I have zero ideas what local trends are, but I put in cherry with light granite. Guess I'm on point. :)

DC Metro area: White Shaker, marble or light or black granite, SS. Or sleeker, either glossy white or slab front wood, SS, white quartz.

All built in 2013

Condos (350K-600s)

House (850K-2.4 mio)

white with maybe a touch of gray. marble countertops. paneled appliances or ss.

The most common finishes in the city are dark stained cabinets with modern looking stainless steel pulls, active granite and glass tile backsplashes.

At the very upper end of the urban market in traditional houses you will see white, often glazed, and lighter granite or marble.

I would not say that white is ubiquitous or even common around my area.

I just looked at new build townhouses on Zillow. Dark stained wood, light or dark granite, granite tile backsplashes or the granite mini splash, black appliances in the smaller homes, SS in the larger.
Then went and looked at the low 300K new builds, same as the 220K townhouse.
Then checked out some 300-600K 10-20yr old houses. Oak, light granite or solid surface. In fact in my rural area, I didn't see but one white kitchen, in the 10 or so I just looked at.

A lot of "country/rustic" looking kitchens using, hickory, oak and med stained maple.

Per request:
Rural N. Coastal WA-the most homes for sale are in the 220-230 range. Up about 10-20k since I bought this past Spring. New build homes are 320-360. Town houses are about 100k less. All new builds are coming with appliances, landscaping and wood fencing.

This post was edited by terri_pacnw on Fri, Aug 15, 14 at 9:43

The only white kitchens I've seen IRL or in listings{{gwi:807}} for my area are old, cheap housing (like less than 50K, built in the 20s)
All the new builds or updated have deep cherry colored cabs, granite counters and tile floors.

Edit: I live in the Panhandle Plains of Texas.

This post was edited by Texas_Gem on Fri, Aug 15, 14 at 10:09

Could you add your general location?

Ditto Pal, Terri and Texas. I'm in the north SF Bay Area. New or recent stuff seems to have dark cabinets with long contemporary pulls, granite, SS appliances, pendant lights. I can't say for the higher-end, custom stuff. The only white kitchens I see are older bad stuff in the retirement communities that date from the 70s. Nothing like the white kitchens we talk about endlessly at GW.

The house three doors from me has just gone on the market. It is the exact same model as mine, same orientation, everything. 1250 sq.ft. on a small lot. Close neighbors. Modest neighborhood. I would say a better starter home. It's listed at $429K. :)

I looked at the kitchen. It still has the old tile counters (albeit well maintained) and cabinet suspended from a soffit over the peninsula. Clean and shipshape, but everything's original except newer black appliances. Big fluorescent light box on the ceiling. I thanked the realtor (she knew I was a neighbor) and told her about painting my cabs and getting rid of the soffit. She looked at me like I was speaking Martian.

This area is not a backwater. We are 50 miles from San Francisco. I don't know how white kitchens can be dated when they haven't even made inroads yet.

I live in Boston. I feel like what's going into new construction depends on the type of property. There are currently zillions of "luxury apartment" buildings going up, and they all seem to have the very dark/black sleek cabinetry, modern hardware, etc. It's more of a mixed bag for single family homes. White is very very popular, but it's not "trendy", per se - it was popular 20 years ago too. If anything I'd consider it the "safest" choice because it's so classic.

Stainless appliances are the standard, but a lot of that is because there just aren't that many other options that are readily available.

Quartz/Granite seem equally as popular. I'd say that one really just depends on personal taste - neither by definition is seeming dated. However, what has happened is that granite is no longer considered a luxury product just by basis of being granite. i.e. Potential home buyers are mostly not impressed by a kitchen they see having granite - they just assume it will, and are therefore pickier about WHICH granite it is.

i live north of albany, ny. the new builds in my suburban town are dark wood and granite even the highest end ones. we went to a new construction development where the low end homes started well above the median home price and they are putting in aristokraft cabs in darker woods. i think the model had a dark hickory and that was considered special read upgrade. no white kitchens here unless they are circa 1980s laminate.

Northeast region, large metro area, housing on block - circa early 1900s. Flippers in my immediate neighborhood/block the last 2-3 years: 1-2 of medium to dark brown stained, 1 white.

I did white cabs. Ditto 20 yrs ago and when we purchased there were white metal cabs; various quality. Never considered trends; kitchen dictated color

Random search in DC area of houses built in 2013. Of 20 houses, 3 were not white. The examples I posted earlier are typical of the white kitchens.

This is what 18 mio buys you (33K sqft)

One wood kitchen was on the low end at 1.2 mio (1246 sqft).
All these houses are inside the Beltway or the expensive suburbs.

In the "cheaper" further away surburbs (under 88K), 7/10 kitchens were wood. Examples below.

