I don't know where you are looking online that you are only seeing white cabinets in kitchens. I am not sure you have done much looking. There are a gazillion wood cabinet kitchens online. Every type wood you can think of. If you have a bigger budget, the rift cut white oak cabinets are what everyone wants, but most cannot afford. Similarly walnut, especially in the MCM style. There's also cherry, birch, maple. In addition, painted cabinets of jewel colors are hot - sapphire blue, emerald green (Ikea even has these now), jade green.

As to white, they are not the "style now", or a "trend". White kitchens have been around for 150 years or more, so people choose them as something that will not go in and out. That is why you see them often. But so many people choose wood stains, natural wood, or paint colors. You need to look more.

I agree.

I love white kitchens and will always have one. That said, I can appreciate the wood tones and even the latest greens that are shown.

When you visualize your kitchen, what do you see? What are you drawn too? That should be YOUR starting point.

Again, white is not a trend. It is by far the most popular choice for many reasons.

But, if it doesn't speak to you, then by pass it. You don't owe anyone any explanations. .

I have done a lot of looking. For months. I have seen “wood” kitchens. If I look for renovation ideas, or before and after pictures, the majority of the kitchens are white. Or even gray.
I am aware that white cabinets have been around, but it is the go to nowadays. That’s why I was wondering if stained would be seen as more ‘dated’.

Maybe, but unless you are building for resale it shouldn’t matter :-) It should be whatever speaks to you and suits your family and lifestyle... Personally I prefer the look of wood, which is why our new kitchen is red birch cabinets with walnut trim. But obviously that wouldn’t be everyone’s preference.

I also prefer stained to painted cabinets. They don’t need to look dated if you pick a shaker door and mix more current counter, hardware and tile with them.

I agree with the other posters that say wood cabinets are very popular, and all the kitchen cabinets companies have them in multiple types of woods and finishes and price points. I do not see why the OP thinks otherwise.

What is completely out are the orangey wood - but those are from the ‘80s and earlier, so they have been out for decades. It’s just that cabinets were made sturdier back then, so they’ve hung around because people are reluctant to tear out sturdy cabinets even if the color and style (cathedral doors usually) are decades and decades outmoded.

More recently outmoded are the espresso stained cabinets. They’ve been out for about 10 years, but you still see them sold, often at low prices, so people still buy them and hope to get their kitchen to look more current with their counters, flooring, and backsplash choices to outweigh the espresso stain.

As mentioned above, white will always be around. Another reason why it’s popular is that it is light in what might be an otherwise-dark kitchen. I live in a northern climate that is gloomy with short days for half the year. My kitchen window faces north and has trees all around. I would only choose white cabinets for those reasons. Not wanting to come in to my kitchen early on a November morning and have dark wood. Though I love wood cabinets, it’s not right for my kitchen.

To the OP - don’t choose your cabinet finish in a vacuum. Make sure to consider your flooring, how the kitchen works with the rest of your home’s decor, and how bright or dark your kitchen is.

I understand what you are saying. I do have white perimeter cabinets, but also a good mix of navy, as well. By no means is it a white kitchen. I will say though, no matter what color your cabinets, you will be wiping them down. Dust and smudges show on dark cabinets and I find I wipe them down as frequently as I clean up splashes and specks on my white cabinets.

Some great examples of colorful kitchens here, based on a talk I did for the 2019 San Francisco Design Week: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/designer-shares-her-top-10-kitchen-and-bathroom-trends-stsetivw-vs~123660381

Here's another story: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/new-this-week-3-kitchens-with-boldly-colored-cabinets-stsetivw-vs~108329571

Do a search on this website for "colorful painted kitchen cabinets" in either photos or stories.

I am doing an ivory kitchen. I think ivory reads as richer than white but doesn’t go in and out of style. I have renovated 5 kitchens in the last few years and all of them had ivory kitchens. The kitchens were the most popular feature of the houses when selling.

good luck!

