"Granite is not mentioned anymore."

Of course it isn't. And as soon as we all get Quartz, Quartz won't be mentioned anymore either.

:-)

I kind of think some of these things sound like 2010, too. I don't think satin nickel is an earth shaking announcement, or glass tile either. People were doing those in design school 10+ years ago. I think these are some kind of casual survey results but not based on any kind of hard sales data.

But at least they are talking about general trends (the decrease in spending, and transitional designs) rather than saying that just because something like satin nickel is trending, that oil rubbed bronze is "out". Its not really a judgmental article in that respect.

Here is my question. After searching these forums and seeing nothing to speak of BUT white cabinet after white cabinet, wont it become a dated look quickly when everyone moves on to the next fad?

I am not knocking anyone's kitchen or their design choices. Far from it. They are all beautiful. However, there are many, many kitchens that look identical. This article gives a nod to that fact, stating that everyone comes in with the same pictures wanting the same design throughout the year. Isn't that exactly the type of thing that makes something look very dated quickly?

So, do you go for what is in for the year or steer clear of what is the current fad? I am more curious of others thinking on this and if anyone in the world thinks along the same lines I do.

Of course all the white kitchens will become dated, but so will the cherry kitchens and the dark brown kitchens and the...well, you get the point. The industry is very good at making sure that when the same things come back again they have to be a little different every time--the cathedral arch is rich and luxurious-looking! the cathedral arch is shamefully dated--you must have shaker, etc.

There is nothing you can do that won't date, but there are only a certain number of finishes for kitchens, so no, I don't think white per se will date--it's been around since before the turn of the last century, after all. But your white kitchen and my white kitchen, yep, the next owners will be desperate to update 'em, even if to another white kitchen. That's how marketing works.

The designer quoted under the Quartz counter section seems to say choose quartz if you don't have the tolerance for natural stone.

I wouldn't say that quartz has soul - but that's probably just me.

I wouldn't say that quartz has soul - but that's probably just me.

Countertops don't have soul

People do:)

I have a fundamental problem with saying a particular color or design is dated because there are so many of them. It would be one thing if we all wore the same outfit everywhere we went. OMG, they're all the same! They are so dated!!!

It's a good thing our kitchens are not on the outside of our houses for all to see at once. We'd drive down the street and after seeing so many of the same things we'd probably want to kill ourselves.

Besides my friends and a few thousand strangers on GW, nobody knows what my kitchen looks like. Actually, it looks like my kitchen, not anyone else's white kitchen with dark counters. Am I mad that so many people have something similar? Not really.

deeageaux- I completely agree. The article said the kitchens of 2013 with the quartz counters have soul. Huh?

"In kitchens with a small footprint, glass tiles, quartz counters and dish drawers are adding sparkle and practicality. The kitchen of 2013 has soul."

I took soul to mean heart, nourishment, vitality, as in the "heart of the home", which, btw, is the same for all preceding and succeeding years.

I don't know when the idea that you could identify when something was completed became such a bad thing.

But the answer to this is to do something that will confound the ability to say "2013" -- put something in that is distinctly out of fashion. You will still be able to say what decade the appliances are from though.

What's next? Are we going to remove the facades from houses because we can tell they are from the 1990s McMansion -Mini-McMansion era? Buy houses with Snap-On Facades, and put a new one on every 7 years?

In this house I am planning on doing the kitchen and baths exactly Once, no matter how long I stay here, so whatever it looks like when it's done is just how it's going to look. I am trying to refer to 1963 without recreating it, so it won't say 2014, specifically, but I don't doubt there will be some telling details.

Saying White Kitchens will be dated is like saying blue jeans will be dated or a little black dress will be dated.

Certain items are classic. Of course the details change, but white has always been appropriate for a kitchen.

I'm just hoping "SUV style" ranges and stoves go away. I never understood spending $8k+ on a stove, when most of the country is over weight and eating way too much.

I agree Pal. We bought this home over sixteen years ago and I just redid my kitchen. It was a total Reno. I read here that in five to sevens years I will need a new kitchen to stay current. Really? There is no way that I would redo my kitchen in fifteen years. I love it now and I will love it then. Besides my next stop will be a retirement home and I'll be darned if I will care about a kitchen. I will be demanding breakfast in bed!

I'm re-doing my kitchen right now. If I'm in the same place in 15 years, I'll re-do it again. No kitchen is timeless. Appliances die, cabinets get worn, and eventually it'll be time to fix.

I've been saying for years that the majority of granite looks dated to the late 90s and early 2000s. You only need to look at Europe and Australia to get a sense of where kitchen design is headed; we seem to always be behind in the US.

Just gotta run faster on that wheel is all. Faster...!

I agree with Pal, too. For my next kitchen, between my early 1940s range, liking for hand-painted new-tech drawers and pullouts, collection of old and new cookbooks, yearning for stainless steel counters, preference for windows and curtains over uppers, and art as a happy alternative to the hottest new $100/sq foot tile, I suspect the era'll be smudged sufficiently too. Anything accidentally in style will pass out soon enough. :)

the post by the guru Deeageaux should become a sticky, and repeated whenever anyone asks the question, "Will this be dated?"

"Anything accidentally in style will pass out soon enough."

too funny.

I've done my kitchen the way I like it. I didn't do granite because all the granite I saw was too busy for my taste and I wanted something simple, so I went with quartz. Don't know if it's in or if it's out (I've read both right here on GW) and don't care.

I bought a giant refrigerator because that's what I want and that is what is useful to me. I am having it paneled because I don't love stainless steel and stainless steel loves fingerprints.

Pretty sure the microwave drawer is going to be the thing that ends up "dating" the kitchen in the long run, but for $700, the amortization will have been sufficient to allow me to feel comfortable replacing it with the newest floating microwave whatever.

Will my kitchen look "dated"? It probably already looks dated (and it's not even done) to someone who doesn't share my rustic aesthetic. But for as long as MY taste doesn't change too drastically, I imagine the bones of the kitchen will be just fine for the long haul. :)