Top Ten Out of Style Kitchen Design Choices
Main Line Kitchen Design customers often ask if we think that a particular color or trend will go out of style. My answer is some choices certainly do go out of style but a well-designed kitchen and tasteful selections never do! A particular color or door style might be more popular one year versus the next. But if the kitchen design is attractive and functional, and the selections are not extreme then people will still like it 30 or even 50 years later.
See renovated out of style kitchen above here
Of course there are some outdated looks that will always be out of style. Below are 10 kitchen choices that generally hurt the value of a home due to style, color, or function. I tried to keep the list in order of severity with the worst choices first.
1. Arched cabinet door style
This door style was popular before 2000. Today, most prospective home buyers consider a kitchen designed in an arched door style as outdated and obsolete.
2. White Thermofoil door style
Also popular before 2000, this plastic coating style was easy to clean but peeled after about 15 years. Thinking that plastic cabinets would be considered tasteful in the future was a perplexing but common mistake in the 1990’s.
3. Red Oak Cabinets
Also popular pre-2000, this inexpensive and available wood was what the majority of kitchen cabinets were made from between 1980 and 2000. The darker the oak, the less popular the kitchen now. Bottom line – any red oak kitchen is still a home value killer.
4. Washer and dryer in kitchen
You don’t need a photo, and it doesn’t matter if the washer and dryer are behind doors, stacked, under the countertop or in any other configuration. If you want your kitchen renovation to be valued by others, don’t put these appliances in the kitchen unless you live in a tiny apartment with no other option.
5. Standard white appliances
There is only one exception to the absolute that white appliances are absolutely out of style; the exception is GE Cafe white steel appliances (see Main Line Kitchen Design Kitchen).
The outdated white appliances are only one of the major issues in the above kitchen. The homeowner made a second bad choice in putting a side by side refrigerator against a wall. A single door or French door refrigerator needs to be used in a corner so that the refrigerator can actually open. One bad choice usually means many, so this homeowner also chose oak cabinets and very short wall cabinets without enclosing the refrigerator in cabinetry. We hate to see homeowners make costly mistakes like these!
6. Double bowl or bowl and a half sink
The only sensible reason to choose a double bowl sink instead of a large single is out of necessity for a Kosher kitchen. A large single bowl sink allows for pots, pans, cookie sheets, and trays all to fit easily inside the sink for a better look and easier cleaning. People will sometimes defend this bad choice by saying that having a rinse sink saves water. This is also inaccurate. As new efficient dishwashers use less water and less energy, they are the best root to water and energy conservation.
7. Knick Knack shelves
Knick Knack shelves are a cabinet feature left over from an era when people put all kinds of collectables around their home. Hummels and other “Chatchkes” would sit on these shelves. That era is over, almost no one collects Hummels anymore, and so these shelves are also out of style.
8. Backsplash tiles with painted accents
Image below says it all.
9. Single door 24″ wide cabinets
Decades ago, builders mass produced homes in cookie cutter developments and saving money on cabinetry was paramount. As a result, ignoring looks and durability was common. Then, a two door cabinet was much more expensive than a one door 24″ wide cabinet like the pantry cabinet on the left in the photo below. These extra wide doors fail and sag over time, and look poorly. No good kitchen designer would ever sell a 24″ wide cabinet with a single width door.
10. Polished chrome faucets and cabinet hardware
While presently out of style, polished chrome faucets and cabinet knobs and handles won’t ruin a kitchen. They can be easily replaced by the next home owner. But stainless steel, brushed nickel, polished nickel, honey bronze, gold, black and many other finishes are all more common and appealing than yesterday’s polished chrome.
Bonus out of style appliance. The downdraft!
Anyone with a downdraft knows that this venting system does not work well. People who cook Asian and Indian cuisine find downdrafts particularly ineffective. In fact, many people will not buy a home that has a downdraft. Keep this in mind if you want top resale value for your home.
Below are some other related blogs. Please enjoy and of course . . .
Bon Appetit!
Flipping a house – Don’t make costly mistakes.
