Choosing a kitchen look that lasts

Warmer, plainer and more personal than the all white kitchen that came before it. The broad direction in recent remodels has been away from high gloss and stark contrast and toward wood tones, colored cabinets, matte finishes and simpler door styles. Treat that as a direction to borrow from, not a checklist. Trend reports from designers and retailers shift from one year to the next, and a kitchen has to last far longer than any of them.

The durable approach is to put personality into the parts that are cheap to change, such as paint, hardware, lighting and stools, and keep the expensive parts, meaning cabinets, counters and tile, calm.

Painted color on the lower cabinets

A good way to add color without committing the whole room. Deep green or blue on the base cabinets, lighter uppers or open shelves above, and brass or bronze pulls. It works in an older ranch house because it reads as a considered choice rather than a period copy.

Warm wood and plaster

The calmest choice, and the one least likely to date. Oak or walnut cabinet fronts with simple slab or Shaker doors, a light plaster or smooth painted wall in place of a busy backsplash, and a matte counter. It suits the low, wide rooms common in single story houses.

Two tone cabinets

Useful when the kitchen opens to the living room. A darker island or base run anchors the kitchen, and lighter perimeter cabinets keep it from feeling heavy from the sofa. Pick one of the two tones to match something that already exists in the house, such as the floor or a fireplace surround.

White, done carefully

Still a safe resale choice, if it is not the only idea in the room. White cabinets date slowest when the counter has some natural variation, the hardware has some weight and the backsplash tile is plain. Pure white on white on white is the version that already looks tired.

Cabinet doors

Shaker doors, a flat center panel inside a square frame, have outlasted nearly every other style because they carry almost no decoration. Slab doors suit a modern room. Raised panel doors are the ones most people are remodeling away from.

Counters

Choose the counter by how the kitchen is used, then by color. Heavy cooks should weigh heat and stain resistance. Households with children should favor a surface that hides marks. A matte or honed finish shows fewer smudges than a polished one.

Backsplash tile

Plain rectangular tile in a simple offset or stacked layout ages better than a busy mosaic. If you want pattern, keep it to one wall, usually behind the range, and let the rest of the room rest.

Let the house set the limits. A low ceiling argues for cabinets that stop short of it or for open shelving up top. A small window argues for lighter cabinet colors. A kitchen that opens onto the family room should be chosen from the sofa as much as from the stove. Before settling on a style, stand where you spend the most time and look back at the kitchen from there.