John, you are so funny! Great writing. I agree with your choices, although the top mount sink in the French kitchen...bugs me...now. ;)

I think it won't be too long before stainless steel is out of style. It's hard to keep clean with all the fingerprints. I think kitchens of the future will have fully integrated, panelled appliances.

A classic Craftsman kitchen seems timeless to me, though the old style handles on what I think might be the fridge might not. The clean lines of the oak, glass fronts, etc.

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[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by chicago kitchen and bath Rebekah Zaveloff, KitchenLab & Design in a Bag.com

I don't think either of those kitchens were ever considered trendy and, instead, fall into the eclectic category which make them more resistant to dating. I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent an "in" kitchen from becoming passe. After 10-15 years, many people tire of looking at looking at the same old thing and often want change just for the sake of change. Designers and decorators capitalize on and fortify this itch and their ads with the new colors and materials designed make the old ones look dated no matter how classic in appearance. The trends (and therefore dating) would be less evident if designers were more heterogeneous in their offerings. Instead, one or two top designers seem to start the trend with an impressive magazine spread or display and other designers copy it and it becomes the "it" kitchen. Even though the white Shaker style is classic, it will seem dated when all the magazine ads feature something else. The eclectic kitchens like those pictured, were never mass produced which is what keeps them "fresh" in appearance.

Funny, I taped an episode of "French Cooking at Home" just so I could show my DH the kitchen. I am trying to talk him into tile countertops on our island (there will be a gas cooktop on the island. Perimeter counters waterloxed butcherblock) and his is still anti tile. But at least he is seeing it a bit. We own a 70's ranch and I don't want granite or anything modern anywhere in the kitchen.

Anyway, thanks for sharing. I am always trying to stay a step ahead in our kitchen planning.

I agree re the first one -- its tile counter and big sink look like kitchens all over the world.

But that stainless steel hell? Trendy top to bottom:
-- bar pull handles on *everything* (Suddenly they're everywhere ... Ikea sells them 2/8$.)
-- highly polished stone countertop
-- blazing downward-firing lights reflecting off the highly polished stone countertop
-- upper cabinets filling all the wall space

Some things are perennial for a reason. The big windows and open space of the first kitchen make it inviting, and you get a lot of diffuse natural light. I'd lose the plants, but the fact that you can grow stuff in this space tells you a lot about it.

The stainless steel hell? Nothing growing there, despite those artfully-arranged veggies. Would you hang out in it? I can feel my retinas detaching.

dirtymartini,
We have tile, on purpose, and I love it.

Ours is 12x12 commercial grade porcelain floor grade tile. We have had it for about 8-10 years since our remodel, and I love it.

Hot pans can go right on it, and it's very easy to keep clean.

BTW we also have butcherblock...ours in on the island with the tile on the main run of counters.

I've always thought white and/or shaker kitchens stand the test of time. Here are a few of my favorites on Houzz.

div>[

[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by san francisco architect Wm. F. Holland/Architect

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[contemporary kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors

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[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by chicago kitchen and bath The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn

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[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107)

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[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by boston kitchen and bath Rob Kane - Kitchen Interiors Inc.

I don't like the tile on this one but I sure love the ceilings and architectural detail.

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[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by boston kitchen and bath Divine Kitchens LLC

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[kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_709)

One thing that will date kitchens is bookshelves. After all, the "experts" are saying books in hardcopy form will be dead within 10 years (or less). Personally, I'll keep reading hardcopy and collecting cookbooks so I'll definitely fit some bookshelves in my kitchen.

When I first read this thread the other night, the first kitchen that popped into my mind as "timeless" was ElizPiz's. Other than appliance models which will date all of our kitchens, I think her kitchen looks like it could stand the test of time. I know it's ironic since she has all those bookshelves (which I love), but those could always be reused for displaying collectibles or storing future kitchen gadgets.

Here is a link that might be useful: elizpiz' kitchen

We need to find photos of 20-year-old kitchens ... then pick.

I wonder if the mortgage meltdown/ prolonged recession and the growing awareness and concern over the use of energy will lead to smaller homes and therefore smaller kitchens. I love a big comfy kitchen, but it seems that building big for the sake of big will be passe.

Also, I'm hoping that there will be new energy efficient appliances / lighting and earth friendly materials that maybe we haven't even thought of yet. Maybe a garbage disposal that leads to an outdoor composter in the garden - wouldn't that be cool? And more 'gray water' recycling, stuff like that. (I know gray water recycling isn't new, I've seen it on my fave Caribbean island where 'water is like gold', but it certainly hasn't caught on where I live.)

These are a few I thought held up well ...

