As someone with shaker cabs (some of them white), I think it's been clear for awhile that shaker is on it's way out as the top trend. Slab front cabs in interesting woods are what I see the next generation latching onto.

I think shaker has a lot of staying power because it's transitional. Slab doors are probably in second place where I am.

I am doing 3/8 partial inset/partial overlay with exposed hinges because I like the look of a thin door and non adjustable hinges.

agree with daisy chain, in that smaller spaces will have to accommodate great storage...so a cleaner look with slab doorstyles, some interesting veneers: kitchens will be working harder than ever …..continuation of "social space" use of kitchen as well...it will look good, and people will want to be in the space.

Shaker is timeless, hence it's popularity. Slab has been around forever now for those looking for a more modern/minimalist look. I don't see either of them waning too much to be honest

I think it is also going to depend on how much Millennials are into modernism how much kitchens move toward slab doors.

My preferred style is slab doors. Mixing stain plus colorful veneer is something I love very much in particular. My current kitchen has Shaker cabinets, one color (not white though), since imo it fitted the house/layout better.

So if I planned to do something in 5 years -it'd be largely dictated by a house/condo/apatrment I'd be in. I love enough styles to embrace them wherever. But it'd never be, say, overly ornate since it's not me. Neither it'd be very minimal, clean, everything out of sight look since it's not me either.

A great article from the Washington Post.

Millennial Homeowners are changing the look of a kitchens

In my personal experience some Baby Boomers tend to like warmer colors, some Millennials cooler colors so I am curious about the younger X generation. I wonder what amazing trends they will go after as they hit the buying power. What colors will they like? Will Slab doors or maybe all glass or bamboo. It will be interesting to see any trend that is on the horizon.

Our neighbors's 27 year old daughter and her husband built a new house that is designed to be mostly powered by solar energy. The house is also designed that they can turn on or off a light switch, garage door, oven, or really any item in their house from their cell phone. They can be in Australia and open their garage door for the UPS delivery in Chicago. This young busy high earning couple want ease if living in their complicated tech world.

I imagine kitchens will take on more of trend of efficiency and ease to cook, clean and use. And with that may come textures, colors, surfaces that lends itself to a busy life. Will Shaker fade? Yes, of course it will like the golden oak or the orange formica. Meanwhile I am going to enjoy shaker while it is here.

~boxer

We've been seeing a consistent trend moving towards minimalism, real materials, and practicality. That's not to say that there isn't any interest in embellishments or busy themes - that's definitely around. Shaker furniture is the epitome of minimalism, quality construction, and useful design and so I think that'll be around for a long time - though you may see color trends come and go. Our customers seem to be going through a dark blue phase (which is slowing down now.) A lot of people seem to want walnut right now - but it would seem that walnut is in the process of pricing itself out of the market and it may eventually become a premium material choice.

I see a lot of slab front cabinets these days. I see more of the exotic woods in European kitchens, I figure those will cross the Atlantic soon. As much as I like Shaker cabinets, and I really do, their profusion into low end, not particularly attractive kitchens will be their undoing.

As for gray, I am sure Sophie was right in 2009. Just because the majority of people did not get the message, it does not mean it was not sent. Design trends take a long time to filter down to people who do not have a particularly well trained eye.

And before anyone takes offense, we all have various skill levels in assessing what is good and what is bad, what is sophisticated and what is gaudy. If you are of the school of thought that whatever you like is just perfect because you like it, fine, then none of this applies to you.

I'm not a minimalist, nor a trend follower. I think slab fronts are boring, and I have always, ALWAYS, liked the shaker style. So nothing surpasses that, for me.

So interesting reading this. I guess I am not too swift with terminology so I had to look for images of slab front cabinets. I think at first glance they seem to modern for me. But then I think that probably as time goes on, there will be some modifications and it will look less stark and modern. I did see some with some hardware and that "interested it up" for me. Lol

I have slab front cabinets in my 50 year old kitchen. When we renovate this year, I am not doing slab doors again, but Shaker. Shaker cabinets are classic and have been around for years.

The question was about where people saw the trends going, not about what people wanted in their own kitchens. For example, I love white kitchens. They are no longer "on trend." I will always prefer them though- that's not the issue.

I could not care less about where trends are going. My husband and I intend to live in our home for the rest of our lives which will hopefully be about 40 more years. (We're in our 60s.) Do what you love and don't worry so much about trends. Even if you want to sell someday, what is on trend now won't be in a few years.

Okay...if I was going to build a kitchen in 5 years, the "cool" kitchen for me would have shaker cabinets.

Here are some updates to slabs.