It is the style and construction of the cabinets that dates them, and their layout (staggered heights, short uppers, shallow over fridge, framed, partial overlay, lack of lower drawers ...) more than being stained or the shade of the stain IMO.

If you didn't get a bold color but something more subtle/quiet, like a pastel, in a color scheme that you have always liked - well you probably wouldn't get tired of it. I have loved gray greens and blues for decades, so I would have no fear about doing my cabs in such a color.

So, no fear about getting stained wood. Get what delights you.

I will dispute the notion that you won't need to wipe the cabinet fronts though - they will need it whether you can see the smudges, spills and grime buildup or not. It is just part of my cleaning routine.

No you are not the only one, that does not want a white kitchen. White would be the last color I would choose for a kitchen. (except for the ceiling). Go to a cabinet shop and look around. There are many wood cabinets to choose from. Stay away from glazed cabinets, if you are worried about things being outdated. Keep in mind what you are not changing in your present kitchen, when choosing cabinets. Oh, and yes, I do have painted cabinets, but, they are not white.

The mass market may still be doing a lot of white, but the market leaders are pivoting to stained cabinets. But even at peak white, people who preferred stained cabinets were still doing stained cabinets. Choose what pleases you.

I have no kitchen in the 200 year old house I’m restoring and I’ve told my contractor to do a hand built kitchen with no white in it. Lots of wood and blues and green. Go for what makes you happy!

Cat_ky, I am the opposite - I have painted cabinets (although not exactly a white) but put color on the ceiling. I tend to dislike white ceilings, unless the walls are white.

Nothing wrong with stained wood. I’m about to put in green cabinets but I saw quite a few stained styles I liked when I was shopping.

Nope! I’m a bit sick of the white on white but to each their own, it looks lovely in some houses. I am renovating a house and my kitchen is mostly brown toned which may be dated to some but I love the warmth of it.

Stained wood cabinets are NOT dated, except to a superficial eye. I built for what I enjoy. I am sick of the white on white, as well. The photos all look like someone used Photoshop to turn everything monochrome or greyscale. Not - to me - appealing, either. I like warmth in a living space. "Splashes" of color are not enough.

Just now remodelling our kitchen with Shaker, dark stained cherry cabinets.

Wood is very much en Vogue now for kitchen cabinets.

Did our kitchen 5 yrs ago. Only white is window and door trim. Ceiling is wall color.

"What is completely out are the orangey wood"

"More recently outmoded are the espresso stained cabinets."

"white will always be around. Another reason why it’s popular is that it is light in what might be an otherwise-dark kitchen."

That right there^^. Exactly that.

OP, there are TONS of new and updated kitchens that are NOT white. Is white popular? Hell yes. For many reasons. But if you are only seeing white kitchens in your research, then you are doing something wrong. Google "wood kitchen cabinets 2020". Lots of ideas there.

In my area, the draw to a white kitchen is because folks are in small kitchens, closed off with darker heavy looking oak cabinets, a small window and one horrible center light in the room. They feel the need to swing the pendulum way to the other side!

I have a lot of folks who just want a better space and still love wood.

Keeping the kitchen timeless is easy - make sure you choose and design to fit the style of the home. If it fits the house, it will always look good. Do the trendy stuff in thing that are easy to change - lights, paint, even the backsplash .

Good luck!

No, you have company! I have gorgeous wood cabinets in my kitchen and every time I visit my friend’s homes with white kitchens I am glad I didn’t go that route.

White kitchens are pretty, but they feel sterile for me. I guess they look better in a small space, but if space is plentiful I will go for wood every time! Wood has warmth and personality that paint will never have. You can make it modern or traditional or anything in between.

Some of us split the difference by having two-toned kitchens. My space is small, without a ton of natural light, so we have white uppers and counters, but stained lowers and a blue backsplash. I actually love having white counters. I love a nice clean look.

Even a small kitchen can use wood. Ours is 8x11. The window is north facing though the whole room is one space with dining and living. Living is south facing and dining has west windows. Lighting is important, I never feel my kitchen is too dark. We have all lights on dimmers.

