The move to medium

Both Fell and Castrucci foresee birch sales remaining strong in 2010. “In our area birch is very prevalent,” explains Castrucci. Though Canadians may admire dark walnut and wenge, more often other species are used. We opt for birch which features a more subtle grain, says Castrucci, “then apply dark stain to achieve the same look, but at a fraction of the cost.” She believes that birch (and maple in other areas), will continue to sell in Ontario with oak and cherry a distant second. Fell, a Vancouver-based market researcher and industry advisor, expects maple to remain a big story on the west coast but says “we’re not seeing that comeback for oak yet”.

Though dark woods and dark stains will kick the decade off, Fell expects more and more homeowners will shift to the safe middle to “future-proof” their homes for possible resale. “Now, future-proofing means applying maple or birch with a medium finish. It’s the safe choice in a poor economy.”

Fell expects medium-toned finishes to rule the bathroom as well. But those neutral colours and cabinet choices can be “dressed up”, says Castrucci. “A homeowner can throw in a splash of colour, like paint the walls or do an interesting tile or accent the bathroom with towels.” These changes can be made quickly and relatively inexpensively compared to the cost and challenge of replacing cabinets, a vanity or countertop.  Echoing Fell, Castrucci explains that homeowners “want to make sure these elements are still in fashion 10 years from now. So their selections in these areas tend to be more conservative.”

That conservatism has been driving homeowners to keep cabinets simple. “Doors will become plainer with fewer mouldings, especially applied ones,” she predicts. “We’re already seeing more slab doors in a pillow style with slight beveling on the edges. I also see a lot of vertical, straight grain, not the cathedral styles. If people are considering oak cabinets, they tend to look at the rift-cut oak as opposed to the cathedrals with the flat cut.” Castrucci says that wide rail doors with flat or raised centre panels are also becoming more popular.  

Castrucci further reports that homeowners aren’t dressing up their exteriors with crown or applied mouldings as often, while handles are becoming simpler, including concealed ones like push latches which don’t require any hardware, are easy to use and offer very clean lines.