You should do what you like, and not worry too much about it getting dated, unless you plan on selling within a couple years. That being said, I think soapstone is more classic than quartz, uniform color cabinets more timeless than two toned cabinets, and white is more classic than gray/navy. Your first inspiration picture to me looks stunning and likely to look updated for longer than the second picture (which is a lovely kitchen too).

Everything becomes dated. This look is already on its way out. You’re on the tail end of that. If you love it, that’s fine. But realize that people will talk about it being dated, and you may not like that. The best way to have a renovation project it does not become dated, is to have it fit the actual style of the house.

I love the look of the first kitchen and it is similar to one of mine. I have slab cabinets and a very modern backsplash (back painted, apple green glass,) and a black Lacanche without brass. I don't care if people think it looks like avocado green in a few years. But I am absolutely certain of that fact. Know thyself. This white kitchen with black counter is more classic than gray and blue or combos as kariyava said. The next trend is a lighter wood toned kitchen. Investigate the trends unless you are certain of liking the top picture is my advice.

PS And both my kitchens are closed off from the rest of the house- that makes a huge difference in making decisions- much simpler.

Sophie, unfortunately the style of the house is 1950's suburban tract housing, so not a kitchen style that I'd like to keep.

I don't think that white kitchens are on their way out anymore than stainless appliances. Yes, the appliance manufacturers keep coming up with stainless variations, but most people are not taking the bait.

My own house is not a suburban tract house, but is one built in 1948 in a subdivision of houses, many with the same floorplan. Actually, all the ones built BEFORE WWII are alike on the inside - just some variation on the outside. Those built after the war have more variety. Mine is a 1 1/2 story house, so it's no Georgian beauty!

I have a separate kitchen and I like it that way. I also like painted cabinets and would have them regardless of what the "trends" say - I prefer them. I redid my kitchen two years ago. I had my cabinets painted a light gray, and re-used my Glacier White Corian countertops which were 31 years old - also the Corian integrated sink. The backsplash is honed Carrera marble large subway tiles. I wanted my kitchen simple, calm, and peaceful. The flooring is hardwood.

Here are a few pictures:

It pleases me and it works with the rest of my very traditional house. It's a joy to cook in - SO much wonderful counterspace and loads of light. I'm sure many would say it's a look that is already "out". I could care less. I did it for me.

Beautiful Anglophilia. You're right, if the space works for you, then who cares if it's out of style. It's just anxiety producing to spend so much money on renovating something that I'm tempted to try to avoid all things I'll regret in a few years.

You're unlikely to go wrong if you follow the style of your house. For 50s tract housing, in a way, you're lucky because you could go a few directions fairly easily. I feel people make mistakes by trying to go after a look that does not fit their house. For instance, trying to fit a grandiose kitchen into a house that just doesn't warrant it, trying to go rustic in a mid-century house, etc.

Timeless to me is simplicity. If you look at pictures of older kitchens you'll see things that have always stuck around. White cabinetry, medium or light wood cabinets, tile flooring, etc. Trends (two tone kitchens, gray cabinetry, etc) can be fun in the moment, but they are still just trends and even if you're 100% in love with it at the time you'll probably tire of it eventually.

At the end of the day as long as you love it and it's functional, nothing else really matters, especially if you plan to be in your home for a long time.

I agree with Sophie. Nothing says timeless like a horse in the kitchen... ;)

I remember that thread with the kitchen in the barn with the horse! And the lady most egregiously is barefoot in the barn! Clearly the horse is eyeing those greens, and if the camera had stayed, it would have shown that lady and those greens would be toast.

ETA: To the OP, a "timeless" kitchen cannot really be obtained. The appliances alone will look dated in 7 years or so. The best you can do is not make choices that you may not consciously realize are a fad right now, that you've been seeing everywhere so your brain thinks they are classic. Examples would be gray cabinetry and waterfall counters. They are ubiquitous now, but ten years ago were rare or even unheard of. Now out, or on their way out, depending on your region. So you have to ask yourself whether choices you are making are being influenced by what you are seeing everywhere, rather than what have been staples in kithen design.

Since Sophie opened the door to barn kitchens, here is kitchen designer Mick De Giulio's design for a barn kitchen. Tell me, what year was it done?

Try as you may want, there is nothing that is timeless...

