I think because your house is 1900-1910 if I remember correctly a simple recessed door like shaker, a square or subway ceramic tile backsplash, and a black counter top sort of like soapstone or that look will look suitable no matter whether it's trendy or not -- because it's a version of things that would have been in a "sanitary" kitchen around the time the house was new.

I have thought of this very same thing. I am planning to do a wall of white subway tile, which I am sure eventually will be as "out" as it is currently "in." But I love the look, so I'm trying not to think of that.

I think picking good design and things you genuinely like will have more staying power. My current kitchen was designed by the PO in 1980. It really needs an update now, but certain things held up very well over the years:

- black laminate counters edged with wood

- custom built wood cabinets

- gray hex tile tile mixed with a few natural stones for the deep window ledge.

Things that didn't fare so well:

- the patterned sheet vinyl flooring

- the 3 bowl orange sink

The walls are also orange, which I liked well through the 1990s. But as I tired of them, even if I painted them there would still be the orange sink, so I waited until we could redo the whole thing.

So my theory is that black, white and natural wood color is fairly timeless. Natural materials over synthetic ones whenever possible, and solids over patterns. Save the colors for things that can easily be changed, like wall color. Or just do what you like and hope that you continue to like it as it ages.

Yes, it never hurts to pick a design that is in harmony with your home's architectural style and age. But it's harder to do that with something that is circa 1980...

Funny, I was talking to my ex-MIL last night and realized something: my new kitchen will look very similar to her 1940's kitchen. She has built-in-place solid wood with white shaker style doors. (I am not going to replicate the formica with the metal edge banding, but hers is still in great shape!)

According to some articles I've read recently, my kitchen was dated before I even chose the cabinets, countertop and floor because meal prep and cooking styles will change. Already, I'm behind the trend because I have a regular fridge/freezer combo with no bells & whistles rather than multiple undercounter cold storage units, a gas range rather than cooktop and waist high wall ovens, no open plan with big island & stools, no smart appliances controlled by wifi & apps.

But, I have a kitchen that I enjoy cooking in with fabulous natural light from 4 windows and skylight, tons of counterspace, pantry, and a great big prep sink. Some days, I'm more concerned about not having a plentiful and safe food supply, severe water rationing, and huge utility bills.

I agree that you need to pick things that suit your home's architecture. With a good layout and sensitivity to what fits your home's style, it should be fine for decades. But, of course, bpathome is right as well. New appliances can change the way we cook but that doesn't mean we all adopt the new immediately. Those types of things take time to filter into the mainstream. Of course, more neutral finishes will also help maintain stylish longevity.

The white shaker cabinets - with white subway tile - with either black or white countertops, which people refer to as timeless/classic, will one day look dated. However, it's a BIG trend rather than a short-lived trend, so I think it'll last longer than the short 5-year time slot you threw out as an example.

To avoid going too trendy, I'd make three suggestions:

- Don't do "the whole picture". By that, I mean look at what's trendy, but don't copy every element. That's a sure-fire way to make your kitchen scream 2015.

- Keep "the big stuff" neutral; for example, the cabinets and the flooring. You can change paint (or even a countertop) easily enough. So feel free to be trendy in your curtains and knobs, but stick with classics for things that can't easily be changed.

- Go through pictures and pictures and pictures, and identify the elements to which you're attracted ... and figure out how to incorporate those elements. For example, I know that I'm very attracted to natural light, simple open spaces, no clutter on the ceiling (meaning excessive pendants), artisan tile backsplashes, and "warm" colors and charm.

Yes, building to suit your house's architecture works well if you happen to live in a great old Victorian, but it's a little harder to figure out if you live in a 70s ranch or a nondescript 80s two-story.

Zwizzle 1, I wouldn't worry about not being trendy. That list you mentioned didn't 'specially sound appealing to me. It just sounded expensive! Really, I'm so not into bells and whistles in my appliances, etc.

so I think it'll last longer than the short 5-year time slot you threw out as an example.

Well, that trend started a long time ago (I have two friends, on opposite coasts, who did white inset shaker cabinets and subway tile backsplashes, both around 1995, and both have held up (as far as looks and function) extremely well).

I like the idea of not replicating the "whole picture" that mrspete said! We do live in an older home with a rather blah 1980s kitchen (granted, it could be MUCH worse...but the layout is awful), so doing something more period appropriate would be nice. Or, we could go the direction of a friend of ours who has a similar aged home (1882) and they went SUPER modern. But crazy enough, it totally works.

"The white shaker cabinets - with white subway tile - with either black or white countertops, which people refer to as timeless/classic, will one day look dated. "

Sure, but in a house of the right era or style, it will not look dated to it's own detriment.

The other "current" kitchen, espresso cabinets, active granite countertops, a linear mosaic backsplash, which, technically would be an appropriate kitchen for an old house, because any current style that is "newer" than the style of the house, is appropriate--will look more seriously dated in the future. In that house. (Just like the white shaker/subway/black countertop kitchen is reaching it's expiration date in obviously contemporary houses now, while the espresso kitchen in a contemporary house will have more staying power because they are both contemporary styles.) True super-contemporary works anywhere, really.

It's the mismatch that accelerates the "datedness". The only timeless/classic thing are those things that are timed to the house itself. And out of context they are not timeless or classic at all.

A 50s kitchen in a 50s house, a 70s kitchen in a 70s house, a contemporary-ish kitchen in any earlier style house, these might look dated at some points but they are Never Inappropriate to the house. Maybe someday we will even thing an obviously 1990 oak kitchen in an obviously 1990 house is okay.

Currently though, I think more people are doing more mashups of style than ever before so it's hard to say what we will think of some of the combinations people are putting together today. I think that it's the earlier mashups that most people respond to today in a viscerally negative way, and those mashups were much less common than they are now.