Fall inspiration
As a designer, I pin inspiration images all the time. I take photos of little details I find- unique tile work, moldings, furniture- and save them in a folder. I’ve been curating these images for years. I do them for my client spaces, for my own home renovations, and just generally. This week, I’m sharing my latest pins with you to see what’s caught my eye this fall.
Peruse this board, and follow me on Pinterest, here.
Where I’m leaning this fall? Wood cabinetry, the counter tower, and rich, saturated blue-greens.
Let’s start with my recent obsession with wood cabinetry. To me, wood cabinetry is one of the most timeless, classic look available. A controversial statement perhaps for any of us who lived through the wood cabinetry of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. You’re probably thinking of these kitchens and cringing at the thought.
I remember these kitchens, too. But these wood cabinets and the classic cabinets in my mind aren’t one in the same. Let’s talk a little bit more about what isn’t working with the cabinetry in the images above.
Door style- the ornate arches and raised center panels were indicative of the time
Wood tone/color - the wood of the 80s and 90s really trended toward an orange undertone, vastly limiting its complementary palette and dating the look. In the early 2000s, you saw a lot of cherry cabinets with dark counters filling kitchens across suburbia. That red tone with a dark granite was again, very limiting and very time stamped.
Box / door style - the partial overlay cabinets you see in the image with the tiled hood and the kitchen with the ivy decor above the cabinets? It’s an incomplete look. There are two types of cabinet boxes - those with a face frame, and those without. Framed cabinets, or those with a face frame, mean that if the door was off of cabinet, you could clearly see where the doors and drawers would go because they added a panel to the front of the cabinet box to indicate where it belongs. Frameless cabinets do not have the face frame, so if they doors were off, it would just be the box with any shelving. When you do a partial overlay on a cabinet with a face frame, there is space between the doors of each cabinet and you can see the face frame. It’s a small thing, but when you step back and compare the look of a partial overlay cabinet door to a full overlay, a frameless cabinet or a flush inset, you can see the difference. Partial overlay looks less complete.
Wood quality / pattern - The stained cabinets of the 80s and 90s definitely were not what any carpenter or wood worker would consider to be a high quality wood. Deep grooves and grain, inconsistent patterns, paired with an orange stain did not create the timeless aesthetic you hoped would last a lifetime.
What I love about the wood cabinetry from truly historic homes, and the new wood cabinetry available today is its ability to ground any design. Even in a kitchen with mostly painted cabinets and stone counters, a moment for a piece of wood cabinetry adds depth and maturity to the space. A lot of kitchens are showing painted cabinets with a wood tone island to break up the monotony and create visual interest.
To keep wood cabinetry timeless, you need to consider wood quality, wood grain & pattern, the stain, and door style. Most cabinets boxes today are made with plywood boxes, and then wood veneers are applied to the plywood to match the doors. The doors themselves can be made the same way, or they can be made fully with the wood species and stain of your choice. The higher the quality of wood selected, the more likely it is to last, both in durability and style. With wood grain and pattern, less is often more when it comes to a look that will stand the test of time. Look for grain that is more subtle, with a clean, simple pattern. For stain, make sure that you are viewing samples of the wood you chose with the stain applied. Anything with orange or yellow undertones tends to age poorly and makes it harder to find a coordinating palette. Although the gray wood trend is going out, a cooler undertone in the stain can help balance out the natural warm tones of the wood. Finally, the most classic door styles that come back time and time again are slab or Shaker.
Enough on wood cabinets for a moment. Let’s talk about counter towers.
Counter tower
Counter towers are seeing a bit of a comeback in the kitchen with appliance garages, but I think their application can be broader. Sure, you give up a little bit of counter space, but in a large, open kitchen with an island, a counter tower isn’t really impacting workspace in a meaningful way. In the image above, the wood tower with glass doors adds functional storage with some upper cabinetry, but doesn’t add a ton of visual weight. The lower ceiling height in the space above means that upper cabinetry could make the room feel smaller and heavier, but adding the counter tower makes the room feel taller.
The last thing I’m seeing over and over again in my feed is the dark, rich blue-green color. Dark greens and blues have been showing up on cabinets over the last 10 years and it can be really beautiful. What I’m really loving right now though, is seeing it on the wall. Paint is such an easy way to change the vibe of room. Dark, rich tones can be inviting and sophisticated, while light and bright tones make a space feel light and airy. As we invite the cooler weather and vibrant natural palette of fall, this color is living rent-free in my mind.