I think the raised edge, either square or radius, is handsome but I wonder about chipping

And a raised bead on what is essentially shaker

Pillowed slab: beveled, rounded with a crease, and fully rounded:

I think this is a handsome raised panel door:

Kraftmaid has had this door for a while. with a sort of bolection-inspired stile and rail

I hope slab doors aren't the next big thing. My parents' home, a typical post WWII home, had slab door cabinets and I thought they were ugly then. But I do like a lot of the doors that were posted above ^^

I like the clean lines of shaker style and in my area, they're still really hot. But I also live in the Midwest where it takes a while for style changes to make their way to us.

I don't understand what is "ugly" about a slab door... slab doors are too plain to be actively ugly.

..if i was really a cool kid btw(with a healthy budget)-i'd ask myself whether somebody makes veneers with patterns..like florals..:)

slab doors can be very warm in feel, and slightly rustic, and painted too

pillowed slab door reminded me of my first kitchen I installed many years ago. Mine was lighter..they said it's pear. or well, pear veneer. very similar grain though. i prefer softer grains

I do love walnut, for many years already, well it is beautiful wood, but for me it wouldn't be some new choice, it'd be something I gravitate to naturally

Shaker on the other hand was scary to try because I never had Shaker before))

it all depends, really

i understood the question like more "what would I do"..since it said "If you were planning to do a kitchen in 5 years what do you imagine would be the cool kids kitchen?"..can be also understood as "what the trend will be?" or if I dig deeper-who are the cool kids? lol

as for what becomes next trend-it's easy to predict here..when everybody does the same, oversaturation comes. It doesn't matter what it is really, it's just that people here are more..sensitive? to whether they are "cool kids" or not. At a given moment

While cool kids, they don't care that much. As per definition.

Or just kids when the rules of the game are different, they don't care so much either, whether cool or not.

When I talk to my friends from abroad about resale etc-it's like we're from different planets already. I get them because I was like them. They look at me like I'm crazy.

There are several explanations for it of course..I'm sure.

But there are so many kitchens posted here that I wouldn't even think to redo, because they are nice and they work..I'd just buy you know flowers and put my favorite plates and live my life..and people seem really stressed about how these are "outdated". By the time they update them the trend changes already. It has changed actually, as of now. It just takes time until folks catch onto it.

I can't chase it, really, neither can I chase classic and I don't want and don't have to either, since so many things are classic. Some are classic to this place, and some to other.

Also most classic started with somebody changing the rules of the game. It didn't exist-and then it new-and then it's classic. Not everything will be like that, but many things, they will.

I fave a feeling I'll go now on and on trying to get to my own definition of classic, and this post will never end, so I'll shut up:)

Slab doors can look wonderful in the right setting, and IF they are made from very high quality veneers. They look horrible when they get down to the Big Box level the way they have in the past. I had them in my kitchen - previous owner put them in in the mid 1970's and they were UGLY! I painted them and changed the pulls and they looked much better.

The problem with "trends" is that they start at the very upper end - super expensive, very high end. And they move downward, often rather quickly. A slab door in a wonderful wood done by Plain English and costing a fortune, is going to look at LOT different when it hits your local Big Box store.

Even a cheap white Shaker cabinet can look reasonably good; a cheap wood slab, not good at all.

april, it's just wall paper, but I thought of this Paris kitchen when I read your comment:

Great comments and explanations and thank you palimpset for posting the images to explain. As I mentioned, I know what I like but I do not always know the proper terms. So the examples of the slab fronts you posted, I see for me that with hardware and especially with that stunning and interesting wood grain, I really liked that one. I do prefer more detail though in the cabinets. I guess I have had raised panel (?) and gravitate towards that.

To clarify a bit more, since I do have an appreciation for design but do not consider myself super talented... I am seeking to pick your collective brains. I think I have done a very nice job with my home and am able to make good choices. However --and this is key and where you come in--- I am not always aware of all the options. I dont do decor magazines, it's not my trade etc. I am not exposed to it. So when I say cool kids I think I am referring to those that are a bit more in the know than I am. It's all good.

My SO is a realtor, and the local millennials at least are not less susceptible to trend following and may be even moreso. Since many of them went to college in a era where schools were as much chosen for their amenities as their academics, they became used to living in (what used to be called dorms) where they had clusters with their own kitchenettes, laundry, and the building often had work out rooms and technology spots and were maybe even associated with someplace to eat.

Many of them will reject rental apartments that don't have their own washer and dryer and new looking kitchens and bathrooms out of hand and only want new construction or renovation for their first houses.

