“The affluent market dictates trends,” asserts Kevin Henry, president of Alno USA, the high-end European cabinet manufacturer. This is as true for kitchen cabinets as it is for fashion. And with the proclivity toward contemporary European design seemingly on the rise nationwide—at most income and age levels—it makes sense to pay attention to what's going on at the top.
“What's happening right now is that the lodge and European look is still very, very popular. But the cutting edge that I see right now is that people are wanting to start venturing out into a new realm,” says Gregory Heinze, president of Shelburne Development, a Tualatin, Ore.-based builder. “With the advent of warehouses being converted into lofts, such as in the Pearl District here in Portland, people have seen what contemporary can look like. And they're starting to express an interest in that clean open look again.”
Alno is at the ready with a battery of fashionable alternatives geared toward personalized environments. Most notable are its Picture Line program—a proprietary technology that transfers digital images (company- or client-supplied) on to the door fronts of most any cabinet including laminate, glass, and wood—and its Natural Color System (NCS), a Pantone-like service that expands the company's high-gloss lacquer shades to more than 1,750.
In a recent Design Trends Survey sponsored by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), approximately one-third (38 percent) of the responding dealers and certified kitchen designers noted universal design as a hot kitchen theme among consumers. Snaidero explores this notion with its award-winning universal design, Skyline. According to Snaidero USA president Dario Snaidero, “Skyline is a revolutionary kitchen system that can incorporate adaptations for people with disabilities, fusing together extreme flexibility and function with beautiful Italian design.”
“The objective was to raise the cabinets off the floor and keep everything within hand's reach,” says Dominic Lepere, vice president of Bulthaup Corp., the company's U.S. outpost.
Poggenpohl's +Integration is based on the concept of open-plan living—merging the kitchen and living area for more space to dine, entertain, relax, and work. “Integrating key elements into one system was a major factor in the design,” explains Lothar Birkenfeld, president of Poggenpohl U.S. “It is a modern mix of materials, wall units that seem to vanish into the wall, and a communications center that incorporates home entertainment and automation.”
Will these and their ilk be the kitchens of the future? “People are much more open to these things now,” Alno's Henry concludes. “And what is shown at Milan [furnishings show] this year will start affecting us next year in the U.S.—if not faster.”
