. I think, no matter how lovely we think our kitchen is now, in 15 or 20 yrs we'll be tired of it and looking to remodel. Everybody loved their honey oak cabinets when they were new, today, everyone is tearing them out, although many are in great condition and built to last. We do this with furniture, paint and window treatments all the time. You may have loved the couch you bought 20 yrs ago, but would you choose it today? Styles and taste changes, this applies to kitchens, baths, clothing and pretty much everything else.

  • Lavender Lass
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Texas- Thanks for mentioning my mini-remodel :)

    Speaking of cup of tea....am I the only one thinking this is perfect weather for one? Currently drinking a mixture of Earl Grey and Orange Spice Herbal. So good!

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    8 years ago

    LL, I will have to try that combo, I have both but never thought of mixing them.

    I think the new trend is going to be lots of color -- painted cabs, colored tile, in all shades of blues, greens, yellow. A few years ago (maybe still) coral pinks and reds were a trend on living room/family room walls, but I never saw that in the kitchen. Maybe those shades also will migrate into the kitchen while the public rooms go more neutral. I have seen a few kitchens in BH&G done in colors and found them very appealing.

  • Lavender Lass
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Raee- I've seen more colorful kitchens in BH&G, too. Some nice ones...some very busy. But at least it's color!

    My mom and I are hooked on this tea combination. Very good with a bit of sugar or sweetener. Just enough to compliment the cinnamon/spice :)