The importance of blue can not be over looked this year; it captures the country’s mood of austerity. Greens, taupe, and adobe are comforting colors – spruced up with floral color accents. The emphasis is on calm and comfortable.
Styling and warmth on the outside; convenience and function on the inside. Soft closing door and drawer hardware is a must for any new kitchen, ending door slams and utensil crashes. Pullouts and rollouts are a great way to store and access those larger pots and pans. To accommodate the bulky Costco items there is nothing better than a pullout pantry, or a pantry loaded with rollouts. And drawers still rein king for ergonomic access instead of large door cabinets. Then of course, there is the required deep lazy susan in the blind corner and the recycling trash pullouts.
Hot door styles are the wide stile and rail shaker look; or a classical raised panel profile for timeless elegance. Bucking the popular trend with the rustic look, stay away from the heavily grained and charactered species, such as, hickory, alder, birch, pine, and oak. Unless it is a vacation home, then definitely use the local wood species. The beautiful grain of cherry or clear maple underneath a semi transparent stain can not be beat. Medium light to medium brown stain colors (shifting more green than red with just a touch of black pigment) is a good choice. The slight grey cast from the black pigment yields the coffee, espresso or mink looks. A burnt umber or raw sienna glaze can give credit to detailed door styles while adding some warmth. Black and chocolate should be used sparingly as accents. If it has to be white, a cream or amaretto with a glaze can not be beat. Decora Cabinets new Honeycomb on maple would be wonderful in a sunlight starved kitchen or bath.
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This year it is all about green and blue. The Marie Antoinette rich jewel colors of the last several years are over. The slow down in the economy is promoting feelings of austerity, and a need for comfort and security in the home. Thus, look to the earth tones, greens, and blues for common areas in the home, such as, the kitchen and living room. The young children’s rooms still need to be fun with the popsicle and candy colors. Sunny yellows and comfortable sage are still good choices for the master suite. And for goodness sakes stop using Swiss coffee.
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