5 kitchen design trends for 2012

2. Darker finishes

Natural kitchen cabinetry continues a steady move toward darker finishes. While light natural finishes have been recently specified by 30 percent of kitchen designers, medium natural finishes stand at 55 percent, with dark natural finishes at 58 percent. Two years ago, dark natural finishes were specified by only 43 percent of designers.

Among painted cabinetry, white continues to be the most popular option, as white cabinets have been recently specified by 59 percent of NKBA member kitchen designers, while other colors were specified by only 38 percent of designers. Another trend to note is that distressed finishes are making a comeback. After being recently specified by 15 percent of designers going into 2010, that figure dropped to just 5 percent last year, but has now risen to 22 percent, according to NKBA.

Source: NKBA         Photo: Poggenpohl/courtesy of NKBA