I'd skip the distressing unless you really prefer it. There is an upcharge for something to look beat up. I'd rather things be aged naturally and lovingly restored, than the opposite. If it were a real antique island, I'd be gaga over it.

Well...distressing has been around at least since the '60's. My mother's response to the upcharge was, "I have children. Why would I want to pay extra when they'll distress the furniture for me?" Distressed Poggenpohl--or any very modern design--just looks tatty. It shouldn't ever look dated on a more traditional design because it's been around so long, especially if it's not overdone, '90's style.

The problem with distressing is that people are not able to make random patterns. When shown truly random patterns people's brains still look for patterns in them. Most distressed furniture has repeating patterns no matter how hard people try not to do them. Distressing can look good, but you can also just bring in a roller hockey team and do it yourself.

I was trying to think of the right adjective before and my cold med soaked brain could not come up with it. I've got it now.... they seem "contrived" to me. RH seems to do a good job of it, but then again, there is such a signature look to theirs, that they will go out of style at some point soon.

I thinks it's silly-looking.

I live in a mid-19th c house with plenty of "naturally" distressed parts so maybe I'm biased but I think that if the orginal owners of the prototypes of farm kitchen and pantry cabinets saw "distressing" (and the other things like, glazing, fly-specking, worm "holes", pockmarks, worn-off paint and darkened grubbiness at touchpoints, etc.) they'd immediately reach for a bucket with good, hot, lye-water and get right on with cleaning up the mess. If it wouldn't clean, they'd repaint it.

What passes in 2010 for "stylish" (whether or not it's a fad) would simply be seen by them as evidence of slatternly housekeeping, or of owning such a poor farm that it didn't even yield enough to afford occasional kitchen repainting.

Something a bit odd about a time and place where we Botox-off crows feet, while paying an upcharge for artificially beaten up furnishings.

Just my 2 cents.

L

I'm in a rush, but:

It's not a fad (reasons mentioned above)

It's only silly when not done correctly or doesn't fit with the home.

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

I think that whether you choose to have it distressed or not, you will want to repaint it in 15 years anyhow.

I think it is all in the way you look at it.

I have small children and a very active yellow lab. When we were deciding on painting our island black, my cabinet maker was actually the one who recommended I have it distressed b/c of the children and dog. He did not charge me any extra for it and I think it looks fine. Quite honestly, I think mountaineergirl said it right. In 15 years I will probably want to repaint it again anyway (probably sooner b/c i get sick of things pretty quickly).

If you like the way it looks, who cares if it is a fad or not.

Allison0704,your island is gorgeous! I had thought I might not do the distressing but now not so sure. I need to make a decision by tomorrow.

I will be blunt. Distressing has a place, and it has to be done right.

A lot of folks are turned off by distressing because it is done poorly or not subtly enough. It really is an art form and if done wrong looks very amateurish. It makes me think of like, expo or disney.

Also, it has to fit, imho, the setting and house.

Our house is a casual house, a 1904 lakeside farmhouse. We have a number of antique pieces, and we have chosen to emphasize materials and patina over pattern and color.

My DH hates distressing, even when its done well. Contrived is a good word for it! And above all i would really like my home to look accidentally gorgeous (like what DH calls my "no-makeup-makeup look" when we go out"), not contrived.

Our kitchen has random width pine floors, a stone hearth wall, a fridge made to look like an ice box, an island copied after an antique general store counter, and an old zinc topped french pastry table as a work table.

When they were finishing my cabs for the kitchen, I told them that the cabs i had in my old kitchen (Rutt, 8 yrs old now) looked so perfect it didnt even seem as if they were painted. They could have been plastic (be still my heart).

I told the GC for my new house I could not have shiny, perfect cabinets. My GC did two things ... he put on the normal indestructible finish, then a glaze, which they ran a brush through so it looks like it was only brush painted. Then, they sanded just a few places here and there so it would look like the cabinets were not new. Doing that very subtly and random is hard and labor intensive.