So, I'm so confused!
Dark stained cabs + ligher granite + modern pulls are the trend here too (Ottawa, on.)
But how can that be when every magazine for the past 8 - 9 +years features the marble + white shakers + wood floor look? (which is not any more expensive).

I don't understand the disconnect.

SF Bay Area peninsula. Just my observations based on looking for houses. White shaker kitchens have been pretty popular in spec homes in this area for at least the past 3-4 years (wasn't paying attention before that) I think in part because builders seem to like the "Craftsmanesque" white trim houses. Mission/Mediterranean style new homes typically will have stained cabs or white glazed raised panel. Contemporary modern homes tend to have slab veener fronts where the grains match up really nicely. . . Quartz and marble seem to be pretty popular in all of these new homes.

Oaktown - that's a good point, re: style of kitchen matching the style of home.
Here, the new-build style is, I believe, mostly contemporary modern, so it would make sense that the kitchens have that dark cabinet/granite/quartz style.

I'm in Toronto and I see here roughly the 'trends' as CTN30 does in Boston.
In the high end rebuilt homes....its a close split between white and dark kitchens.
In new construction (new subdivisions) the builder only gives you stained cabinets or cheap thermofoil white ones (painted cabs are more expensive) so around here white cabs are seen as a luxury.
Granite is expected but it can't be the cheap $35/sf kind. As are stainless steel appliances.
There are tons of condos going up and those tend to be designed to be trendier with flat slab/high lacquer doors.
Here is an example of a kitchen in a higher end home (1.7 mil.) and I will post a pic of a more modest resale home next.

And here is what you get for under 1 mil (that's not the original kitchen).

My "theory" re. kitchens in the DC area is as follows: (a) The most popular house style is the colonial, i.e. still more traditional; (b) It's a very international community with World Bank, embassies, people having traveled abroad, so European look is in, that is, lighter colors, more simple; and maybe (c) People don't flaunt their money, so totally ornate/over the top is out. Combine (a), (b), and (c), and you get Shaker, less busy counters, hardwood floors.

Now condos is different, both in terms of buyers and building style, which is why they'll be more the modern Euro-style cabinets.

Long Island, NY here. A lot of the housing on LI was built just after WWII for returning servicemen and their new families. Think capes and small ranches, even colonials, most with small kitchens, including older homes built in the 1930's.
White has not become popular here, unless it's a slightly dark cream color with glazing. Most popular for updating are dark stained cabinets, light granite, SS appliances with over the range microwave, and tile floor.
New construction cabinet color seems to be a mixed bag, from a quick look at builders' websites: light, dark, white all appear. Quartz hasn't caught on yet, granite still rules.

Southeast Florida - Oak still seems to be popular here with mid brown or beige granite or darkish (but not black) cabinets. Other than my own the only white kitchen I've seen here is an old one, built probably 30-40 years ago. I'm pretty sure it's not all that common (despite being in every magazine) because mine always draws comment from anyone who comes to the house. I've had at least four or five people blurt out "it looks like it's in a magazine!" Note my kitchen is not crazy big or fancy, I just think around here the only white/marble kitchens anyone has seen have been in magazines. I suspect there's a big one around here somewhere though. When I chose my quartzite slabs there was a special order of 8 marble slabs at the fabricator marked for a contractor that we worked with on our pantry project.

This post was edited by Christina222 on Fri, Aug 15, 14 at 21:06

I heard the local agent's "Home of the week" on the radio boasting "Korean" countertops. Corian is so cutting edge they don't even know how to say it! That is to say, we're about 30 years behind the trends here in MiddleOfNowhere, Ohio.

Even the highest price level around here (no more than about $450k) have golden oak, cathedral doors, and laminate counters. Stainless appliances are the main "upgrade" I see, but those are mostly cheap basic models with a silver-colored front, not true stainless.

Isn't it funny that it seems like what is on Houzz and in magazines isn't what reality is....oh the irony!
I think people here on Garden web hold themselves to high standards :)

In my Northern NJ Townhouse complex, anyone that has redone their kitchen in the past few years seems to be installing dark cherry cabinets with granite counters and tile floors. Those that did their kitchen renovations several years ago, used wood and lighter cabinets.

I still have my heart set on a white kitchen.

You made me look. I live in CO and ran a search looking at various kitchen design buisnesses, and an image search. Appears the white kitchen is about 20% with other colors mixed in (green). Primary options were wood of all designs. Modern, heavy ornate, standard wood, simple and dark counters. I am almost glad about changing the idea of painting cabinets white. My results though may be heavy on marketing the best of the best.

I am in a suburb of Minneapolis. Every year Midwest Homes hosts a luxury home tour. I toured about ten homes. It seems the trend was still a white or creamy white kitchen with a dark island. A lot of bluish/brown granite. For the most part, suburbs of Minneapolis are still traditional.