[Timeless[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/what-is-the-real-question-being-asked-to-what-is-timeless-dsvw-vd~2419409)

For me, a kitchen is timeless when you cannot pinpoint when it was done, such as De Giulio's and Anglophilia's, both above. You might not personally like or want one just like them, but they aren't the norm and could have been built last month or 10, 20, 30 years ago. Also, they go with the house/barn, which is a biggie.

The OP's second photo is already on the way out, or even completely out. The dark gray cabinets hit its height about 5 years ago and is on the wane ever since. That dark gray is problematic in choosing a counter color, backsplash and floor to go with it and which won't make the kitchen too dark, and people are tired of struggling with that. Very different from Anglophilia's pale soft gray cabinet color which could be from any decade in the last 50 years, and is so pretty, and can be paired with almost anything. The hood in that photo is not current or timeless at all. It is a flat style, with an anemic-sized duct. A large canopy hood with beefy ductwork is more current (more timeless if the duct doesn't show at all, see the De Gieulio kitchen above). There is much more attention being paid to air quality now, and that is not going away, if anything will increase in importance going forward.

Katebauer1977, You are focusing on the money that you are spending and forgetting about what you like...WAIT, you sound like me!!!!!

I had been asking your very question just prior to writing a check for my cabinets. I was also worrying about the right choice in floors, walls, colors, counters, tile, wood, windows, lighting.... Will it be dated? Stay popular? What is trendy? What will stand the test of time? Am I making a huge mistake? Will this look good 5 or 10 years from now? This is so much money, I don't want to make a mistake!

Then I reminded myself what your first poster said.

Kariyava "...do what you like, and not worry too much about it getting dated ..."

I think it has been said already. Nothing we do today is going to look new and trendy and popular even 3 -5 years from now. Put in a kitchen that you will be happy with and enjoy. Do what you love? Discover, celebrate and love your own space. And trust me, there will be someone out there (probably me) who likes it too. I love both your inspiration pics.

~boxer

I can't imagine anyone getting a new kitchen installed, and it looking "dated" in 5 years. Dated to who?? Are you planning in inviting a group of snooty old kitchen designers into your home for a party? Way too much worrying about NOT looking like whatever the latest kitchen design article says you should worry about. 2 things I would definitely do if I was building a new kitchen - counter height oven and more drawers. Those 2 things alone are great features to any kitchen. The big monstrous dominating range hoods that so many here love, I find to be completely unappealing. So much depends on personal taste. Find what rings your bells, and go with it. It is YOUR kitchen. Build it so that you will love walking in there every day.

Well said Chess-Yeah,

I put in my last kitchen in 2009-10 In my last house. We moved to our new current home and DH was scrolling through pictures on my Houzz account to see what kitchens he liked. He found a photo and enlarged it because he loved the look.. And laughed that he opened the photo of our old kitchen.

We were very close to putting in exactly the same kitchen we had before. The difference this time, 10 years later, Is we have more money to get what we REALLY love. Same white cabinets but this time some other little features we can afford. We are not worried about resale as this is our forever home. Those that inherit can change it or sell it.

Thanks for reminding me and the OPoster that we can do what we love!

You can only build what you like if you know what you like. My cousin’s wife changes her mind about her preferences depending on what her richest friend has. And while she is extreme, what if I don’t have a particularly well developed personal taste and I choose stuff I like today only to get a more refined better taste tomorrow? When we are youn and starting to choose our own clothes, our style evolves, right? Well we don’t get nearly as much practice choosing kitchens as we do outfits. I think the fear of making an expensive mistake we ourselves, not mythical snobby others, will regret is quite reasonable.

I worry more about it being detrimental at resale. And I don't want Sophie's dreading "Landed from Mars" syndrome either.

We have a colonial revival built in the 60s. And I hate the 60s style. I don't mind mid-mod, but this is not a mid-mod space. No Atomic Ranch here. I am not putting in coppertone brown appliances and carpet in the kitchen.

Hi! Now it is my belief that the color white is probably the safest bet if you want a color. And FYI you could buy a white fridge probably from when they were invented until now. The semi cabinet makers out there, since I started to pay attention to these things in the 90's, always seem to have at least one offering of a painted white cabinet.

To me a contemporary style home looks best with a flat slab door style and traditional homes like colonial would be a squared raised panel door. The colors and stains is what differs.

