Kitchens: what will be the next trend?

[LakieLady]

We're going to have a new kitchen next year and, as we hope to sell up and move within the next couple of years, want to put in something that will be attractive to buyers rather than what we would choose for ourselves.

I think we have reached peak grey, so that will look dated by the time we sell, and doubt my ability to keep a high gloss finish free of fingermarks, so prefer a painted finish.

What does the MN hive mind think will be the next kitchen trend?

Kitchen is 16' x 10', and not very light, as the garden is higher than the house, iyswim.

Shaker kitchen, traditional will never date.

Would opt for a sage farrow and ball-sequel shade, something like the dark blue that is current will date quicker.

Wood tops beautiful but upkeep essential, for easy use a quartz top x

I'm really opinionated with interiors - I drive myself insane

I'm setting up an 'I bought a grey kitchen and I love my grey kitchen soTHERE' support thread. Dark green? Navy????? How depressing!!! Love my cool light grey kitchen.

Pollyanna traditional style kitchens with traditional patterns.

If you are moving in the next 2 years I really would not bother replacing the kitchen. We moved into a house where the owners had just spent a fortune on a new kitchen. This was the main disadvantage of the house for us as it was not to our taste at all.

Everything else about the house was great though so we bought it anyway (at a discount) and then spent the next 10 years feeling that we wanted to rip the kitchen out. After 10 years use we finally felt we could replace it and are now just finishing installing our new kitchen.

The whole process of installing a new kitchen has also been pretty stressful so I would only do it if you are planning to stay.

Whatever you do, don't get a solid wood worktop. They need regular sanding and oiling and show every dent and scratch. I'm really careful yet mine looks like it's been subjected to a frenzied attack! Plus you can even see DH's signature where he signed a document on top of it

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

Agree! Had one in our first house. It rotted out around the sink. So difficult to keep nice.

@EmpressoftheMundane DH is looking after it well, so no rotting. However, based on a recent thread about worktops, it seems to be a fairly common issue.

It had a few dark spots around the sink when we bought the place. We tried sanding and piling. It it just got worse. Maybe it’s one of those things where it’s hard to save the situation once it starts slipping.

Piling?

Oiling!

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

Whatever you do, don't get a solid wood worktop. They need regular sanding and oiling and show every dent and scratch. I'm really careful yet mine looks like it's been subjected to a frenzied attack! Plus you can even see DH's signature where he signed a document on top of it

I agree. Ours fades so dh re-oils it. If you’re not careful, you get ‘rings’ left by wet bowls or glasses.

really hope the next 'trend' will be people choosing kitchens that they like and want to live with for the next 50 years, instead of getting them re-done every time they get bored for 5 seconds.

Yes me too.

@EmpressoftheMundane

Agree *@Goosefoot*. Sadly most of us inherit a mid range kitchen from the previous owner. And they just don’t last. Chip board cabinets break down etc. An original 1930s kitchen would be amazing.

Yes, it's like appliances, they could be made to last, but they aren't. And it's just so wasteful. All you can do is try and use the best quality you can so it will last but that is not always easy to accomplish.

I do feel though that if people could at least get over looking for the latest trend, it would help overall - they want us to believe that kitchens have to be redone every 15, even every 10 years, so we won't try and demand something better.

My question to everyone having new kitchens with wall cupboards at the mo is: What have you done about the gap between the cupboards and the ceiling? IME in other houses it's always been a horror show up there with dust and grease and sometimes things bunged up there to forget about hmm Has anyone closed the gap? Was it easy?

Yes, it's much better to close the gap. You don't need to make the cupboards higher, you just need to enclose the space with a sofit. If you google the term and look at the images you wll see all kinds of examples.

You'd best google soffit, really, if you want to have useful results!

We just had floor to ceiling cupboards. You do need a chair to get to the top ones but they are useful for long term storage e.g Christmas decorations.

