Trends or not, I'm getting painted cabinets this time. I'll never be able to go natural wood this way, but when my tastes change 10y from now, I can at least just change the color and have a 'new' kitchen.

I think it's trendy right now, however I have always liked it and am in the middle of a kitchen reno with white cabs and a black island. There are tons of great wood stains and lots of people mixing white and wood cabs together. I like seeing the different combos people come up with. And like barbja99 said in 10 years I can paint them a different color.

Go take a look at the kitchen photos here on houzz. You can filter by cabinet color if you look down the left column. Lots of beautiful kitchens with stained wood cabinets.

My first kitchen had avocado green cabinets. Painted 'em white. Second one we redid in stained cherry. Third we redid painted white. Currently have a room full of natural walnut waiting to be installed.

And in 10 years I can paint these too, if I want!

I don't think it matters. Get what you like that doesn't fight with your house. Resale be damned!

One reason, I think, is that painted cabinets (at least white) are so "classic" for kitchens that they are hard to date as they have been used (sometimes more, sometimes less) ever since kitchens have had cabinets. (My grandmother had them in her 1950's built kitchen.) Also--the lighter colors keeps things light and bright. I think right now it is partly a reaction to the darker, and heavier look of the dark cherry or espresso cabinets with dark granite kitchens that were so popular in the early 2000's. Also, with today's more open floor plans, you can end up with too much of the stained wood look everywhere if you have stained wood cabinets AND the usual hardwood flooring AND the wood furniture typically found in the adjacent dining and family rooms. White or cream is especially easy to coordinate with whatever is going on in the adjacent rooms. I also think that many of us have experienced the finish on wood cabinets starting to wear and look unappealing!

It seems that when a style is first popular with designers, we see beautiful examples done well and it looks so "fresh". Then the style eventually catches on with the general public, and we start to see it done everywhere, and often done "badly" by basic builders and diy'ers, i.e. cheaper materials and used inappropriately without understanding basic design concepts, etc. (Cheap oak cabinets and mosaic tile backsplashes are a great example of this. You've probably seen examples of contemporary style, busy mosaic backsplashes used to try and "update" an older traditional style 1980's kitchen with horrid results!)

But--as someone who works in the flooring and décor section of a big box store, lots of people are still coming in looking for tile to go with their new wood-stained cabinets. They are either blissfully unaware, or don't care, that painted cabinets are supposed to be the most popular choice for kitchen cabinets these days!

Just my 2 cents.

I am in the very beginnings of planning a total makeover and I agree, everywhere you look it's painted cabs, and mostly white. I think they are very pretty, and fresh, and light. But not for me, I want a deep Walnut stained wood. Those cabs are out there, but not anywhere near like painted/white ones.

Another thought I had about WHY most of the kitchens in design magazines (and houzz, etc)are white (and other colored) painted cabinets most of those kitchens are high end and are quite large. and if all the cabinets were wood it could be an overwhelming amount of wood. I think that is why you also see a mix of colors, (with often wood stained cabinets on the island or mixed in elsewhere) glass cabinets and open shelves, etc. In a large kitchen you need to break i[ the monotony or it is just too much of a good thing.

And in small kitchens, the lighter colored painted cabinets (and glass doors and open shelves as well) work well to help the kitchen seem larger, lighter, and not so closed in. (BTW--I have still have my honey spiced maple cabinets from 2001. I had originally wanted painted white, but got talked out of it and they were actually more expensive! One of these days I will paint them, but my dear hubby is one of those "I love wood" kind of guys, so I'll have to wait unitl the finish on them is in bad shape so I will have a good excuse!! )

Sorry for all the typos above--I am sick with a bad cold today and my fingers are obviously feeling ill as well!