1980

1981

1985

1986

1990

1992

1995

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchens of the 90s

I agree with seg.
I also think that eclectic will be harder to date than anything in mass production right now. If you see the same elements in many displays or houses, then you can bet it will be passe soon enough.

I showed a 4 of the same model house earlier today. All were built in the '50s within a block of each other. 3 were renovated from the late '70s to early '80s and all a little "over the top" at the time.
House 1 had lots of mirrored walls, esp in the bathrooms. It had a white melamine kitchen and looked fairly up to date. The bleach hardwood floors showed dated though.
#2 had a formica with wood strip kitchen and also had a lot of mirrors in the bathrooms. The kitchen needed redoing sooner and the carpets, while relatively new, gave it a dated look as well.
#3 had just repainted all the walls to off white. The kitchen had all custom built curvy formica cabs with plastic cheap handles. If the handles were changed out, it would have looked better, but still dated. The light shag carpet throughout was in such great shape, it could be recent or done when the kids moved out 25 years ago (empty nesters).
Now, these 3 were done over about 30 years ago and much of what they did was very trendy at the time. It all looked fairly silly, with only the white kitchen looking ok (esp if they would have tweaked it some).
House #4 had laminate wood cabs, but in a contemporary look (done recently)with all new appliances. They added granite counters (I did not love the choice of granite, but I digress). They had exposed, simply finished hardwood floors. They also had newer bathrooms and an expensive in ground pool with water feature, prof lighting scheme and stereo system for the yard. They did every upgrade they could possibly have added to the inside and out. This house sold for approx $50-$60 more than the others, but had spent that much, at least, in the yard alone. So, I guess the moral of the story for all those going overboard spending money, the houses that were less grand sold for less, but the new house recouped much less of its investment. The area is upscale, so I bet they thought they could not go wrong improving it, yet those who did nothing in the past 30 years made out better. Now, if the guy with all the upgrades had been enjoying it all for years, one could say it was worth it, yet most of the improvements were done within the past 4-5 years and even up until a few months ago.
Bottom line, do less trendy, don't spend too much and you will have made smart choices. The buyers felt that they needed to rip out the immaculate outdated stuff and were not willing to pay a ton for the renovated one.

I tend to agree with Riverspots: both of the examples fall on the outer edges of mainstream style so that they will avoid looking so 2010, for many years.

While I also agree that white (or off-white kitchens) are "timeless", the intense wall-to-wall of matched Shaker(ish)-ness that characterizes the "caught in a white-out blizzard" of white/shaker kitchen designs these days will look dated in 20 years. (See photos above.) It may happen even sooner, if they continue to penetrate the market at a time of economically-driven design stagnation. When the economy finally turns around the urge to move smartly away ahead from a period of design-stasis may artificially drive a strong, premature rejection of any trend deeply associated with these bad times.

And that's not because the individual elements have fallen out of style (or lost their "timelessness", whatever that really means), but because of the ubiquity of them in combination with each other right now. They will have acquired a sort of design shorthand reference quality for 2010 and will show up in movies and pictures and the popular imagination whenever an allusion to 2010 is needed.

Please don't get your feathers ruffled, I mean no insult to any possessor/lover/longer-for of a white shaker, stone-countered, farm-sinked, mantle-hooded, wall-ovened, warmer-drawered(what a thought!), pot-filled, bridge-fauceted, kitchen. If you love it all that way, then by all means have it the way you want it. It will be lovely, give you an indecent amount of pleasure (it's just a kitchen, after all) and full employment for remodeling professionals in 2030. It is the natural order of things, and nothing to fret about.

My kitchen reno plans have stretched (without completion) over nearly two decades. In the early 90's I was hot for blue pearl granite, with black appliances in a natural finish maple, shaker-ish doored kitchen. But personal events derailed my plans; by the time I got back to thinking about kitchens again @ 2003, my taste had moved on to soapstone with creamy cabs, but again events intervened. A few years later I started thinking about it again, and I found I was obsessed with pale grey-painted cabs and a white apron sink, but good grief, so was everyone else by, now!

At each point in the evolution I purchased some elements of my design scheme so now that I am ready I have the 48" black restaurant range, the white apron sink, the wood counters and a new, more environmentally-preoccupied goal of only having locally-quarried stone, and not so much of it, either.

So, I, like others am striving to have something that's not's going to be dated, but my only glimmer of a plan is to try and not have the latest, most photographed elements imported wholesale into my kitchen. I think it's the only strategy, if your aim is un-datedness.

