above: Kitchen millwork shimmers in a high-gloss wine red from Fine Paints of Europe in a Manhattan apartment designed by Nick Olsen.
For more than a century, kitchens have evolved steadily. Victorian models were no-nonsense workspaces buried in the basement or in the back of the house and operated by servants. During the first half of the 20th century, they thrived in cheerful rooms where housewives prepared three meals a day while keeping an eye on their children. After World War II, a yearning for sociability and a thirst for efficiency led to kitchens that opened up into surrounding rooms, with islands that housed appliances as well as storage space lost when the walls were pulled down.
And that’s pretty much the story of today’s kitchens. The question is, when will the white kitchen trend finally die? “People are so attached to this light and airy thing, which ultimately bothers me because it doesn’t need to be everything light and airy,” says designer Danielle Colding, who recently made one kitchen with cabinets painted a high-gloss yellow. “You need contrast. If everything is light, you won’t get far.”
“I think it’s cool to have a moody kitchen,” says designer Brittany Marum, who loves to mix wood accents like tambourine doors and oak hoods in her kitchens. “It is a greater pain to constantly maintain the white and marble cabinets.”
We got stuck in the white kitchen due to the confluence of influences. There is a belief that because of kitchens They are so central to our lives, they shouldn’t pose any danger to our nerves. There is a fear that the unique kitchen will affect the resale value of the home. And there is the Instagram phenomenon that some whites take on the totemic allure of the Parthenon.
But now the needle is finally moving. After two years of confinement, people haven’t given much thought to what the next owners might want in the kitchen and more about themselves. Or, as Colding put it: “They say, ‘This kitchen is mine, and I want to enjoy it. “
This situation results not only in greater visual audacity, but also in lower value. Designer Ernest de la Torre persuaded owners of an early-20th-century mansion in Tuxedo Park, New York, not to uproot a 1960s St. Charles kitchen but to paint the stainless-steel cabinets a turquoise. (The wooden floor was also painted.) “It’s their favorite room in the entire house,” he says.
Emma Burrell says she sees design clients drawn to “living” materials like stone and wood that “will age.” These people have dealt with stained and broken marble and the idea that “your home should look more like home”.
For perfections looking for alternatives to natural stone, there is a world of cutting edge engineered quartz slabs from companies like Caesarstone and Cambria, which are highly stain and scratch resistant and come in a variety of colors and finishes.
Devices from brands such as Sub-Zero, Wolf and LG are high-tech. And for color lovers, the vintage Big Chill stove comes in pastel green with brushed brass trim, and Bertazzoni clusters are covered in elegant automotive paint inspired by Italian racing cars. “La Cornue used to be one of the only brands that offered fun and colorful ranges, and now it’s expanded tenfold,” Colding says.
For all these developments, one type of modern kitchen goes back to the Victorian era. De la Torre says more of his clients are requesting secret chef kitchens for private chefs to prepare meals. Because these spaces often occupy a basement, he added, “the old-fashioned food elevators are back.”
Outdoor Kitchens 101
In the 2021 Survey of Kitchen Trends by the American Institute of Architects, outdoor kitchens topped the list of popular features. Advice for those hopping around in the camper:
Consider the material
Teak looks natural for cabinets, says designer Brittany Marum, but it is weathered and needs rest every year.
Consider the fun
“I made one recently with a pink tap,” Emma Burrell recalls.
Consider management
Are you constantly cutting supplies from the inside? Designer Ernest de la Torre says that an outdoor kitchen that can store what you need may not have been invented yet.
This story originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of ELLE DECOR. Participate
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