We have a raised ranch style home. I was seriously thinking of having wood slab but I could not decide on what species/stain. The home had the original cabinets which were slab in a walnut laminate and were falling apart but the look was just fine to us. So I looked at painted. We ended up with a color hi gloss slab drawers and doors below (we feel white would have been best but I find it hard to live with white cabinets - in my last house I was cleaning them like everyday and it was like OCD or something) and aluminum framed glass uppers.

I love Sophie's pics and words on this matter!

How the heck can I tag Sophie!? We need to sticky, can we do that here?, her sage advice above ! :-)

Absolutely do take into account where you live! According to my kitchen company (does most of the high end work in this city), I'm the only person who has ever done a gray kitchen. The most popular are still cream with antique glaze and cherry. But I live in "flyover country", not the trendy east or west coasts.

I would have happily done a white kitchen, but with that big bay window and due west exposure, in late winter with the intense angle of the sun and no leaves on the trees, it is blinding in there in the late afternoon. With white, I would have had to wear my Maui Jim sun glasses to go into my own kitchen. Light gray was a nice compromise. And it works with the white countertops and white Carrera marble backsplash I wanted. I also like it with the stainless.

The best way to avoid a dated look is to avoid whatever is the hottest thing in the Big Box stores or on "in" and "out" lists in shelter magazines. Stick with the classics and it's impossible to go wrong. And above all, keep it simple. Cabinets and kitchens got very "fancy" in the 80's and 90's - even more recently with the popularity of the "open concept" kitchen. Christopher Peacock was known for these OTT kitchens. They cost a fortune and to me, they now look very dated. WAY too many corbels and other fancy things. First of all, they are dreadful dust catchers and also greasy grime, and second, they date a kitchen.

Remember, it's your kitchen, even if it's smack dab in your living room.

Thank you all, fabulous perspectives!

"Well we don’t get nearly as much practice choosing kitchens as we do outfits. I think the fear of making an expensive mistake we ourselves, not mythical snobby others, will regret is quite reasonable."

Most people are changing outfits long before they are building kitchens. Unless you are young and wealthy, by the time you reach the point where you can build a new kitchen, you've most likely figured out what you like.

We all have different ideas of timeless, but I think ours has weathered the ages very well, with minor upgrades. We bought our house 6 years ago and kept the 1950s cabinets, countertop but adding pull outs, a deep sink, under cabinet lighting, a Gaggenau steam oven and our jem - our Lacanche range. So glad we didn't rip it out and it's super function while at the same time timeless (at least IMHO).

Great functionality and layout with natural light (windows) are the most timeless features, IMO.

90% of he people have no idea what they really like. They’ve been too influenced by TV shows, and commercials, and what magazines that still exist, and blogs, and the milieu in which they exist. They have no independentLy developed taste standards. And they don’t even know that they don’t.

25 years ago at the height of the cherry, burgundy and hunter green, if someone said they wanted gray cabinets b cause they liked gray cabinets? That I would believe. Since then the influencing of opinion has become so subtle that people who think they are outside the box because they want s roofing tin ceiling and a navy island, well, they just don’t understand that they are just in a different box with different packaging.

huruta, that is a lovely kitchen! The rounded peninsula makes me smile and your tulips are the perfect, happy exclamation mark.

It can be helpful to look at pre-1990 kitchens to see what still looks good.

I really must be an oddity because I never thought of my kitchen being on or off trend.

I first seriously delved into designing a kitchen in 2004 and what I wanted then was more or less what I am doing now. In 2004 I would have opted for a cherry Shaker door in a natural finish and my current remodel has a Prairie inspired door (off spring to a Shaker) in medium quarter sawn oak.

My changes have chiefly been refinements in terms of new technology and my learning more about how I use the kitchen. I have extended the functional reach of storage by building out cabinets along the back of the dining room area - effectively expanding one wall of my small galley kitchen and I added stuff like toe kick step stools etc.

I also have a bigger budget to play with so I can afford design splurges like a copper apron sink and some other "wow" factors that my designer created and I would never have dreamed off back then.

But when I was packing up for the remodel, I found the old kitchen design magazines from 2004 (pre digital era) and I still liked the kitchens I had dog eared.

