At LivingKitchen 2013, which was held in Cologne, Germany Jan. 14-20
Kitchen trends are a bit like fashion. There is something new every year, but with a few exceptions older styles never really go out of fashion.
And while the growing popularity of ‘European-style’ kitchens continues, traditional country kitchens are as popular today as they ever were.
In fact, the latest kitchen trends are one thing, but what’s happening on the ground, in your markets, may be completely different.
At LivingKitchen 2013, which was held in Cologne, Germany Jan. 14-20, more than 180 suppliers from around the world displayed the latest ideas and innovations and kitchen trends. From kitchen furniture, appliances, fixtures and sinks to worktops, lighting and accessories it was all there. One of the largest kitchen events, Living Kitchen offers a glimpse at the future and the latest trends for kitchens.
LivingKitchen 2013’s ‘Trend Check’ identifies an ongoing trend to more open-plan kitchens. Greater comfort for users and resource efficiency are also increasingly important, as is the trend to embrace new materials such as glass, ceramic and wood for accents.
Plain kitchens - the stark glossy white of recent shows has given way to more matt finishes - are still growing in popularity, but there is also a move to more colourful designs.
The kitchen furniture trend towards open-plan kitchens, with a near seamless transition from kitchen to living space, continues to gain popularity in Europe. As a result, there were more generous spaces and more kitchen furniture manufacturers have developed kitchen designs that better combine cooking and living. And overall, there was a lot of modern design, stark lines and colour schemes, hidden handles and more. The overall message however, seems to be that everything goes, plain or colourful, modern or traditional.
In Canada, things are moving a little bit slower with more traditional styling still going strong, but that doesn’t mean suppliers and manufacturers aren’t seeing new trends here as well.
Rob Scarimbolo, vice-president of sales and marketing for White Oak Custom Woodworking Ltd. in Bolton, Ont., says they are seeing a lot of demand for high-gloss finishes, but matt finishes are also making serious inroads.
White Oak specializes in manufacturing custom cabinet doors and Scarimbolo says the biggest demand right now is for flat panel doors, with finishes ranging from poly-glass to textured surfaces and solid wood.
At Toronto-based custom kitchen manufacturer Distinctive By Design, traditional kitchens are still the basis for what they do, but with a twist.
“About 15 per cent of what we do right now is traditional, the remaining 85 per cent is what I like to call transitional,” says Jimmy Zoras, president.
“What I mean by that is that people want to have something modern, but not too much.
“So we will do a basic Shaker style, but with a flat door, or something like that. We mix it up a bit depending on how comfortable our customers are with the more modern designs.”
Zoras says most of his customers want something a little bit modern, but they are not ready for an entire kitchen with straight and stark lines. As a result he will use many traditional elements, but change it up with modern touches.
“About 10 years ago, after a trip to Europe, I built a very modern kitchen. It’s still in the showroom, people love it, but even now, they are still not quite ready to actually have us build it for them,” Zoras says.
And at Silhouette Custom Cabinets in Hamilton, Ont., customers have also embraced the flat panel look, but they still want the more traditional dark finishes or wood. Modern kitchens and glossy white finishes are not a big seller.
“Our customers really like the contemporary, flat-panel doors,” says company co-owner Loris DeTina, “but as they also still prefer a warm look and feel.”
At LivingKitchen 2013.
Suppliers’ Take
“We do see more sliding folding doors in Europe and it is already starting to make its presence known in Canada on a smaller scale,” says Mike Squizzato, president of Hettich Canada. “There is also a move to include more drawers than doors in the lower cabinets of a kitchen, and I think the average number of drawer boxes has increased as well.”
And in line with more and more drawer boxes is the need to organize these drawers.
Instead of messy shelves, a huge assortment of organizational hardware has made its way into the market, Squizzato says. Organizing drawers for dishes, pots and pans, under sink solutions and the standard cutlery trays are now the norm in kitchen modeling.
“On the decorative side including handles and knobs, we see much more choice of material becoming available including glass, granites, gold, stainless, chrome, brushed nickel, leathers, crystals and even different cloth type handles.”
Claude de Lanauze, Hettich’s kitchen & bath division manager, says white is still the dominant colour, although they see more matt than glossy finishes now, and there is increased use of warm accent colours with earth tones being especially popular. As far as design goes, that appears to vary widely from minimalist and purist designs all the way to very traditional and ornate designs.
Kevin Tratt says Blum has been focusing on greater comfort for users in the past few years.
“It’s all about making it better for the consumer,” says the general manager of Blum Canada.
“As an industry we have to prepare to build the right cabinets for an aging demographic. We are seeing a lot more drawers-only in base cabinets, more full-extension drawers and organization and soft-close is everywhere now.”
Tratt says soft-close used to be something they talked about a lot, but now it’s almost a standard feature in all kitchens.
“Even in low-end cabinets we are seeing a lot more soft-close, customers expect it now.
The important part, he says, is to address the needs of the aging demographic. There is disposable income and people will spend money to make their homes better and more functional, which in turn will allow them to stay in their homes longer.
Tratt has been to all the shows, but says the Canadian market is a little slower to adopt the latest and greatest trends.
“I am always a little bit cautious about the latest trends. It is certainly true for us that what you see isn’t necessarily what sells. And we find it really differs by geography,” he says.
“In Ontario, especially in the urban areas, we see more modern kitchen designs, but outside the urban areas we still see a lot more traditional styles. It really is a smorgasbord, depending where in the country you are.”
Manuel Koessler, general manager of GRASS Canada, says they are seeing strong growth for modern and puristic design with a lot of straight lines and almost cubist forms.
“We see fewer handles and larger drawers that offer a full view of the drawer content with one movement,” he says. “And in response to that demand we offer more movement options, including lifters, electronic and integrated dampening solutions.
“The trend for white continues strong, both for glossy and matt finishes and we are seeing larger drawers in base cabinets and more inset drawers.” And to address the demand for larger drawers and the resulting need for higher load capacity, GRASS has products with more load capacity, increased stability and more adjustments.
Also, to meet the continuing demand, they offer white drawer sides to match the white in kitchens or to provide contrast for darker kitchens.
