NKBA Reveals Top Kitchen and Bath Trends for 2012

More than 350 National Kitchen and Bath Association member designers took part in the 2012 NKBA Design Trends Survey to cite the materials, product types and styles that they've incorporated into their kitchen and bath designs over the final three months of 2011. While broad trends won't be evident in every local market, the following are 10 overall trends for kitchens and baths across the United States and Canada.



KITCHENS

1. Cherry Wood in Decline

Cherry wood has consistently been the first or second most popular type of wood for cabinetry, jockeying for the top spot with pale each year. However; designers are slowly shifting away from it. While 80% of NKBA member kitchen designers had recently specified cherry cabinetry as 2010 approached, that figure dropped to 72% last year and fell again to 69% heading into 2012.

No other wood species is taking that market share on its own, as even maple dropped in popularity this year, falling from 77% last year to 70% now. Instead a number of lesser-used woods are being specified more often, including oak, which is specified by twice as many designers now (22%) versus two years ago (11%); walnut, which has increased from 3% in 2010 to 9% in 2011 to 13% today; birch , which is specified by three times as many kitchen designers as it was a year ago (15% vs. 5%), and bamboo which has doubled from 5% last year to 10% now. While alder is currently specified by 27% of kitchen designers, that figure is down from 30% last year and from 40% two years ago.




2. Darker Finishes

Natural kitchen cabinetry continues a steady move toward darker finishes. Where light natural finishes have been recently specified by 40% of kitchen designers, medium natural finishes stand at 55% with dark natural finishes at 58%. Two years ago, dark natural finishes were specified by only 43% of designers.

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


3. Glass Backsplashes

Although glass remains a niche material for kitchen countertops, it's recently been used by more than half of kitchen designers as a backsplash material, rising from 41% a year ago to 52% now. This trails only natural stone tile at 60% and ceramic tile (including porcelain), which has been specified of late by some 74% of designers. Even at that high rate, ceramic tile backsplashes are on the decline, as they stood at 78% a year ago and 88% two years ago.

Other popular backsplash materials are granite and quartz. The popularity of these materials as backsplashes is due to their high use as countertop materials. Finishing off a granite or quartz countertop with a matching backsplash is quite common; however, the same doesn’t hold true for solid surfaces. While these materials are very popular for countertops, they're seldom used as backsplashes.


4. LED Lighting

Energy-efficiency is clearly not a fad, but a real trend that can be seen taking hold in homes across the United States and Canada. Despite the higher initial cost, light-emitting diode, or LED, lighting is proof of this trend. Specified by 50% of NKBA member kitchen designers entering 2010, that rate increased to 54% the following year and has jumped over the past year to 70%. However, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) aren't sharing in this trend. Although they use roughly a quarter the energy of an incandescent bulb when producing the same amount of light, measured in lumens, the poor color of the light they produce and the presence of mercury in these bulbs are keeping them out of newly remodeled kitchens.


5. Pull-Out Faucets

Pull-out kitchen faucets have become established as the dominant type of kitchen faucet. Designers are increasingly eschewing the standard faucet with detached side spray in favor of pull-out models that integrate the two functions into a single unit. In other words, 14 out of every 15 designers who designed a kitchen over the final three months of 20122 incorporated a pull-out faucet. These versatile models might also be mitigating the need for pot-filler faucets, which have been recently specified by just 28% of designers, down from 41% two years ago.


BATHROOMS

6. Medicine Cabinets

The tried-and-true medicine cabinet had been swept aside in bathroom remodels over the past several years, replaced by decorative wall mirrors. However, as homeowners look for more efficient use of space, most designers are now turning toward medicine cabinets as an effective way to gain additional storage without having to increase the footprint of a room attenuating the need for separate shelving, cabinetry or other storage options.


KITCHENS & BATHROOMS

7. Transitional Over Traditional

For the first time since the NKBA began tracking annual design trends, traditional is no longer the most popular type of design. In both the kitchen and the bathroom, transitional is now the most common style. Transitional style is a blend of traditional and contemporary, typified by lines that are simpler than traditional, but a bit more elaborate than contemporary in order to create a modern classic. Contemporary is the next most common style with Shaker, Arts Crafts and cottage remaining the next most frequently used styles.


8. Solid Surfaces

A year ago, the use of solid surfaces was a key trend in the kitchen, this year; it's an even stronger trend, and one that impacts both the kitchen and the bathroom. While granite and quartz continue to be the clear #1 and #2 choices, their popularity has waned just slightly, with granite falling from 91% to 87% and quartz declining just a bit from 71% to 69%. The same pattern holds true in newly remodeled bathrooms as solid surfaces have over the past year risen from 26% to 34% as granite has fallen 13% to 71%. Quartz's popularity has dipped over that time also. Marble is currently the third most popular vanity top material. Notable is the use of glass vanity tops, which has more than doubled over the past two years, from 5% heading into 2011 to 11% today.


9. Shades of Grey

When artfully incorporated into a space, gray color schemes can allow very attractive, distinguished looks without overpowering a design- the key reason why gray was used as the backdrop for the NKBA logo. In kitchens gray was used as the overall color scheme by nearly double from the 2010. Whites and off-whites continue to be the most popular color schemes in the kitchen and bathroom, followed by beiges and bones. Brown is the third most popular color in kitchens and the fourth most popular in bathrooms, just behind gray. In the kitchen, bronzes/terracotta have risen over the past two years, while greens have also increased. Green was the color trend in bathrooms last year and is use has remained exactly the same as this year, but blue has emerged as the fifth most popular color in bathrooms.


10. Polished Chrome is Back

Supplanted by brushed metal finishes in the past, polished chrome is staging a comeback. After being specified by 34% of designers in kitchens last year polished chrome has recently been specified by 52% of NKBA member designers in kitchens today. In the bathroom, polished chromes use has increased from 46 to 65% over the past year. Also up is polished nickel.

The increased use of polished finishes is clearly coming at the expense of brushed finishes. Over the past two years, brushed nickel is down from 62 to 46% in kitchens and from 66 to 46% in bathrooms. Only stainless steel has managed to clearlt buck the trend away from brushed finishes, as it rose slightly from 46% to 50% in the kitchen and increased significantly from 16% to 28% in the bathroom. Bronze finishes continue to be popular, but dipped a bit from a year ago.