For the last several years painted, white cabinets have been the top trend in the kitchen and bath industry. The all white room with white shaker style cabinets topped by Carrara marble counter tops , and white, subway tile back splash has reigned supreme, gracing covers and taking up center spreads of countless kitchen and bath design magazines. That trend is now starting to shift.

What will replace white kitchen cabinets?

In our high-tech, automated world we’re excited to see the trend away from sterile, all-white kitchens, back to something more natural, with timeless appeal: furniture and cabinetry that showcases the beauty of natural woodgrain. The recently completed model home kitchen below-left with TaylorCraft doors in knotty alder is a great example as well as the modern, edgebanded, maple-veneer kitchen below-right.

Kitchen Cabinet 8 M101 - M8, RP1 and M101 - M3-R, RP1 cabinet doors with rope molding Contemporary edgebanded maple veneer kitchen cabinets

There have been a number of articles highlighting the natural wood trend recently including:

House Beautiful – Natural Wood Is Trendy Again
Hansgrohe – Experience Nature
LA Times – Trend Spotting

Book matched hickory doors

Clear finish or very subtle, light stains are also showing up more in furniture showrooms. Furniture is easier to change out than cabinetry, however where the furniture industry goes, the kitchen and bath industry tends to follow when it comes to material trends.

The steady rise in mid-century modern design popularity has also brought back demand for products made from natural wood solids and veneers.

TaylorCraft Cabinet Door Company raised panel C101 cabinet doors in select hard maple with OE3, IE1, RP1

2017 model home kitchen in stained maple with custom, wood vent hood

We’re starting to see this natural wood trend in products our customers are asking about and ordering, products generating the most interest on our website and products being pinned and saved from our Pinterest and Houzz pages.

The designs are simple and modern and the finish lets the natural beauty of the wood color and grain show through.

With this up-and-coming shift in mind, below are a few cabinet door styles and materials that lend themselves well to a natural finish and modern room design.

 

 

 

 

 

Cope and Stick Cabinet Door C101 Wide OE5-IE5-FP3/8 White Oak, Rift and 5-piece drawer front 1.5mm edgebanded door and drawer front- walnut veneer 4S 101 3/4" Shaker in Hard Maple, Select- Skinny Shaker Look Cope and Stick Cabinet Door C101 Wide OE5-IE5-FP3/8 Alder, Select and 5-piece drawer front 4S 101 1" Shaker in Rift White Oak- Skinny Shaker cabinet door look 1.5mm edgebanded door and drawer front- hickory veneer