Kitchen Designers Dish on the Hot Trends High-End Homeowners are Embracing
Writer Jan Norris
Photos by: Carri Lager
Whoever said that kitchens would one day be obsolete clearly hasn’t observed the huge rooms given over to cooking and dining in new homes today.
Kitchens are still gathering spots and workplaces for the cooks, according to designers who specialize in creating the rooms for home builders.
But trends come and go where colors, textures and function figure in.
More often than not, the rooms are used for much more than cooking and serving. Beth Hales, owner and designer of Custom Cabinet Designs in Jupiter, said people still love to be where the action is. She’s currently designing kitchens in multi-million dollar homes in Admiral’s Cove.
“Center islands remain popular, especially those with seating,” she said. Guests can enjoy wine or a cocktail and watch the show as their meal takes shape. Many feature wine racks or refrigerated storage under them, along with wine serving ware.
Rooms are designed for attractive light, too, day and night, with sweeping windows or skylights to let in natural rays, and dramatic lighting that illuminates backsplashes from behind. Hanging fixtures on dimmers set a mood.
Designs overall are bolder and bigger for the larger rooms, such as big stove hoods encased in wood paneling to blend in, usually featuring beaded or reeded white oak.
“It’s a popular choice here in South Florida,” said Danya Uptegrove, a designer for Schrapper’s Fine Cabinetry in Jupiter. They work throughout the Jupiter-Tequesta area in both new and remodeled homes.
“They come down from the North, and want to get away from dark, heavy woods and overall, keep the rooms brighter.”
She said the neutral grays and whites of the minimalist trend a few years ago are giving way to warmer, organic hues.
“Colors are trending to natural and earth tones, but moodier ones, like deep sage, and terra cotta. They’re still mixing white in with these, but it’s the warmer whites, not the bright whites.”
Glossy finishes are out, she said. “They’re harder to maintain.”
Hales noted that cabinetry design still trends to the sleek. “Floating cabinets — they don’t go to the ceiling — and floating shelves are popular.”
Solid panels are used on the doors and drawers, and hardware is hidden — no hinges or handles are visible, leaving an unbroken visual line. “It’s uncluttered. Small appliances are behind doors, counters are open.”
But function remains a priority. Small drawers feature outlets and trays so electronics can charge out of sight. Another hides a roll of paper towels, with room behind it for boxed papers. Deep pull-outs hide trash and recycling bins; swing-out baskets in corner cabinets contain things like food storage boxes or pot lids.
“They want to hide everything,” Hales said, “Keep countertops clean, and clutter out of sight.”
Cabinets also go to the floor, with useable space never wasted. Their depth make them ideal for large platters and baking sheets, or they function as a step, used to reach the taller cabinets above.
“The toe-kicks are drawers; you use your foot to open them. You don’t have to bend down, so it leaves your hands free.”
Horizontal surfaces have changed as well, Hales said. Woods are cut horizontally to keep a linear look. Countertops are rift-cut oak — a popular choice, along with quartz, or quartzite, she said. Marble upkeep is tedious, so it’s out.
They’re thick-cut, too. “They have 2-inch, sometimes 3-inch thicknesses. It’s just for design.”
Uptegrove is seeing a newer trend in porcelain countertops. “Some have induction elements built underneath so cooks can utilize the linear space as a counter as well as a stove,” she said.
“Because it’s the contents of the pot that heat up, and not the element, you can put your hand directly on the countertop even when it’s cooking. People in condos and smaller kitchens love these — it gives them more working countertop space.”
Double-duty, high end appliances are trending, too, she said, with steam ovens a top seller.
“Anything to speed cooking,” Hales said.
In these, the kitchen can switch from baking bread to spa mode and steam towels or rocks for a yoga session. Washers and dryers are positioned in butler pantries as well, set just off the kitchen. These also feature small service sinks and storage.
Smaller appliances are hidden behind fold-up doors to blend in. Microwaves and dishwashers are now in drawers, often multiple units in one kitchen.
Function and easy-clean features work their way into details such as light switches, faucets, drawers and cabinets that are touchless and/or motion sensor activated.
Hales builds in conveniences and functional spaces whenever possible, and shows a knife drawer that features vertical storage among tiny, flexible rods of sharpening material.
“As you pull out your knife, the rods sharpen the blades,” she said.
Drawers for utensils and flatware have sliding trays that can be arranged to accommodate their contents. Vertical pull-out cabinets for spices, or drawers to stack them in for quick-reach are popular.
Faucets turn on with the wave of a hand. Over-thesink cutting boards and drain boards make the two-faucet sinks a prep workstation to free up more counter space.
While these high-end kitchens are designed for multi-million dollar homes, many of the features can be pulled for modest kitchens as well, Hales said. “We work in older homes and condos with small kitchens.
You can still outfit them with a lot of these features,” she said. Standard cabinetry sizes means most, though not all, will fit older homes.
She advises shopping for well-made products that will stand up to the usage a kitchen takes. As for trends, Hales said, “They come and go, but if you’re building to live
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