Customizing your cabinetry

Choosing cabinets is an intensely personal experience, as cabinetry is often a focal point of a room. Today, there are more styles than ever to choose from, but with all of those choices available, it can be difficult to pick the right cabinets for your home. We have taken a look at a few of the hottest trends in cabinetry to help you decide on a look.

“A lot of people are going with transitional cabinets—traditional with a contemporary twist,” says Dympna Issigonis, an interior designer and sales consultant at Rosehill Woodcrafters Ltd. “It’s a blend of the two.”

Issigonis says her company, which was established in 1993 in MacGregor, Manitoba, is seeing a lot of grey tones, particularly in the kitchen area. “The overall palettes of colours tend to have a grey scale, with hints of cream or browns.”

Another big trend, she continues, is painted cabinets. “There are hundreds of colours to choose from, which gives you the chance to realize that these are your cabinets—no one else will have them,” says Issigonis. “We’re seeing a lot of creamy colours, off-whites and greys—people tend to lean towards a more neutral palette.” Other colours do show up on occasion as well. “Every once in a while, we have someone who wants navy blue, and we even had someone who wanted violet,” she says.

If people pick a neutral palette, Issigonis suggests they may want to add a punch of colour to give the room that ‘wow’ factor. “You can add accessories or install cabinets in contrasting colours, adding some visual interest to the room,” she says. This is especially important given the recent popularity of open concept homes. “The neutral palette would be the factor uniting all of the cabinetry and tying the areas together—and it’s great to have punches of colour throughout.”

As for trends in wood, Issigonis says they are seeing a lot of medium-toned woods like alder. “Maple still seems to be very popular, as well as quarter sawn (a type of oak), which has a tight vertical grain, giving it a clean, contemporary look,” says Issigonis.

Furthermore, Issigonis notes they have seen a recent resurgence in medium stains, as opposed to the dark stains that have been popular over the past few years.

In addition to the actual appearance of the cabinets, Issigonis has also noticed a trend in their interiors. “The trend for the interior is to add storage accessories that will allow for better organization,” she says. “In our showroom, we have also been showing a lot of solutions to corner cabinets, which are a problem in most kitchens because they wind up being a large cabinet that is difficult to access.”