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impler styling, hidden appliances and a bit of

color to make life interesting, to name just a few things. Here are the trends found recently a few kitchen show-rooms:

CLEAN LINESFancy is fading. Kitch-

ens are moving away from ornate looks such as Tuscan and French country in favor of more transitional design, a trend Betty Nairn of Cabinet-S-Top in Granger Town-ship, Ohio, calls “simplistic luxury.”

The move toward clean lines and less ornamenta-tion is due at least in part to homeowners thinking ahead, said Debra Shababy of Stu-dio 76 Kitchens and Baths in Twinsburg, Ohio. Many are looking toward selling their homes as the economy im-proves, and they want their kitchens to appeal to a broad range of buyers, she said.

Contemporary design is gaining interest, too — even in the Midwest, a region long tied to the traditional. Barbara Dillick of Kitchen Design Group in Bath Town-ship, Ohio, figures people have become more comfort-able with the spare, sleek look because they’ve been exposed to it through shelter magazines, TV shows and upscale hotels.

BUILT-IN DININGEat-in kitchens are still

in demand, but where we do that eating has changed. The bar-style counter is still popular, but it’s giving way in many new kitchens to an extension of the counter that looks more like a table.

Sometimes the extension is counter height; sometime it’s higher or lower. What sets it apart from bar seating is that it’s designed so the diners sit around the edge and face one another, rather than sitting in a line.

The idea of trading a table for a counter extension

makes some homeowners nervous initially, Kitchen Design Group’s Deanna Carleton said. But the setup has advantages: It saves space, the extension can do double duty as an extra buf-fet surface and the deep base that holds the countertop provides a good amount of storage.

SAFETY, SUSTAINABILITYMore than ever, consumers

are paying attention to the materials that go into their kitchens, Shababy said.

She said many respond positively when she sug-gests cabinet finishes with low levels of volatile organic compounds, vapors that con-tribute to indoor air pollu-tion. They also like cabinets that are joined with dowels instead of glues containing formaldehyde.

Safety features are popular, such as lockouts that prevent stove burners from being turned on accidentally and mechanisms that keep drawers and cabinet doors from slamming on little fingers, Shababy said.

And people are leaning to-ward energy-saving features such as LED lights, as well as natural products such as wood floors and stone coun-tertops, she said.

Granite is still the top choice for countertops, espe-cially since common types

have become affordable for most people, the designers agreed. But quartz — stone chips mixed with binders and colorants — is coming on strong, they said.

LIGHTINGKitchen lighting isn’t just a

matter of function anymore. It’s also an expression of personality, Carleton said.

Hand-blown glass shades on pendant lights, contempo-rary drum shades and elegant chandeliers are all ways homeowners can infuse their style into a kitchen without making a big commitment.

Layers of light continue to be common in kitchen design — for example, a ceiling fixture combined with under-counter task lighting and ambient lights behind a glass-front door.

LEDs are finding their way into the kitchen, mainly in under-counter lighting but also in recessed ceiling lights. They’re available in both cool and warm lights to fit different decors

.Nairn has also seen a big preference for natural light-ing via windows, skylights or reflective light tubes.

BARSBars are coming out of

the great room and into the kitchen.

Dillick said many of her company’s clients are

requesting bar areas in the kitchen where they can store both the booze and the bar-ware in one convenient spot.

Bar cabinets that look like pantries are popular, she said. Often they’re outfit-ted with a wine or beverage refrigerator; storage space for glassware, knives and a cutting board; and some-times a sink.

REFRIGERATOR OPTIONSThe depth of the typical

refrigerator poses a design challenge, particularly in smaller kitchens.

Manufacturers have responded with shallower appliances and drawer mod-els, which are often used in combination in the same room.

Counter-depth refrigera-tors are easier to fit into a kitchen because they don’t jut out into the room. But even though they’re often taller, they typically have less storage space, Nairn said. So some designers are dealing with that space shortage by incorporat-ing drawer refrigerators or freezers into the cabinets to hold additional food.

Shababy said that kind of arrangement makes sense only when the drawer holds foods that are used mostly in a particular part of the kitchen — for example, a drawer for vegetables next to the sink where they’re cleaned and prepared.

INDIVIDUALISM All of the kitchen design-ers were hesitant to talk in terms of trends, because they believe a kitchen’s design should suit the indi-vidual. Kitchens are places where we spend a lot of time, so it’s more important to have what you like, not what’s popular, they said.“Really, it’s up to you,” Shababy said. “It’s whatever makes you happy being in your kitchen.”

— McClatchy Newspapers

spring Home improvementC4 The News-Dispatch and Harbor Country News Thursday, March 17, 2011

What’s cooking in kitchens?

Dave’s faves by Dave Albin

New and interesting home products

s a “Home and Design Guru”, I attend trade shows throughout the year and scour a lot of magazines and trade publications looking for new and exciting products, intriguing concepts and “gotta have” gadgets that make life just a little bit better. The following list includes simplicity, ingenuity, affordability, and great end results. Here are a few recent finds and some all-time favorites:

Radiant-heated bathroom floorsForget fancy water-filled tubes embedded in con-crete. You can now buy simple mesh-and-wire mats that install fast and easy under ceramic tiles at most of the big home improvement centers. They cost as low as $10 a square foot and come with a variety of thermostats.

INVISILEDLow Profile Accent Lighting TapesCreate dramatic indirect lighting effects almost anywhere with strips of miniature LED lights. On the underside of shelves in a book-case, under the front edge of a vanity, or your kitchen cabi-nets.... this prod-uct can give a space an instant customized look. Spaced 1-inch apart, and placed on thin flexible strips only 1/8-inch thick and 7/16-inch wide, INVISILED by WAC Lighting offers five basic colors (white, amber, red, blue, and green). One- and 5-foot peel-and-stick or screw-mounted sections can be cut at every inch. New Palette system offers continuous red-green-blue changing colors with control for speed and brilliance. Aura system creates white “daylight” to amber “sun-set” with variable control. Cost ranges $75 to $90 per foot. Plug-in drivers cost $60 to $120. Maximum spans from 25 feet to 40 feet. For information and retailers visit www.waclighting.com or call 1-800-526-2588.

Butcher block countertopsWood is the original solid surface. Used as an island or a bar, it holds nostalgic memories for older people who remember it as the common countertop mate-rial of years ago, and it also offers a fresh natural look for the younger crowd. It traditionally comes in maple, but butcher block is available in other species such as cherry and birch. An 8-foot-long top measuring 1.5 inches thick and 25 inches wide can be had for as little as $189.

Giani Granite Countertop PaintGot a kitchen countertop that’s seen better days? Laminate chipped and discolored? Solid surface counter stained and scratched? Giani is the world’s first granite paint kit for countertop makeovers. Get the premium “look” of granite at a fraction of the cost — with lots of extra benefits too. Water-based paint kits come in five realistic-looking color combinations and include everything needed to go “granite” in three easy steps in 24-hours or less. One $39.95 kit covers 35 square feet (16 running feet of 24-inch wide counter). Available at paint and hardware stores nationwide. Visit www.GianiGranite.com or call 1-800-650-5699.

Please see Dave’s faves, page C5

S

A

A designer pushes a button to open the microwave drawer in the showroom of Studio 76 Kitchen and Baths in Twinsburg, Ohio. Photos: McClatchy Newspapers

Above: A two-tier cutlery tray doubles the storage inside a kitchen drawer.

Left: A lower table incorporated into the island countertop is fea-tured in the showroom of Studio 76 Kitchen and Baths. The bar-style counter is still popular, but it’s giving way in many kitchens to an extension of the counter that looks like a table