I have to go to bed, it is getting past my bedtime, and I am only half through the thread. Take a look, I think you will be pleased, amused, astonished, enlightened.....all that an more.

I am having fun reading it, hope you enjoy it too.

What I like about all this discussion, over on kitchens, is the opinions expressed by the folks I consider the PROS in the kitchen trend field. They've done a lot of kitchens, seen a lot of styles come and go, and are still working at it.

I personally like the whitewashed look, or painted wood, and no matter what anyone says the LATEST thing is, I'm planning a basic and personalized room which functions like I want, with a nod to conventions that can keep the house sellable in the future. And like they say, if you are going to be in a house for more than 10 years, any new owner will probably change something about the important spaces anyway.

I like your kitchen, and the appliances too. You've made some good choices. Your rollout drawers are my all time favorite thing in any kitchen.

I think in those houses, we are going to see more Formica, stainless steel, etc. I think they'll still offer granite, but since it's harder to qualify for loans now, I think people will buy the house with the builder's basics so they can into the house, thinking they will upgrade later.

I guess it depends on where you are. Around here all new construction has granite as a builders basic, for two reasons: 1. It can be the cheapest countertop there is (except maybe wood), comparable with some of the more deluxe formicas in cost, and 2. Nobody at all is buying new housing and they need something as a come-on, and since people who haven't shopped for granite don't know how cheap it's gotten, so it still looks "upscale" to many buyers.

When you can pick up an unlived-in 3/3/2 for under 70K and the cheapest new construction is about three times that, you need something to persuade people to buy your new house instead of the foreclosure. In my area I don't see the economic situation changing for the better any time soon, so this is likely a long-term trend hereabouts.

Here, housing developments are popping up everywhere. I drove through one just a few minutes ago and only saw one house under construction but there are a lot that have been completed lately and have the developers sign out front. Some of the housing developments are more cookie cutter looking than others. In some, I swear every house looks identical, and in others, the same plan is only repeated every 4th or 5th house. I keep wondering where all these people are coming from!

As white painted cabinets became all the rage, at first I felt flattered because I was 'ahead' of the trend, then it turned to dread as they got overly popular. I guess the next thing is they will go back to being dated, and fall from favor.

My big hope is that maybe if white kitchens do get trendy enough (they aren't around here--nobody paid much attention to Somthing's Gotta Give) there will be better options for white appliances that don't look as cheap as many of the current offerings.

I feel comfortable with white trim around the house, and white for cabinets too. Then a nice pale cheerful wall color. Even the countertops, I COULD go with dark, or a finished butcherblock top, but the lighter Silestone is tops in my book. The Stellar Snow quartz which has flecks of gray in it, oh my it looks so good. The gray and yellow and white, together, make a lovely combination. This is what DH has in his cottage kitchen, with a speckled black/gray/white 12" square granite tile floor. You can do anything you want with that setup.

It is hard to find the dirt on the Stella Snow and I'm always surprised to wipe up as much as I do. Just does not show. And then on the floor, the darker broken color of the granite tiles, same thing, but I don't like the hard surface--it is not forgiving of dropped glassware or china, breaks and is hard to find the pieces. When we are doing our Alabama kitchen, I've decided to just put Bellawood ash throughout, including the kitchen. That 100 year warranty cannot be beat, and the wood will just flow all through the house.

As Jay/FlGargoyle says, I was originally pleased when the stylists rediscovered the white kitchen. But now we're coming through this cycle.....a bit quickly as far as I'm concerned....and they are going in another direction. But this is where we part ways with STYLE, because I'm still "lost in the fifties" or whatever decade that white came into the kitchen.

For me, it's a white kitchen, blue Arborite countertop on one side, maybe wood on the other (not by the sink) and antique brass hardware. I love blue, but it's too cold for the walls, so I like blue accents with soft yellow/gold walls. Of course, we have much longer winters, here in eastern Washington, than in Florida (LOL)

I'd like to see some nicer white appliances, too. Something a little more sleek (like some of the stainless steel) now, that would be nice!

I know resale is important to some. But........... this is our last house. I am doing what I always wanted to do to all the other houses we owned where I did have to care about resale. Let the animal shelter worry about reselling this house when I die cause it is going to be theirs to deal with.For now I am going to live in it to the hilt. My hilt.

Well, I can totally understand not liking tile, but I don't understand that at all. I have tile throughout the downstairs area and all it takes is a quick vacuum, and once in a great while, running a damp mop over it (I've done it about twice in five years--vacuuming works--more often in the kitchen, of course).

Personally I think it's easier than vinyl (grit sticks more to the softer surface), which I also like and plan to put in the upstairs baths when I get around to doing those. I can think of lots of reasons not to like tile, but upkeep isn't one.

Two words- Dark grout.

BTW, you know there's vinyl now that you grout?

Jay, our current tile is white, so white grout. But I am seriously considering TrafficMaster Allure laid on top of it. I think I'm going to see if they will sell one strip of it so I can walk on it awhile and see if it really doesn't sink into the grout lines.

I really love the look of tiles like ML has. And a friend put large tiles in her house and they are gorgeous. Both live in warmer climates than we do here. I wonder if tiles would be colder than vinyl in cold climates?

Definitely. My in-laws had tile in their house in the TX panhandle where temps drop below freezing, and on trips there in winter, I had to put house shoes on at night to go to the bathroom. Here, I can't tell much difference in the tile in summer or winter. But we are also on slab here and our ground temps stay warmer in winter. They were on pier & beam.