The result? I dont think anyone would really notice, but I do think without it, the new cabs would scream new. I realized i dont have any close up photos but I will try to get one.

I'm normally not a fan of destressing, but have seen some kitchens here where it looks perfect. Does it fit with the style of your house? If yes, go for it.

I would agree that some distressing looks better (read: more authentic) than others. I think it will probably date your kitchen, but if you really love it and it fits your motif, I say go for it. If you hate it in 10 years, you can repaint or even change out your island.

I tend to distress things myself, accidentally, but hey. It's black. It's gonna need to be repainted before long anyway because styles change, so go with it if you like it.

One of the nice things about painted cabinets is that you don't feel bad painting them later if you want a new color or just want to do some undistressing. Hopefully if you like things distressed, you won't mind the look of a handpainted cabinet in 10 years.

But don't do it just because your KD says so!

I agree with everyone else saying that it must fit the house. My home is from the 20's and I love french country, it matches a lot of the style we have in the home. So naturally I was drawn to distressing. Mine isn't as heavy as some of the others I've seen on this board. I also feel like in a white kitchen like mine it makes the room feel a little bit warmer when it's not all just stark white and stainless everywhere.

Its not really a fad, and it fits certain types of houses. I wouldn't do it in a contemporary split level or rancher, imo.

Good distressing looks careworn. Its not actually dirt and slovenly habits that create real historical distressing but the intense cleaning (lye soap, sand and scrub brushes, etc.) that created the rubbed off finishes and worn edges. A 200 year old house I am looking at has original, unfinished floors in the attic rooms that're "distressed" but were clearly kept pristine: there's no sign of ground in dirt (My current attic floor was covered with soot, in contrast)--but lots of wear and round edges on almost bleached white wood. The floors are painted around the perimeter but raw in the middle (don't waste paint when you are covering it with a rug or floorcloth :)

Distressing is a design element and like any it can be well done or not. It certainly is no more contrived than making your kitchen look like a Tuscan farmhouse even though it's in the middle of Jersey.

At least with distressing, if it gets a little smudgy and dirty it doesn't jump out at ya. Imagine pristine white cabinets with little cheese puff finger prints all over them!! I personall did not want that kind of upkeep. Or to have to worry about banged up cabinet corners and the natural wear and tear of things in a house that is actually lived in. But I'm a klutz. And I'm accident prone. And we have a Newfoundland, a Corgi, and a toddler. Furniture, objects, wool coats, don't stay perfect for long. So naturally I opted for distressing and glazing:)

I think distressed looks nice when it's authentic, and truly lived in. It's difficult to get that kind of "worn but loved" vibe from an otherwise brand-new kitchen.

Interestingly, I just got a "trends" email from NKBA (I signed up for their updates), which said the following-see trend 2 about dark finishes:

"distressed finishes dropped significantly from a year ago, and have been recently used by just 5% of NKBA designers."

Here is a link that might be useful: NKBA 2011 trends

to reiterate what fori said: "don't do it just because your KD says so!"

i was just looking at a bunch of islands at houzz; interestingly, not one of them appears (obviously) distressed.

i'd say it's unnecessary unless you want the look.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Beautiful, Functional Kitchen Islands at houzz[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/beautiful-functional-kitchen-islands-stsetivw-vs~78526)

It certainly is no more contrived than making your kitchen look like a Tuscan farmhouse even though it's in the middle of Jersey.

I'm not sure that's as good an argument as you think it is.

I'd prefer to use reclaimed wood to get a worn in look. However, painting reclaimed wood would cover up most of it's patina.
How about something in the middle, like using milk paint for the island? It won't look distressed but it will look less brand new.

I love distressed woodwork, I have it throughout my house. It is not a modern look though, so many do not have a taste for it. Having said that, it may be worth contemplating the look in a kitchen if it does not complete the house.

Having one distressed island in a house with no other look of it throughout the house may look out of place, the same as mid-century modern in a house of antiques!

