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

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Standing Out
The quest for kitchens that reflect individuals' taste, says Andy Wells, senior director of product design and merchandising for MasterBrand, is driving the popular new styles.

"There is much more color and a lot more capability with product lines to create a very individual solution" than ever before, Wells says. He advises builders to offer lots of kitchen cabinet options so they don't "pigeonhole" people. Instead, he urges, "Show them how to use eclecticism to create a kitchen that makes an individual statement."

That's the goal of The Estridge Cos., Indiana's largest custom home builder, whose new design studio offers buyers a choice of 85 cabinet door styles.

"Most definitely, one size doesn't fit all," says Jaimie Maple, the builder's director of purchasing.

Troxell endorses that approach. "Home builders really need to recognize they will sell more homes if they show [buyers] how to personalize the cabinetry," he says. Most production builders, he says, are sticking with tried-and-true medium-hued oak or maple cabinets, all one style, in the kitchens of tract homes.

Bellevue, Wash., kitchen designer Richard Landon urges builders to think of what happens in the kitchen before they build it.

"If we begin to think of kitchens as food-related, we begin to realize what a huge mistake builders have made over the years, with cookie-cutter designs that are bland and beige," he says. "People don't want to eat bland food. They don't want to cook in a bland kitchen."

Mike Ryan says his custom building company couldn't get away with bland in his market. Ryan, the sales manager for Elfers, Fla.-based Samuelson Builders, explains, "It's a given that the kitchen is a 'wow' in every home. When you're selling homes for $400,000 to over a million, the kitchen's got to have some pop."

His customers are shying away from yellow hues in favor of what he calls "blackish" glazes as dark as chocolate and of warm stains with red, brown, and even green tints.

Storage Solutions
At Samuelson, the cabinetry must-haves don't stop with aesthetics. At a minimum, Ryan says, the cabinets must feature slots for trays, a pull-out trash can, and a deep drawer for pots and pans.

Storage-minded kitchen design is important to homeowners, confirms Wells, who points to the popularity of wire racks, pull-out trays, and movable shelves.

"Our industry has evolved into a fashion business," he notes. Yet the true reason for cabinets in the kitchen is storage. "A lot of [manufacturers] ignore the real need for the cabinetry," he says. "It's an ongoing strategic thrust for us as a company to develop great [designs] that make the cabinets useful."