Fine fit: from stock to custom, kitchen cabinetry is taking on the look of furniture

Building Products, March-April, 2003 by Katy Tomasulo

As the focus on design increases, kitchen cabinets no longer appear to be stamped from cookie cutters. From stock to custom lines, from applied moldings to freestanding pieces, there's a movement toward cabinets that look like furniture.

Choices abound, with both traditional and contemporary styles still popular Plus, many high-end cabinet manufacturers are offering a variety of freestanding units made from or modeled after antiques (see "Private Islands," p. 80).

"What you are seeing, I think, is a very strong architectural/interior design-oriented interest, which runs the gamut from old world to contemporary;' says John Troxell, design director for Wood-Mode. "It's a combination of furniture detailing and architectural detailing. Both of those are very strong."

Many of the latest kitchen cabinetry lines offer the look of furniture with options such as molding, feet, and valance details, says Merillat's product manager, Faith Allen. Generation-Xers, Allen says, are searching for the looks of their childhood kitchens, but with their own spin. In semi-custom and stock, this often means units that are built in but appear freestanding and/or that break up the room by separating runs of cabinets.

"It's not the unfitted kitchen of 10 years ago, where everything is freestanding," explains Troxell. "It's where furniture-type elements are incorporated into islands, but the exterior [kitchen] walls have a more traditional approach."

COLOR CUES

Real furniture also is driving color trends, Troxell says. Wood-Mode, for example, followed trends from high-end design companies like Ralph Lauren for darker and multistep finishes. Semi-custom and stock cabinet manufacturers are drawing inspiration from trendy retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn. Evidence of this also is showing up in bathroom fixtures, as in Kohler's furniturelike, dark-wood Barbara Barry collection.

The latest hues include an array of brown tones that sport mouthwatering names, from mocha and cappuccino to toffee and chocolate. Distressing techniques and specialty finishes offer additional methods of differentiation for custom buyers.

And while oak remains the most popular species choice for most kitchens, maple and cherry are gaining ground quickly, especially in higher-end and custom lines.

CUSTOM TOUCHES

Like in a lot of product categories, many trends trickle down from high end custom styles into stock cabinetry lines. And that process is taking less time than it used to, says Rod Brewer, product manager for stock producer Mid Continent Cabinetry. "The trickle down used to take, from a custom to a stock, about seven or eight years," he says. "I'd say that trickle down is happening in a two- to three-year time frame [now]," thanks to larger companies and a faster pace in general.

Brewer says entry-level and move-up buyers looking at stock cabinetry are keeping design in mind more and more. It's yet another trend driven by mainstream home decor offerings, where styles and designs that used to require a richer budget are becoming more obtainable.

"Now, you see Martha Stewart products in Kmart, you see Ralph Lauren paints at [The] Home Depot," Brewer says. "The whole concept of the [Chrysler] PT Cruiser and the [New] Beetle from Volkswagen is design-oriented at a price point. Design's gotten pushed down to all price points."