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I'm an Engineer by training and have always appreciated the near indestructibility of Stainless Steel... so for me... Stainless will always be a consideration...
As far a Granite goes... I've started to put it in my $1000 month 2 bedroom apartments as a marketing feature and so far it has been very well received... the cost is less than a $1000 a unit including double offset bowl sink and Moen Faucet... so maybe the original poster is right... Granite is becoming quite pedestrian...
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 04-30-2008 at 09:03 PM..
Well - my kitchen is old and needs to be redone but I am also thinking of resale down the road and want to make sure I dont pick something that looks old after I put it in. Personally I dont really care too much about kitchens but I know they are big selling features.
The one thing with granite and stainless is that they are neutrals--most granite anyway. If you stay in the tan, brown, black family of granite they go with everything. You can change wall color and floor color to easily upgrade the look. In the 80's and early 90's everything was about color-hunter green counters, tile or vinyl with color, etc. That ages a room fast. In the 70's when you had harvest gold or avocado green appliances, again, aged a room quickly.
Even today if you put in a blue granite, your kitchen will age much faster then if you put in a tan or black.
No matter what you choose - it will look dated someday. That happens to everything, be it clothes, hair style or kitchens.
I personally have a "granite fatigue". There is simply too much granite around (in U.S. kitchens) and it is installed everywhere, regardless whether it goes with the style of the house or not.
Maybe the next trend will be to hide appliance, like we do in modern European kitchens? You only see cooktop, hood and walloven/s, the rest is fully integrated and invisible.
My opinion is that any natural material, like granite, will never go out of style. The only exception to this I can think of is wood paneling, but even real high quality wood paneling can be acceptable today in some cases.
Stainless has been used in kitchens for decades and I think it reads as neutral, not trendy at all.
Maybe the next trend will be to hide appliance, like we do in modern European kitchens? You only see cooktop, hood and walloven/s, the rest is fully integrated and invisible.
ITA that all of the appliances being hidden will be the next trend. More & more I'm seeing kitchens in magazines that look less like a kitchen & more like a library...all you see is walls & walls of woodwork, their are chandeliers & cozy sitting areas. The look will be the opposite of the utilitan professional kitchen look that is so big right now.
I wonder when fancy kitchens will feature counters of polished kimberlite?
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