Well my perimeter cabinets are white and my trim is white, and my sinks are white, but that's about it. My island is quarter sawn dark oak and the rest is colorful. In fact about 6 months ago I started a thread bemoaning the fact that most kitchens where white, gray or black or versions of the three.

More important than the color of the kitchen is creating a kitchen that works with the style and era of the house.

Cpartist's Kitchen

You're not the only one. All white would "grind my gears".

I'm not a compulsive "clean freak" but white would show every bit of dust/dirt ... and I live on a country dirt road off another private country dirt road. Weather permitting, I keep my windows open from early spring to late fall because I go outside too often to want to be changing temp from ambient temp to AC and back again. To me, that makes hot weather seem even more hot .

If you are wanting to reuse your current cabinets, you might consider researching products that would darken your stained cabinets a bit to get rid of any "orange" vibe -- that would be my first choice.

Is there a cabinet, upper and /or lower, that is installed apart from the others -- one from which you could remove the door(s) and see if it might be either stained darker or refinished? Or do you have cabinets above the refrigerator that could be removed and replaced with an open shelf if what you try doesn't result in something you like?

The % of white as new cabinet sales has steadily dropped the last 4 years. Woods like white oak, walnut, and maple are taking over that %.

This is stained cabinets I am putting in my new home being built in Arizona. They will be in a shaker style. It also shows the countertop and flooring.

Sue Wulff, this is eactly the color of my cabinets in shaker style. With all the white craze, I almost painted them 2 years ago. So glad I gave up on the idea! I am in a process of removing Santa Cecilia Classic granite and installing white granite to update the look. Other than that, I absolutely love my gorgeous wood cabinet!

No, you are certainly not the only one who does not like all white kitchens. To me, it's the easy way out, cause you know, white goes with everything.

If you are only looking at Houzz for photos, then yes you will be getting a lot of white kitchens. Houzz doesn't seem to be very creative in their photos. Try searching on Pinterest. Use seach words like rustic or brown or green or stained wood. Also Pinterest has photos of real life kitchens whereas Houzz seems to have show-room or high-end where the kitchen has just been finished and no one has used it yet.

My new home being built in Arizona. No white kitchen here!

I love wood and feeling enveloped by the warmth of it. I have hickory cabinets and they are beautiful. I have no intention of ditching them, but if I did I would chose wood again -- a white kitchen is in no way, shape, or form congruent with a log-sided house.

That said, I do love a white kitchen in the right setting, but what I don't like is the white-on-white, it's too blah and I find it quite uninspiring. What I personally think is lovely and classic is white cabinets with contrasting countertops - something like soapstone, or a white kitchen with a "beachy" vibe -- white cabinets and backsplash in soft greens or blues, I find that very soothing.

No, white kitchens are awesome, but they deserve a little color too!

I love white kitchens..I’m on my second one...but I adore quarter sawn and rift sawn oak. I swore I would never build another house but if I were going to my kitchen might look like the second picture that Sashadog posted above. Love, love, love it!

sasha..do you remember where you found that pic just in case there might be more pics of that kitchen? For my dd who is building soon.

Do what you like! But as you can tell, there are plenty of others who prefer non-white kitchens. I love the color of wood, stained or otherwise, and I'm not into painted wood.

We just (finally) finished our second build. The cabinets in our first build, a vacation/retirement home, is something like Brazilian cherry (I can't remember precisely), stained natural, lots of color. With slightly lighter-color flooring, almost-black countertops, and medium gray backsplash. The second build has maple kitchen cabinets, stained a brownish-grayish tone. Red oak floors stained natural, light gray (similar to limestone, but not) countertops, brown/gray/white streaky granite on only the bar portion of the island, and a very distinctive patterned white/black/gray backsplash.

I will also say that as much as I grew to hate the early-90s orangey-oak cabinets in our old house, the quality was better than either set of my new cabinets.