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Interior design as a profession has got to be one of the greatest rackets ever created, right up there with selling cars and becoming a career politician. Much like high fashion, what is decidedly “in” when we’re discussing home kitchen renovation changes at the drop of a hat. This is evidenced by popular television shows like House Hunters and Flip Or Flop, where participants have to choose between doing home renovations or relocating entirely
At the moment, kitchens are trending towards minimalist. It’s floors made of cork (eco-friendly and 2018 go hand in hand), islands with a built-in gas stove, oversized farmhouse sinks, and of course the most important element of any modern day kitchen – exposed brick.
Rough, bare brick walls and exposed lighting have got to be the number one thing on any fashionistas kitchen checklist, and I can promise you that you won’t find too many people on House Hunters or other shows of that ilk that aren’t also pining for a kitchen that very closely resembles an industrial warehouse. It’s a bit uninviting, no?
Stylish without a doubt, but to me this looks more like the back room at a restaurant rather than a warm, inviting place to share a meal with friends and family.
These shows often feature a couple who are hellbent on getting every single thing on their list of must-haves, and anything deviating from this is automatic grounds for rejection. What no one seems to be understanding right now is that this exposed brick, minimalist fad that we’re seeing for kitchens right now is going to be out of fashion in a few years time.
If you’re smart (and God knows I sure as hell am) you’ll be looking in the exact opposite direction of high-end kitchens with a gas stove, Viking refrigerator, stainless steel appliances, and expensive brick or subway paneling.
I’m thinking back to my time as a child in the mid to late ’90s when electric stoves were what was hot in the streets and double door refrigerators with an automatic ice maker let people know that you had money to blow.
Linoleum tile was the soup du jour, sometimes checkered, sometimes not, but always easily cleaned with a Swiffer. And the whitewash. My God, everything in a ’90s kitchen was white. White microwave, white electric stove with a little grey on top and white tile countertops.
A kitchen in the ’90s was seen as a place for entertaining, not a bare bones industrialist vibe where food is prepared and then brought out to a separate room to be enjoyed. One could cook and entertain simultaneously in the softly lit linoleum kitchen mentioned above. I seem to remember a lot of DIY ivy lining the walls around the stove top and sink as well.
That’s an extreme example of the whitewash that I was talking about, but I think we’ve all been in a kitchen during our youth that looked eerily similar to that. And it’s worth mentioning that the page where I got that picture from (mcmansionhell.com) has pictures of what it meant to be en vogue interior design wise in during the time period. I mean if that picture doesn’t bring you back to eating Gushers and sucking down Cokes at someone’s kitchen table after school then I don’t know what to tell you.
Everything is cyclical and I’m telling you right now that at some point most of this stuff is going to come back in a big, big way. We’re seeing a ’90s resurgence right now in the fashion world with tiny sunglasses, Champion sweatshirts, looser, wider trousers and “ugly” dad shoes.
Is it really so far-fetched to think that a kitchen with wood cabinets, linoleum, and white countertops (or even the all-white kitchen above) with matching appliances is due for a comeback? I don’t think so, and maybe it’s the nostalgia tugging at my heartstrings but something about that main photo with the black stove/white microwave is really doing it for me..
Image via Houzz
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jduda@grandex.co
If I had the salary I really wanted, I wouldn’t go on vacations or buy a fancy house with a designer who draws her inspiration from Joanna Gaines….I’d want a kickass 90s house (preferably the home from Home Alone) complete with disgusting floors and wallpaper, actual separate rooms, and of course a bathroom with repulsive gold faucets. Bricks, open floor plans, and white kitchens will come and go, but a style that makes you think “how could something so ugly be so so beautiful” is timeless
Give me the Home Improvement house or give me death
Separate rooms hell yes. “Open concept” is just like a glorified studio apartment and one of the great advantages of a house is the ability to get some separation every now and then (plus I don’t need to hear a bunch of commotion from the kitchen when I’m trying to watch a game on TV).
Oh yeah, I agree with your take on this, JD
The Home Alone house has and always will be timeless to me. Cozy, warm, and classic.
No
It’s a no from me, dawg.
Does anyone else think these new “luxury” apartment/condo complexes in downtown areas of every city now look like overpriced high-rise prisons from the outside? Whatever happened to dilapidated 3 family homes and absolutely no sound proofing as you heard your downstairs neighbor get robbed at knife point for an extremely small sum of cash? Those were the days…lol
And you’re back to your trash takes, Duda. Good to see the real you back
If we’re going back to an era, it’s not the 90’s JD, it’s going to be the 20/30’s. That’s where real architecture and design is. The 90’s style was trash and that’s why people gut those houses, but restore old homes.
The Sopranos kitchen is one of the best
Gushers sound oddly delicious right now
Duda…do you even believe in the things you say? I feel like half the time you’re just being provocative for the sake of being edgy.
Or writing provocative takes to drive views/comments.
A few months back when there were those articles about how he dressed, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The fact that he just wrote an article defending linoleum floors is 1000% proof that he is peacocking with his outfits.
As a trained and licenced Real Estate Broker (aka broke) in my professional opinion you are flat dead wrong.
Oh dear God please no.