If Australia's the Block is anything to go by, curved island benches, white, wood and bright colors. :D

Well our new kitchen is obviously hideously out of fashion already but we love it. Grey gloss drawer units and cupboards. Super easy to clean and I'm not someone who loves cleaning. As few as possible wall units, a couple of shelves with off cut from worktop with recipe books and plants, wooden work surface. Again, easy to look after, just wipe round sink regularly. Have what you like. We'll be keeping this for 15 years plus hopefully. A couple of bright walls but would be easy to paint over to change the look totally if we ever sold.

You can't really go wrong with off white teamed with a natural material worktop, granite or solid wood. We put in our kitchen in 2001. Pine with granite tops. We had a joiner renovate it and he painted doors. It looks lovely.

Thank you.

One side of the room will be almost completely floor to ceiling with a tall corner larder, full length fridge, full length freezer, two eye level oven housings and a tall cupboard. Island in the middle. The other side is/will be a U shape of base units (all drawers) and i can't decide what to do up above this. It was automatic to assume i'd have a U of wall cabinets, but now i've read these threads and i'm wondering if i need them and if it would be better not to, less crowded looking. I must have at least one wall cabinet mind you as that's going to be where the boiler hides ... in one corner of the U. So i guess i'll need a real cupboard in the opposite corner for symmetry ... hmm Then if i add soffits to those it might look odd?

I'm thinking of asking DH to build me a fake chimney breast over the hob, which is in the center of the U. That will take up some air space between the single cupboards. Not one which comes down low enough to interfere with counter space, but something which hides the extractor and looks like a chimney. Anyone else done this??

He'll be so happy when i tell him i've thought of something else ..... not! But this is the idea stage and this is when you need to have the ideas!

My friend has a Victorian terrace with long gloomy kitchen.
Her kitchen is lovely. Pale cream cupboards, bright daffodil yellow walls, big mirror high up but tilted slightly so reflecting light in from the one window, mock oak laminate worktop (no idea where it came from as previous owners fitted it, but really looks like wood but isn't). Really feels sunshine-y and light. She has a yellow kettle and toaster, yellow coffee cups. Looks really warm and welcoming.

Whatever you do, don't get a solid wood worktop. They need regular sanding and oiling and show every dent and scratch. I'm really careful yet mine looks like it's been subjected to a frenzied attack! Plus you can even see DH's signature where he signed a document on top of it hmm.

OSMO Oil is your friend; it goes on like an oil and hardens into a wax-like finish (very subtle) and is heat resistant to >200 degrees - I regularly put hot pans straight down, and you can drown the surface in water and it just beads off. I lightly sand once a year and apply another coat. I have it on the garden furniture too, it keeps it waterproof all year

I hate grey but love shaker wood cupboards with the tbar handles and multi coloured tiled splash backs

I dont like heaps of colour but some

@wink1970

Whatever you do, don't get a solid wood worktop. They need regular sanding and oiling and show every dent and scratch. I'm really careful yet mine looks like it's been subjected to a frenzied attack! Plus you can even see DH's signature where he signed a document on top of it hmm.

OSMO Oil is your friend; it goes on like an oil and hardens into a wax-like finish (very subtle) and is heat resistant to >200 degrees - I regularly put hot pans straight down, and you can drown the surface in water and it just beads off. I lightly sand once a year and apply another coat. I have it on the garden furniture too, it keeps it waterproof all year

I don't think I've put enough osmo on my worktops tbh going by this! The water doesn't bead with mine! How much do you use out of interest? I was very cautious as it said too much and it will leave a white residue

Hi @cosmo30

I put 3 coats on, the first with a paint brush quite thick then let completely dry (overnight) before find sanding any lines out, then 2 thinner coats using a lint-free cloth. I keep up to it once a year, sometimes just round the sink where it gets a pounding.

Funnily enough, I have just re-done mine from scratch for the first time in 5 years - I took it all back to bare wood first as I had tipped some oven cleaner on it (it doesn't repel that!). It can look milky when it's drying but i have never had that finish: I use the matt version of this one

@wink1970 yeah that's the one I've got, used a lint free cloth but definately didn't put enough on 🤦🏼‍♀️ thank you!

Have a look at Fleur De Force's kitchen on Instagram, I think it is very timeless but looks fantastic. Probs cost a shit load of money though!