I think most people live in fairly nondescript homes architecturally - or at least the homes I've lived in have had no external (or even internal) design elements. If I lived in an authentic Spanish Colonial or true Mid Century modern home, then design elements would be obvious and I would want to restore and renovate. I absolutely love what has been done to the old homes in Palm Springs, California. But I am not sure why a nondescript suburban home built in 1968 has any design elements dictating the style of the kitchen except for scale.

Since I don't like what is currently trendy - I sailed past all of the gray waterfall kitchens when looking for inspiration. I never liked the pickled pink Tuscan stuff back in the day nor did I particularly care for the earth tone stuff back in the day - I wasn't remodeling kitchens back then but I was buying furniture for my first home.

Is this kitchen trendy. It does have the open shelves which is not something I would ever want since I don't live a life in which I want to worry about the attractiveness of my upper storage but I think the combination of the turquoise and patinaed copper is gorgeous - does it transcend trendiness as a completely personal expression of the homeowner's vision?

As I dissect it from a functional viewpoint, it doesn't make sense to me at all. There is a cooktop on the island with no visible means of ventilation. I'm not a fan of wood topped counters and wonder if they are even less functional when paired with a cooktop.

What is that thing on legs - all I can think of is that it would make it more difficult to sweep and clean around :-). Is it the refrigerator? If not, where is the refrigerator?

I don't care for it. I'd have to repaint cabs, and while I like the island top, I don't want one on legs. Nix on the fixtures and backsplash. Funny - the website describes a "insanely beautiful bespoke copper splashback.", and I think it looks awful. Definitely different strokes!

I really like that kitchen, Helen. Not so much where I live now (1925 Craftsman-Colonial), but if I had a non-descript ranch or MCM, especially in some warm sunny climate? I'd be all over this! This person/designer has a lot of talent. I like islands with legs. They seem less bulky and allows breathing room for the island. It must be anchored somehow with the cooktop in place though. The only thing I don't care for 100% is the light lavendery paint.

This kitchen is not trendy at all. It's so off the charts unique, it can't be a trend!

Inset slab doors and color! Swoon! It may be English. They have much much smaller integrated refrigeration units, and usually place them under counter. Placing it on a stainless open plinth like that would make it more accessible. And it’s just cool looking.

The only downsides are the apparent lack of ventilation, and poor lighting. I think those light fixtures just look like giant copper Christmas ornaments sliced off at the bottom and a can light inserted. Not a fan.

@the Cook’s Kitchen. You are right as it is an English kitchen. The designer has some other kitchens posted but this is the most distinctive which must reflect the owner’s vision and also shows that design is really a collaborative effort as a designer can help realize a client’s visison.

Kitchen

I wish there were more photos to place the kitchen in actual context though.

And reflecting on the other long thread on built in refrigerators p, this is truly a kitchen in which paneled appliances are absolutely necessary to achieve the look.

Huruta, I really like your kitchen! And to the OP, I hope you find a kitchen that fits for both you and your home.

Anglophilia, I love your kitchen. We are in a similar boat; about to remodel our kitchen, house built in 1946. We plan to stay in the house forever, so not concerned about resale, but concerned about spending this money and thinking it looks ridiculous in a few years. We have plain front (probably original) ivory painted cabinets now, dark laminate countertops, and white appliances, creamy subway tyle back splash, with a beautiful sky blue ceiling and good natural light. Trying to find the right combination to magically be perfect forever-I know it's not possible, so I think your advice to remain true to the house and to my natural style (pops of bright color, light and airy) is good.

On the whole, I think the English, unfitted kitchen in Helen's comment looks pretty timeless. The English use wooden countertops all the time- around sinks and cooktops with no ill effects.

My grandmother was married in 1945. One of the first thing she did was have an American kitchen installed in her house- when Europeans say American kitchen, they mean a fitted kitchen. To her an unfitted kitchen looked messy and old fashioned.

I designed an unfitted style English kitchen in our last home and did another English kitchen in our new home, but it’s more refined. The unfitted style kitchen is almost 13yo and everyone that comes over just loves it. Can’t keep their hands off the antique pine island top. Our new kitchen has been featured on IG several times and everyone always comments they love the color. No white!

I love both your kitchens, Allison. I seriously doubt 1945 European unfitted kitchen had anything in common with yours ;-)

Since no response to my post in Old Houses, I'll go ahead and throw these in here!

