Do you recall liking gray before it became trendy? If not, you might reconsider. I'm one of those who thinks white cabinets are timeless.

We bought a house in 2006 and everything was gray and I absolutely hated it. It was the height of the brown trend. By 2012 I was tired of brown and liked gray. The power of trends!

In our present house I'm trying to stick with what I've always liked and right now that looks like off white, navy blue and natural fibers/wood finishes. I follow several design blogs and instagrams and it's a challenge to not be influenced by their beautiful photos, so we'll see if my decor choices endure more than ten years.

I don't care if it is. My new kitchen is gray, wood and marble. I have envisioned it for over 3 years. It'll keep me happy for the rest of time. :)

My last kitchen was 14 years old. It looked perfectly current except for the appliances. The original granite countertops looked new, and the backsplash was neutral. The kitchen was the selling point for the house. The new homeowners loved the kitchen. It had white cabinets to the ceiling. I don't think that gray cabinets, in 14 years, will have the same impact. Just MHO, and of course I may be wrong, because who can tell what people will want in the future. However, unless you are updating your kitchen with the goal of resale in mind, buy what you love (as others have said). You will be walking into that kitchen every day, and if you have always had white cabinets, you may find white again to be ho-hum. It will be such a pleasure if your kitchen has the cabinets that make your heart sing.

Trends do come and go, so its always best to get what you love and not worry about whether it will become dated. Everything, to a certain extent, does become dated over time. You're probably safest in choosing white cabinets if the whole dated thing really bothers you, white seems to be more or less timeless. Think about how popular honey oak was in past, Tuscan kitchens were a big trend, now we've moved on the white/gray trend. So, I do think in time, gray will probably give way to whatever the next trend may be. So what? If you love your kitchen, then to my mind, it won't really be "dated"

White is the "safer" choice, but we only live once. Pick what makes you happy.

I don't think that grey will be dated. It was a new color choice in the 1920s! Dove Grey, Cactus Green, Lama Tan, Travertine Ivory, & Shasta White were color choices for Kitchen Maid cabinets.

Yes, gray will become dated. So will white shaker. And having different color islands/outer cabinets. And having different color lowers/uppers. Take a snapshot of everything which shows up as popular today and it will become dated. So unless you are clairvoyant and know what will be popular in the future, do what you like best today. The combination you've chosen is beautiful.

I loved gray before it was all the rage. I was looking for a gray sofa when everything under about $3000 was beige. I was sorely tempted to do gray cabinets, but went with white in the end for staying power. Also, we already have gray all over the house and didn't *really* need more.

For me, where I live it can be gloomy 5 months out of the year, so I wouldnt want gray cabinets or decor. As to whether it becomes dated, Martha Stewart put her own gray kitchen on the cover of her magazine in 2006. Eleven years later and it doesn't look at all dated to me. But it doesn't look that cheerful Martha.

Click on the pics to see them larger: http://www.happymundane.com/2006/08/marthas-gray/

I remember that issue--has it really been almost 11 years? But then I remember the very first issue of Country Living, which featured her 'country' kitchen. The Sally Wheat kitchen was from about the same time as Martha's gray kitchen.

White is much less trendy--I have white Shaker cabinets from ca 1930's in my kitchen.

I fell in love with gray stain before I knew gray was trendy. I'm still not sure if it will work in our house or not. I'll need to get some samples, but it might be a while before we're ready for a kitchen. My husband is doing most of our renovating. I'm trying to convince him to do our mudroom addition and kitchen before building a new garage (we already have a 3 car attached garage)!

I know that I do not want painted cabinets, but I haven't found a wood tone that make my heart sing yet. So, I keep coming back to gray stain. I don't much care what other people think (we're not planning on leaving any decade soon). I just don't want to get sick of it myself!

Gray is already dated....

Vnhoch - you go with what makes you happy.. "Dated" is a snob that cannot appreciate the fact that you liked something and went with it.

Just ask yourself (within budget.. lol) if you were in that kitchen for 20 years, what would you want to make it look like in a remodel?