April, check out the first two kitchens in this article and what about one of these refrigerators?!

Pal, I can't blame them for wanting their own washer/dryer. Common laundry rooms are a pain.

Sure, I consider getting my own washer and dryer a life transforming event.

But I live in a city with lots of existing buildings some in very high profile locations where there are common laundry facilities and no possibility to convert to in-unit laundry. So lots of Boomers and Xers and older have been using common laundry for decades. Not saying it's better, just that it was completely acceptable here and I am not sure what will happen to some of those buildings soon.

You can't just blindly follow trends, you have to consider the style of the house too. I have a Spanish style house and a shaker, slab style or more contemporary door would not have looked right in the house. The house is 18 years old, but I've had people think that it is an older/original 1920's house that has had some updates!

I considered white cabinets for about 5 minutes and it just would not have looked right. I went with a dark stained mahogany cabinet with Taj Mahal quartzite counters. The cabinets now match the wood beams in the house and do look like they could be original to an older house.

If the next owner wants white they can go ahead and paint, at least they will have good quality wood cabinets to work with.

Amen, @chispa! You have to do what looks right for your house.

Some people can’t tell what looks right for their house. Kinda like people buying clothes that look good on the model, but not them.

One of the local builder did a spec house up the street a few years ago. It was a Spanish inspired house with an appropriate style kitchen. They got an offer and the family wanted a sleek modern kitchen installed instead. The builder took a $50K deposit and changed the kitchen. The family closed and have lived there since. I bump into the builder's wife once in a while and she thought the family was crazy to make that change.

I got notifications of people liking some comments which prompted me to re-visit this. Since I have more traditional /transitional taste, and am not too swift at visualizing, could anyone link some photos of slab cabinets with that in mind?

My parents put modern high gloss slabs in their kitchen when they remodeled several years ago (replacing a 1991 honey oak kitchen). I don’t think they were thinking of what was a future trend, they just went with what they liked (and it looks fantastic still). My mother is gone now, but my 65 year old stepfather still enjoys his very modern kitchen :)

I went with white (Alabaster) shakers in my kitchen. In all the homes I have lived in over my many years, I have never got sick of white cabinets, or simple shakers. The two together is my perfect cabinet. I would do the same thing in five years. But any grays in my home are warm, and we added in lots of blonde, creams, light taupes, rich teak, soft browns, in finishings and furnishings. The cool white and gray look never worked for me. I like earthy naturals, and warmth. Small cozy spaces and books versus large sparse spaces. We are in our late 30s and early 40s and plan this to be a very long term home so we went with what we liked, not worrying about what might sell five years away.

What is next in trends? I don’t know. I am seeing more euro style slabs, be it a wood like bamboo, a walnut veneer, or a gloss. Or mixes of gloss with wood/veneer. I personally find the mix of super modern “man made” with natural elements a wonderful look. If I was not worried about longevity for my own taste and working with a budget I would have been tempted a mix of acrylic and bamboo (latter was $$$ when I priced out!). Like Sophie said though, quality matters for woods and veneers. I have been seeing a shift from gray and white kitchens back to wood. Millenials are susceptible to trends too but they have generally a more limited budget and may be wise to choose quality and longevity versus trendy.

I really like inset slab doors, which palimpsest posted above. I had my bathroom vanity in my last house done that way. If I cared about trends and wanted to guess at the next one, I might consider this in a medium wood color. (I agree with the advice posts above that it’s more important to choose something that fits the house.)

Project 1 - Modern · More Info

@salonva, I just completed a reno of my kitchen near the coast. I was going for a modern, clean, coastal look. I choose rift cut white oak flat panel doors and stacked matte finish glass tiles. I think if the backsplash were subway tiles, the look would have been more transitional. Of course the counters and flooring play a big part in the overall vibe.

What a beautiful kitchen! @czarinalex - (btw we'd love it if you went to our houzz page and wrote a short review on your experience working with us on your renovation!)

czarinalex, "I think if the backsplash were subway tiles, the look would have been more transitional."

?? I'm confused. Your backsplash IS subway tiles,as far as I can tell.

3 by 6 is subway..here, as far as I can judge, the size of tiles is 3 by 9 probably? It's shape and size of the tile that make it "subway".

Nope. Subway simply refers to shape. My glass tile backsplash is subway glass tiles (and advertised as such).

then I'm all wrong))

These days, any rectangular tiles are called 'subway tiles'. I grew up in NYC. The tiles in subways were always a running bond pattern. I should have been more clear.. Running bond is pretty transitional(IMO). Stacked placement feels more modern. Our tile is 4x16.