I'd never seen this color for fixtures -- it reminds me of depression glass, and I love it! This kitchen is in a house that just went on the market near me, and I think it's pretty cool.

some very handsome examples-all different, yet all work, all have character, have appeal, are beautiful

i completely agree-make it work with the house. and love it

and it's not about "dated"..most things can be traced to the exact date. I know exactly the year(or can look it up-1830) when Pushkin wrote his "Little Tragedies". Doesn't make them less powerful. I still remember some pieces by heart-and it's been decades since I read them first.

And this power of beauty, is what makes things "timeless" to us.

but beauty, it comes in many forms. That's no one beauty. It can be magnificent, it can be playful, it can be simple, it can be majestic, it can look primitive-yet it'd still hit you somehow..it can be sunny or dark, humorous or quirky or breathtakingly classical, quiet or not at all. It can come in (seemingly) one color like sky or sea..or it can come in many colors like a forest or summer field.

Find out what kind of beauty you look for, in your heart-and what kind of beauty your house spells and wants..and how to bring these together.

• 
  
  
  
  we finished our remodel about 4.5 years ago. Everyday I walk into my kitchen, it makes me happy. To me the test of timeless is something that makes your heart sing, where family and friends gather to make memories. Good luck with your project. It's challenging, fun and ultimately rewarding.
• My kitchen is always ready for a party!

I think the advice to let the house style help choose the right kitchen is good advice. The problem is that many of us actually live in pretty nondescript homes in subdivisions that are a bit contrived. My neighborhood fits this bill. It was built in 1979 and the features chosen by the original homeowner were meant to mimic a colonial style. The lights, doors and crown moldings are say "traditional colonial" but it is a suburban ranch and it lacks the architectural interest of an older traditional home or even a true mid-century. The reality is that most of us live in such homes and trying to find the right fit for the house along with our true style is tricky. Add to the fact that we are so much more concerned about resale due to job changes, downsizing, etc. than in previous decades and it becomes even more difficult.

@mjib - While I appreciate the aesthetics of the Jadeite kitchen, I am not understanding the functionality. The sink seems removed from a prep area and refrigerator/pantry and the stove sits by itself.

What does a timeless kitchen look like?

It looks like a kitchen that belongs in the style of the house. That means you don't put traditional cabinets in a contemporary house, or shiny contemporary flat panel cabinets in a Victorian house.

It's not a kitchen that is whatever the latest and greatest trend is. It is choosing what you like and what works for your aesthetic and not what is popular now.

I love the current look of white cabinets with white quartz counters (or maybe soapstone), with a little color or shine from a tile backsplash. I'm also drawn to the "current" look of grey cabinets or navy cabinets, which is where my question comes from.

If we're spending $50,000+ on a new kitchen, how do we avoid it looking dated in 5 years? What would you consider classic for a kitchen today? What trends would you avoid?

All the ones you just mentioned.

I really must be an oddity because I never thought of my kitchen being on or off trend.

I first seriously delved into designing a kitchen in 2004 and what I wanted then was more or less what I am doing now. In 2004 I would have opted for a cherry Shaker door in a natural finish and my current remodel has a Prairie inspired door (off spring to a Shaker) in medium quarter sawn oak.

My changes have chiefly been refinements in terms of new technology and my learning more about how I use the kitchen.

Helen could be my sister from another mother, except I first delved into kitchen design with my first house back in 1987. Back then if I could have afforded it, I would have put white shaker cabinets in my craftsman bungalow house. Instead we put in white Ikea cabinets. The least expensive door style they made. However i kept the original white subway tile on the walls.

When we moved into our 1898 victorian/colonial revival, I still would have put white shaker cabinets in the house again if I could have afforded to change out the 50's cabinets.

Fast forward to my condo 8 years ago. I decided that condo needed cherry cabinets for a more contemporary look with a nod to craftsman and Asian design. So I put in cherry shaker cabinets.

Just built a new home that is craftsman inspired and what did I put in? Shaker style white perimeter cabinets with an dark stained quarter sawn oak island.

As for the kitchen Helen showed? I really like it although I'd want to make sure it's laid out right. And I consider it timeless. I think if we saw pics of it 20 years ago or 20 years from now, we'd still think it looks good.

Our designed an unfitted style English kitchen in our last home and did another English kitchen in our new home, but it’s more refined.

Alison your kitchen was definitely an example of a timeless kitchen design.

Mjlb, I love that kitchen too!