Here are my distressed cabs. Nearly impossible see, partly due to my iphone and partly the point.

Some sanded edges and brush strokes, that is it.

Here is a link that might be useful: distressed cabs

Bridgewood does distressing for one of my cabinet lines. They charge 15% to do it in 5 different levels from slight to heavy. It is done by a machine that sands down the corners and marks up the wood. I ordered 5 painted samples before I had seen a sample of it. They look very mechanical. I received my sales center at the same time as the5 samples and it had a sample in a medium color stain that was distressed and it was like night and day. I can not wait to have the money to put a full kitchen of it in my showroom. I did a 31 lineal foot kitchen design having a ceiling height of 90 inches. I fully loaded the design with every pull out and option possible even had 36" in pantrys. The dealer price was about $7,607. 15% would be $1,141. It looks very elegant to me personally. I think it makes sense as if you have a misshap that scratches the finish get some glaze and glaze the scratch and it will blend right in.

I also have a smaple from Geppetto that is distressed and it is Bridgewood on Steriods. No one that has seen that sample has ever said they do not like it. The more artistic the application the more everyone loves it.

Most distressing looks Distressed(TM), not old, worn or well-loved, but its own thing, a unique, highly artificial look. It reminds me of Tuscan(TM) farmhouse kitchens with grape leaves and straw-covered Chianti bottles, or Provencal(TM) kitchens with French all over the dishtowels. Theme-y and cheap.

However, I just realized, reading this thread, that I have a distressed dining table. It is modeled after a specific antique, and every ding and knock replicates a real ding or knock in the original. All the distressing is done by hand, and the manufacturer is so into realism, if you ask for maximum distressing you have to specify if you don't want water rings on it.

In general, though, I rarely see distressed kitchen cabinets carried to that degree of realism unless they are very high end.

I agree that machine destressing usually looks contrived. Especially in flooring.

Marcolo, I had a new "old" top made for my farmhouse table base. Everyone thinks it use to be a workbench top, which was the whole idea. There are a few paint splatters, but I had them remove the blue paint can lid ring. I decided I would be trying to wipe it up too often. The ring is still there, but the paint was removed.

The thing that bothers me about a lot of distressing, is that the wear areas are not where the actual wear would be, and it just looks fake.

But you should have what looks good to you. Never mind if it's a fad - when you get tired of it or it goes out of fashion, just repaint. Much easier to deal with than an orange laminate counter. Hey, I still have 1970s carpet on my toekicks!

Just wanted you to know that yesterday I met the cabinetmaker in his shop and saw my partially finished linen white cabinets and some of the black island cabinets together without a distressed finish. I just loved the look. No more distressing about this! Thanks to everyone for your input. Hearing all of the different viewpoints on distressed cabinetry was very helpful.

I saw this thread with just one response when it was originally posted, and read with interest all of the additional comments. I'm glad, Maxey, that you made your decision - some of these can be so agonising and feel like big mistakes if you get them wrong. You did it in the only way possible - by actually seeing and deciding what you like. I'm sure you'll be very happy with them!

Just wanted to add my own experience to this thread for future reference. Like every design element, distressing is a matter of personal taste, and, as many have said, it all depends. On the materials, method used, style of house but most of all, what you like. I'm not a lover of white kitchens, but there are many (MANY) here that are simply beautiful, and that I admire. And I imagine that the hearts of the owners of those beautiful new kitchens just sing when they walk into their kitchens.

When we saw the factory finish distressing that our excellent cabinet maker offered, we knew it wasn't for us, or for our 100 year old home. As many have said, it seemed too contrived, especially as we wanted to distress all of the cabinets and not just one piece. In the end, we hired a local shop to hand paint and hand distress the cabs and we absolutely love the result. It was a painstaking, many step process, and each piece is subtly different.

So, it all depends. That's why I love coming here and seeing the finished kitchen long after ours has been done - the variety and personal touches are all wonderful.

Good luck with your kitchen, Maxey!

Eliz