Cabinets Rich in Color and Sleek in Style Allow Homeowners to Express Their IndividualityMixing it Up

The names of Merillat's new cabinet stains and glazes make you want to sit at the kitchen table sipping something rich and dark: Cognac. Cabernet. Kaffe. Espresso.

On the manufacturer's kitchen cabinets, those colors are rich and dark, and they're selling well among home buyers who are opting, as Paul Radoy, manager of design services for Merillat and Quality Cabinets, explains, for "dark, dark oak and dark, dark maple—a Pottery Barn kind of look" in their kitchens. "Even ebony isn't that dark."

The wood cabinets, which are stained, painted, or layered with glazes to achieve the swarthy shades, are newly popular with homeowners who pair them with deep-colored walls, pitch-black granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances.

"A lot of it has to do with something different," says Radoy. "People have gotten tired of seeing the same thing in every kitchen."

Renton, Wash., custom builder Bill Schaefer agrees. "People are tired of the white, and the white-on-white has been popular for so long," says the owner of Homestead Homes. "There's getting to be more color in the kitchens, and the darker, the better."

Furniture Feel
Buyers are opting for kitchen cabinets that look more like their living room furniture, with pieces that coordinate but aren't necessarily identical in size, color, or species.

"It's a whole movement because of the opening up of the kitchen into the living areas," says John Troxell, director of design for Wood-Mode. "You're seeing everything from basic one-step stains to multi-step finishes that are what you would expect on furniture."

Likewise, says Troxell, more homeowners are opting for simple, clean lines on their kitchen cabinets, and minimal hardware. "A lot of cabinetry is taking on looks similar to contemporary furniture pieces," he says.

Traditional looks remain strong, but contemporary styles are picking up in popularity, says Troxell, who estimates that modern cabinet styles accounted for around 10 percent of sales four years ago but account for as much as 25 percent today.

At the same time, "eclecticism is very hot," notes Dave Heigl, a kitchen designer and vice president of Orren Pickell Designers & Builders in Lincolnshire, Ill.

"People aren't afraid of mixing styles," agrees Troxell. "They don't mind putting contemporary cabinets in a more traditional room or vice versa. It depends on their own taste."