Today I am reveling in the fact that I have just scored a glorious, softly gleaming, well-used but still fab, stainless steel prep sink at my local Habitat Restore for ten bucks. I have long disdained stainless steel, but knew it was just the thing. (Actually, it wasn't that quick I actually saw it, dismissed it and went home, only to slap myself on my design-noggin when I realized that it was perfect for my current kitchen plan. I spent the night in stew of antsy and was there at the moment they opened the next day to bag it. And even then, I did not realize just how gorgeous it was going to be when completely cleaned up.)

So, I'm adding it to the accumulated 1994/2003/2008/2010-style elements for my kitchen, and I'm sure it makes me "undate-able", but realistically, it probably will give me a kitch perfectly positioned as the quintesessential 2010/2011 hard-times, re-use what you have, recycle-chic, semi-unfitted, mixed-retro, style.

But, at least, I'll be certain that whatever style it is, it is a GW-planned one so it will really cook, right?

Seriously, if you want to stay clear of dating Hell, then discipline yourself to only include one or two of the currently fave items, and then consciously pick stuff that isn't being associated together, right now. Or go ahead and just please yourself, it's only a kitchen, after all and future rennovators deserve the same chance to indulge themselves in the same self-confident disdain that we have for avocado appliances and cathedral arch-topped cabs. It's only fair, after all.

L

I was thinking about what made the not-so-awful kitchens look less dated than some others, and (besides eclecticism) it seems that most of them have a lot of architectural interest -- whether beams, bricks, super-high ceilings, lots of windows, whatever. And few (except for the more contemporary styles) have rows of cabinets on the walls.

Maybe I just picked out the ones that looked more 2010, of course. ;-) The link has links to 60s and 70s kitchens, too, and the late 60s and most of the 70s were still pretty horrendous. But the early 60s! WOW! Several of them were awesome.

Still having trouble pasting photos into the body of a message, so pardon the link to pictures of my parents'recently restored 1954 kitchen -- still looks great to me! same old green Marlite on walls and ceiling, pine beams, 56-year-old maple plywood cabinets and hardware, new cork floor and appliances and lighting fixtures.

Here is a link that might be useful: my parents' 1954 kitchen still looks great to me

I also tried to find the common denominator in Seg's pics (great pics btw!). I'm now thinking that the only common denominator is the eclecticism, like others stated. But eclectic is a more personalized style. Eclectic rooms are typically full of treasures and not carefully chosen and coordinated accessories. It makes me think about Sandyponder's kitchen, I don't think anyone could label it a 2010.

farmgirlinky- thanks for posting your parent's kitchen. I LOVE it. I aim to have those same cabinets in my someday kitchen. Great photos!

Gosh, I just looked again, and 7 of the 11 I posted have blue. That's probably just my own bias, but maybe it's always a classic kitchen color..

How about the kitchens that seem to fit the house and landscape around them? For instance, the house in the Rocky Mountains with the natural hickory cabinets - or perhaps the Miami kitchen with cool colors and easy lines. When I think about an area of the country, it seems as though the location helps to dictate what would be timeless there. Can't we all picture an Arizona kitchen and know how it would feel different from one in Maine? While elements such as appliances might change, the overall look of those kitchens feel the same and timeless.

seg - I thought a minimum of uppers was the common denominator (with a few exceptions).
farmgirl - your parents' kitchen is awesome! It went past dated to become vintage. It almost looks like a reproduction because it is so neat looking.

To me eclectic is exactly the definition of "carefully chosen" however not matching. Coordinated/complementary is key and not buying anything as a default/expected choice. Eclectic means a breath of fresh air when I see it and not a carbon copy of what anyone/everyone else is doing.

So, in these pictures I'm seeing three possible paths to KTWLS.

First, kitchens that are explicitly and authentically ''period''. In 2010 and 2030 alike, a vintage 1920's period kitchen will look like a vintage 1920's period kitchen. It hasn't been ''in style'' for 90 years, it isn't pretending to be in style, and it can no more go out of style than the historical waxwork dioramas in the Museum of Natural History.

Second, kitchens that are well-executed eclecticism. It isn't of a specific era, doesn't have a specific look, is a collection of disparate elements which are each appealing and go together harmoniously. Even as one of those elements becomes over-exposed and then shades into silly, it's just one risible piece in a still-graceful whole.

Third, and I suspect this will be controversial, kitchens that are very, very avant-garde. Tastes change slowly. Furniture of the ''Le Courbusier'', Mies Van De Rohr, Marcel Breuer sort - ''modernist'' if you will - that was so stylish in the 1950s and 1960s, was actually created in the 1920s and 1930s. It took decades for the Wassily chair to go from ultra-modern to mainstream. A very perceptive student of cutting-edge modern design might be able to shoot ahead of the bird, as they say, and build a kitchen that might actually look less silly in 20 years than it does today. Maybe. I wouldn't be able to do it.