Then run with it... so when it gets "dated"... it will be a new date.. lol

R

I bought my house after a divorce and work move. I didn't love the kitchen. Being the cautious type, I spent 5 years saving in order to pay cash and working up the nerve to do a change. The latter took longer than the former. I was dismayed to learn that the gray cabinets I wanted, and the white appliances I liked with it, were instantly dated an on the way out. BUT, this house is for me and I'm not planning to sell, so I went with it anyway. Do what YOUR heart wants. Unless you are willing to re-do a kitchen every 5 years, you have to recognize that some aspects will be dated and not on-trend. Now, I just have to finish adding the accents to the kitchen for pops of color.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/harvest-run-road-kitchen-transitional-kitchen-philadelphia-phvw-vp~86520986

I may have some of the most dated kitchens cabinets on the forum (20 years old) - and my kitchen makes me smile:)

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~58830325

I think anything that's very popular at a given time becomes somewhat dated at some point. Some things are more classic and cycle in and out. When I did my kitchen 11 years ago stained wood was popular - lighter tones and the glazing thing was big. I got very dark wood which wasn't popular at the time.

Next we seemed to move on to white after everyone got tired of seeing stained wood. Now it seems we're getting tired of white so we're moving to colored cabinets (that includes gray) which I believe were popular in the 60's.

So as everyone else said, best to just get what you love now and will still love in the future even when it's dated. Unless of course you can afford to remodel every time your kitchen becomes dated.

I've always loved gray, and wouldn't worry so much about the trendiness, as paint-grade wood cabinets can always be repainted.

I have to say that white cabinets, though, have been present in American kitchens throughout every era for over a century, and IMO are the timeless choice.

My hesitation with gray cabinets would be the same as Friedajune's-- in my experience, they can be gloomy. Not always, but depending on your natural light and your need for a cheerful, bright kitchen.

Can you spend some time in a kitchen with gray cabinets to make sure you like not just the look, but the (potentially) gloomy feel?

What about a compromise with a two-toned cabinets look? In my new kitchen, I have Kraftmaid's "Pebble Gray" as the lower cabinets and "Moonshine on Maple" for the upper cabinets.

Thank you all for the reassurance! I love these forums so much and really appreciate the responses! It's true, I think this actually proved to me how much I care about "what other people will think" (in terms of it becoming dated) over my own happiness and it's time I just do what I love! ;) This has me so excited!!

Git 'er dun!

I had someone ask me why I went with my choices. I told her because it's what I wanted. (I have planned and dreamed of this kitchen for over 3 years.) I was going for a certain look. Marble was required in my mind. :) My gray kitchen makes me happy from the crack of dawn until bed time. I can't see it not making me happy EVER.

Ditto Terri_PacNW.

Of course gray cabinets will be dated at some point, the cabinet makers and small appliance makers and decorators that sell cabinets and and and.... Will be sure to make you feel your kitchen is dated. Well you get the picture. Put in what will make you happy for the next 15 or 20.

Kxp24 - I really,really LOVE your white appliances with your gray cabinets.

I just actually looked at the links. I agree Kxp24.. It looks amazing.

I have quite a few of the same choices. I even had white appliances, but the big guy wanted stainless...I wanted to wait. He figured out a way to pay for them. So I have them now.

jhmarie, that is a massive kitchen. I don't think it's dated. I looks warm and inviting.

Trying to figure out what will be dated is a practice that will make you nuts. I do think grey will mark an era in home decor, and people will wonder what we were thinking in 20 years. But that is probably because I don't love the grey trend, and it seems SO ubiquitous.

It makes me think about bisque colored appliances. They don't even sell them anymore, yet it is a neutral.

That's what I think: color by itself can't be dated. Any color. It's a color. It was not invented by us so to say; it's out there whether we want or not; it exists independent of us. We might like it more or less but it can't date:) Now the combos of colors that people put together and details that people put together might or might not become dated, or might become overused then forgotten then resurrect again, numerous times. Whatever people create might become dated. But not a color, since it's not created by us:) We just see it and interpret it. Depending on this and that..and some things we feel in relation to colors are more universal, some are cultural, some are personal; and it changes throughout one's life too.

So follow your heart. And keep in mind your house as a whole. It has to make sense within the context of your house. If it does, and makes you happy too-you're where you want to be.

If you get to strongly dislike a color(didn't happen to me yet; I usually fall in love with one color more..)) within ten years-well..then you bite a bullet and repaint it. Maybe you'll need to do it anyway-and will choose to paint it gray again, who knows:)

(by the way my association with gray is not modern at all. I do strongly prefer warm grays though. There are so many shades of each color..we put all this rich infinite world under just several umbrellas, but. Within every color you'll find something that speaks to you, and vise versa)