Kitchen that won’t date

[KingCatMeowInSpace]

About to start a kitchen renovation - been googling for weeks but not seen anything that makes me excited.

I don’t like gloss and in general I like playful, pops of colour type house stuff or industrial/edgy - don’t like white/cream or country kitchen or anything pretty/nice/pastel.

Dont want it to date otherwise I’d go for something very dark like navy with coloured handles. I think if I don’t want it to date then it has to be neutral but that’s not exciting to me.

Help please

Kitchens always date! I would just go for something you like with colour.

Why don't you go for really plain wooden cupboards and shelves with good quality corian worktops. Then you can paint the cupboards any colour you choose, depending on current trends. Hard for tiles not to date but metro tiles are fairly plain and classic.

I would say shaker is probably the best bet for not dating but that may be too country kitchen for you. Keep the units in a neutral colour and use colour on the walls- easier to change. It's also easy to change handles.

You could have a stainless steel professional kitchen (they don't date) and have your pops of colour in paint and accessories, which are easily changed.

A decent worktop will help it to not date.

It's not what you want but we have inframe shaker. It's wooden so can be painted if I get bored of the colour. Although non wooden ones can be rewrapped in future.

But I think everything will date to a certain extent so just go with something you like now.

Kitchens don't date, we just differ in what we like overtime, our minds changed by commercialism.

Saying that I think if the style of the kitchen matches the house this will continue to be the case and be less likely to be outdated. Think large Victorian/Georgian kitchen with appropriate kitchen, utilising original features, such as fire places and making the most of beautiful windows/doors or original floors.

My kitchen is 10 years old and has aged well. It has a neutral grey tile floor. pale oak shaker cabinets with steel handles, brushed steel kick plates, white quartz work tops and white walls, except the wall behind the cabinets which is turquoise.

I'll refurbish it this year, change the turquoise for another colour, and rewax the oak doors.

I also like good neutrals with a pop of colour 😊

We have a shaker kitchen (Victorian terraced house) which I love and don't think it looks dated? The cupboards are a cream colour which are starting to wear a bit but we are planning on having them all painted next summer. Ours is kind of like this..

Cream Shaker Kitchen

Neutral dates as much as anything else. Just go for something you like.
My current kitchen has just come back into fashion after 15 years. Simple wooden cupboards with chrome handles and an ordinary sink. We missed all the steel and gloss and skylights etc completely.

Kitchens always date.
Choose what you want then stick with it.
My parents' kitchen is 60 years old and ours is 30.

Shaker units that you can paint to suit evolving tastes.

This ^

Over the past twenty-eight years we've lived in six period houses and have fitted variations of an in-frame, shaker style kitchen with wood/granite/microcement worktops in all of them. As far as I'm aware from looking at Rightmove/Zoopla sales history from most recent sales, the kitchens we put in are still in situ (one has been extended into the adjacent room, another had been repainted a different colour, one has added a larger island and aga).

The cottage we bought a year ago still had the 1960s kitchen from when it was last renovated. This included some solidly built, timber in-frame drawers which we're incorporating into our new kitchen - albeit changing them from white to burgundy/pink. We've relocated the kitchen into a more characterful room with period fireplace too.

Imo, kitchens like this can - theoretically - last forever, just changing the cabinet colour as and when your tastes change.

Saw this wall/floor tile - think could look good? https://www.tiles-direct.com/wall-tiles-c26/bristol-brick-tiles-c3079/bristol-dark-brick-6cm-x-25cm-wall-floor-tile-per-box-p2229

All kitchens will date. I was told, 4 years ago, on here that navy kitchens are “out”. But I love the look so went with it. The likelihood of the next person buying your home loving your kitchen is slim but designing it with them in mind is mad.

I like blue and was thinking blue units but maybe like some of you say, wooden look units would be better then can add colour with the tiles/splashback hmm- don’t want wood that needs looked after though with waxing n water marks.

Blue and wood?

Just choose what you like now, stop thinking about the future of the kitchen. I installed my kitchen 12 years ago, loved it at the time but it is still in mint condition and I am bored of the unit colour. I will probably have it professionally wrapped next year with a colour that compliments the worktop and then change the flooring. You could choose a wooden kitchen, have whatever colour you want and then in years to come, paint it another colour.

I am probably going sage green, I don't care if some random kitchen selling promoter tells everyone "what's new" I am the one walking into it every day.

This is our 5th house in almost 30 years. I have decorated and chosen so many colours, carpets, rugs, curtains, bedding, tiles, flooring but I know what I like and what I want. Just because something is "dated" does not mean it needs to be replaced or changed if you like it. My best friend hates my cloakroom wallpaper, admittedly it is in your face but then I don't like her taste in anything. The difference is, I have never said anything other than that is lovely.

Nice or not?

I saw this fab kitchen in a for sale listing recently and screenshotted. I think it's really cool but also timeless and might match your taste from. What you've said above

I think it's very nice but will date pretty quickly unless you live in a very modern, or potentially sixties style, house. I agree with the PP who said that a kitchen in a style that matches the house won't date too much.

When we were doing our house, I tried to ask myself on almost every decision, whether I would have liked it ten years ago and did I see myself liking it ten years in the future, which meant it ruled out almost everything that was very trendy, even if I liked it in the moment.

@newrubylane thanks for screenshot- I like it. Looks like it’s not something you’d tire off as quite neutral but can add pop of colour on the walls. Thanks

Nice tile for walls?

I don't like it, but do you? That's what matters.

It's quite a different look from the kitchen you posted above (I think those walls were micro cement or tadelakt).

Agree. We are in the same position, although we are going for something fun with colour. I think anything will date, but if you like it, that's what matters. Our old kitchen was boring developer installed Howdens white MDF laminated doors with laminated chipboard worktops. This time we want something different.

After much research, we are about to order plywood units laminated with some fun Formica yellow/green colours from here https://cnccreations.co.uk/.

They are much cheaper than the fancy Plywood kitchen companies for the units, although you need to come up with your own plan.

They don't advertise the colours available on the website, but having called them we found they will make everything to our own specification.

They are even asking us a bespoke corner unit to fit into the 86.5 degree angle in the corner of our kitchen.

We are now trying to decide on worktops. We have some time to consider this as lead time is 7 to 8 weeks. Having taken most of our old kitchen out we are kind of camping out in there, including organising plumber, electrician, plasterer to do various things before we paint.

Our worktop options have basically been narrowed down to matt sanded stainless steel or Corian. My heart wants the stainless steel, but it will be more expensive so we'll have to fit it ourselves to stick to our budget. DH might have had enough of DIY by then, it's hard to fit it all in at weekends when we're both working full time, but at least both DS are now at uni.

What are you thinking of for worktops? And when you see pictures of kitchens, what do you actually like? I looked at DIY kitchens and I just didn't like any of the styles they offer. I wanted to find something that suits my style.

Look at Nolte kitchens- I love industrial and was settling for bog standard kitchen from Magnet then walked past their showroom - amazing quality and styles! They had concrete style doors, wood texture doors- their kitchens fit with industrial although no pops of colour- you can choose colour though. I love it, just ordering the Neo lodge darkened oak with soft lack on a taupe colour, in the final stages of design.