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Did you read the article? It clearly says white is a best seller: Based on the amount of times it was added to idea books, pinned for Pinterest, and amount seen in idea books.
That clearly does not show or prove actual total sales. Those stupid idea books do indeed show white way way more often then any other color. Because they probably take better pictures. Many of those kitchens are set up and staged for photgraphs and taken back down.
I'll still stand by the figures I read from the people who actually know because they tally sales figures given from all the cabinet manufacturers in Canada and America. White is very very small number of total North America sales. Off whites and any whites with glazes make a stronger showing. I pay a lot of money for some of these trade journals and I trust their numbers over a "for profit" kitchen magazine sold to the general public for entertainment purposes.
I too am seeing increased white cabinet sales quite honestly. That don't make for any trends. I can only say thank God that ugly shaker door with the dark dark dark browns are starting to show the end of a quick and go fad.
Like Hobokenkitchen, I've had dark wood, I've had light wood and I've had white more than once. To me, the type that's appropriate is not what's in fashion, it's what's appropriate for the style of the house.
One misconception about white kitchens I found having put them in two homes: white cabinets don't show wear or dirt any more than any other cabinet. If your cabinets are dirty, they're dirty and wood tones don't hide that. In fact, dark wood cabinets are likely to show scratches more obviously than white ones. I put white IKEA cabinets (appropriate for the price point of the house) in the first home I ever bought. I sold it 13 years later and the kitchen still looked so good the Realtor featured it in his ads. The new owner was shocked to find out the kitchen was as old as it was. He was also happily surprised to find that IKEA cabinets were so sturdy and showed virtually no wear after more than a decade.
I think white cabinets are most appropriate for traditional homes and homes where kitchens aren't open to more formal areas of the house, but in good design that's not always the case. They also work in really small kitchens that might be made more claustrophobic by dark colors. I like wood cabinets for arts and crafts houses and rustic homes. Country homes can go either way, but that's where I'd be most likely to suggest cabinets painted a color like green. Door styles also should match the style of the house. I'm now in a modern home so I chose a flat-paneled door. I put shaker cabinets in the arts and crafts home I remodeled but I hate that they're so ubiquitous. To me most uses signal signal, "I can't make up my mind."
Did you read the article? It clearly says white is a best seller: Based on the amount of times it was added to idea books, pinned for Pinterest, and amount seen in idea books.
That clearly does not show or prove actual total sales. Those stupid idea books do indeed show white way way more often then any other color. Because they probably take better pictures. Many of those kitchens are set up and staged for photgraphs and taken back down.
I'll still stand by the figures I read from the people who actually know because they tally sales figures given from all the cabinet manufacturers in Canada and America. White is very very small number of total North America sales. Off whites and any whites with glazes make a stronger showing. I pay a lot of money for some of these trade journals and I trust their numbers over a "for profit" kitchen magazine sold to the general public for entertainment purposes.
Ah yes - it was you who claimed no one was putting in white kitchens and sales of white cabinets were practically non existent. I remember you!
I think I was very clear in my post that these were the most popular based on how often the kitchen was pinned. Why are you asking me if I read the article? Also just out of interest what makes people saving inspiration photos 'stupid'?
When we redo a kitchen I go through and save all sorts of inspiration pictures to try and get ideas. I don't get what is stupid about idea books.
One thing that jumps out at me in your post though - do you classify white kitchens separately from off white kitchens or white kitchens with glaze? If you have separated them out like that then I will finally buy your blanket statement argument that white kitchens don't sell. Because there are so many different whites. To me if it's white/ off white/ white with glaze, it's a white cabinet. If you're putting shades of white into different categories and just picking one for your statistics then what you are saying becomes marginally more believable... although I'm not sure why you would look at it that way.
Finally if a kitchen is being photographed for a magazine - of course it's staged! A leafy vegetable here and a vase of flowers there may enhance the photos but it doesn't change the underlying kitchen. Just as easy to stage and photograph a wood toned kitchen as a white one. So how does that affect anything?
One misconception about white kitchens I found having put them in two homes: white cabinets don't show wear or dirt any more than any other cabinet. If your cabinets are dirty, they're dirty and wood tones don't hide that. In fact, dark wood cabinets are likely to show scratches more obviously than white ones.
I also find this to be true. We have white perimeter cabinets in our new kitchen and a walnut island. The island shows dirt and dust far more than the white. I love it though so to me the wood is worth the extra cleaning , but I also find the white far more forgiving of dirt and dust.
I think that kitchen design has more to do with the space than the color. Nearly any color will work in some applications. A kitchen needs to be designed with the individual space in mind, not a predetermined cabinet color.
I don't care for white kitchens in general, but there are some spaces where white looks great. I also prefer dark cabinets over light in general, but in one house we put in light cabinets because the space was small and not as light as I would have liked. So the light cabinets worked well there.
Just got our new door samples to update our selection center for 2013. 4 doors- 2 woodgrains, 1 gray shade, and one "greenish-cream color. No whites or off-whites in this batch.
I know 3 data points mean nothing, but 2 of my coworkers and myself are all installing white/ slightly off white kitchen cabinets (mine is only the island) but my 2 co-workers are the whole kitchen.
Oh I remember that original thread well. It went on for a long time.
I really think that it does depend on what part of the country you are in and the predominant style of home in that area. Here in New England white ( or shades of it) is the most popular in upscale kitchen remodels. We just did a major remodel and expansion of our kitchen and I had a lengthy discussion on this with our kitchen designer. She said that most of the kitchens they do now feature painted cabinets in white, cream or another similar color. She said it has been that way for years and seems to keep staying that way. Here in NE, people are more traditional and less likely to go with the latest trend in cabinet style and color.
She said no one is doing the dark stained cabinets that seem to be popular now and she is glad since she knows they will be out of style in a short amount of time. She remind me that this color was in style in the 70's and people look back on them a groan. That said I agree with her and do love our timeless cream with a green island kitchen. It looks stunning and fits well into our traditional New England colonial home. JMHO, Jay
Oh I remember that original thread well. It went on for a long time.
I really think that it does depend on what part of the country you are in and the predominant style of home in that area. Here in New England white ( or shades of it) is the most popular in upscale kitchen remodels. We just did a major remodel and expansion of our kitchen and I had a lengthy discussion on this with our kitchen designer. She said that most of the kitchens they do now feature painted cabinets in white, cream or another similar color. She said it has been that way for years and seems to keep staying that way. Here in NE, people are more traditional and less likely to go with the latest trend in cabinet style and color.
She said no one is doing the dark stained cabinets that seem to be popular now and she is glad since she knows they will be out of style in a short amount of time. She remind me that this color was in style in the 70's and people look back on them a groan. That said I agree with her and do love our timeless cream with a green island kitchen. It looks stunning and fits well into our traditional New England colonial home. JMHO, Jay
^^^^Yep. When my husband and I were looking for our first house we always seemed to find the gem with the 70's dark walnut kitchen. All the homes in our price range had them. Sigh. So that is what we ended up with and ripped it out asap. We installed a white kitchen. Then our second home hunt revolved around the golden oak phase. Then our last home revolved around pickled oak. I just prefer the look of white or painted cabinets. Its more my style. I do like cherry though.
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