Well, I can see a final approach, which I think would work in theory for a very few people. Simply transplant a commercial kitchen, or as close as you can, into the house. I think a restaurant kitchen in 2030 will look much like a restaurant kitchen today, save perhaps for more induction, because they are designed for function, not fashion. You'll have a kitchen that is equally institutional and graceless in 20 years as today.

I really like seeing the pictures. I hope they keep coming. I'm getting some ideas.

I had posted this on a thread some months ago, but think it deserves a revisit. The original kitchen is the one I like. It will take you a minute to orient yourself--look at the window.

Obviously, this was a large kitchen in a large, pricey house even at the time her parents owned it. But it's interesting to note from what can be seen of it that it was a functional, working kitchen. Not glam, but instead had upper storage open for visual access behind sliding glass and that there were lots of deep drawers and a big range. Big dinner parties, big activities could take place. Lots of well used cooking gear. And the fresh air rolled through. Was the floor tiled or was it linoleum?

One of the Scandinavian design books I consulted when on a jag for my own kitchen design shows a kitchen in the Ten Chimneys estate in Wisc. owned by the famous actors "the Lunts" in mid-20th century which had a lot in common with this one. Very functional, large staple-shaped kitchen which followed 3 walls and had table (island-like) in center. Nevermind that the house was decorated by Hollywood movie set experts to look like a Gustavian masterpiece, the kitchen had linoleum and formica if I recall correctly. And chrome chairs. Alfred Lunt was quite a cook, I think, and the room was not for servants only.

Here is a link that might be useful: Before and After / Former Hepburn kitchen redone in white

I'm going with scale, proportion and usability. Perhaps with a strong design sense and the guts to do it - even when its not popular.

Just a few more from HB.
1961

Seg love the kitchens from '95!

Bmore---love that wood kitch from the 60's.

Great stuff...keep the pictures coming!

Got myself to rummage around on internet, found a few views of the Lunts' kitchen on a wonderful Flickr site, using O'Brien photos from Wisc. Hist Soc. You will note similarities to Hepburn kitchen: glass in uppers, large space, big range, cooking tools immediately at hand, big sink, clean square white tiles and white paint for sanitary aspect. Looks like countertops may be metal, not Formica?

This is Alfred Lunt, a Cordon Bleu-trained cook who loved to make sauces:

Here is the table I had in memory, and the chairs. Are there two tables, one for serving and one which is moved about as needed for cooking?

Note how the space is used for a working kitchen:

A much younger Lunt serves workers in his kitchen:

Your eyes will move from feature to feature...

There was a second kitchen, in the "cottage" building, which had the quaint historic streak. I think this is linoleum floor?

Is the latter kitchen a silly one? I don't have enough images, but I do know from this view that it has a lot in common with historic ones in Sweden, nevermind the peasant dress.

What is it about 60's & 70's interior photos? I think the quality of the photo itself makes the interiors read more dated than if they were photographed under current conditions. bmorepanic's HB 1961 photo, for example, because that kitchen would be sharp today.
Great photos everyone! I'd add to the mix but I haven't yet mastered the subtleties of code.

Here are some more from 1960-1962 ... not sure why I got such a kick out of these ... but look at the big stainless fridges! vaulted ceilings! big range hoods! islands! kitchen/family room combos! painted and mixed cabinets! It's like GW today, kinda sorta.

Thanks, segbrown. Those are great. Stainless steel! I'm reminded of a New Yorker cartoon caption from 20 years back: "Do you realize we're living through the second time people got tired of art deco?"

@ segbrown -- Thanks for the House Beautiful link! I was glad to see that kitchens from 20, 30 & 40 years ago had design elements that I still love today. Maybe my Old World kitchen won't be passe any time soon. Just doing simple, inexpensive things, like changing paint colors, can go a long way to keeping a look "current."

Julia Child's! It has the eclecticism that many have mentioned, it has the extreme functionality of everything in view (which will cause shudders for some on the "utensils in drawer vs counter thread"), it has those amazing colours and of course the famous pots and pan wall.

What's not to love?

{{gwi:1967595}}

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And another reason to love Julia - she and Paul kept this wine list in the pantry:

Flwrs n co, thks! No fear of the bookshelf being converted anytime soon; there are - ahem - a few more books since we've finished the kitchen.

Florantha, love those vintage photos and I agree - it's a shame about what happened to Katherine Hepburn's kitchen!

Eliz