If Old Mother Hubbard were to go to her cupboard today, it would likely be made of glazed, furniture-grade maple or cherry and have rollout shelves so she could tell at a glance she was overdue for a Kroger run.
Cabinets — from the kitchen to the bath to the laundry room — have undergone quite an evolution. And while exterior looks are important, in many cases they’re a lesser priority. More and more, it’s what’s inside that counts, according to last summer’s Remodelers 360 survey conducted for the Charlotte, N.C.-based Research Institute for Cooking & Kitchen Intelligence (RICKI). Eighty percent of the 10,000 Americans surveyed chose the adjective “organized” to describe their ideal kitchen, beating out both “comfortable” (74 percent) and “open” (71 percent) as their most desired attribute. And women, who still do most of the cooking in American homes, “are significantly more likely to describe their ideal kitchen as ‘organized’ than men,” adds RICKI president/executive director Brenda Bryan.
A decorative leg “supporting” a kitchen counter can be turned into a spice and condiment rack.
Mike Johnson, who founded his Bardstown-based custom cabinet company Mike’s Woodworking in 1988, believes this “place-for-everything-and-everything-in-its-place” mentality derives from a craving for convenience. “Every moment counts,” he says. “It’s a way for people to save time, like a Blackberry.”
Rob Jenkins, marketing director for Bluegrass Industrial Park-based Rev-A-Shelf, which manufactures cabinet organization accessories, notes that HGTV and such shows as Extreme Makeover and Trading Spaces have also contributed to the tidiness tr/files/storyimages/by making consumers less willing to wait to enjoy the good life. “They want it all now,” he says. “The luxuries of the past have become the standard options of the present.”
Rev-A-Shelf’s stated goal, in fact, is to “change the way you think about cabinet organization.” The 28-year-old division of Jones Plastic, which started out making lazy Susans (revolving trays), now publishes a 162-page catalog of “cabinet conveniences” for home kitchens, laundry rooms, entertainment centers, offices, bars and closets that could fill even Odd Couple neatnik Felix Unger with glee. There are baskets and bins, pantries and pants racks, cutting boards and cutlery dividers, stemware holders and spiraling clothes racks, as well as shelves that pull out and pivot — all designed to minimize wasted space and “bring things to your fingertips,” says Jenkins.
Perennial bestsellers include pull-out trash bins (now a standard feature in new kitchens and gaining favor in master baths and laundry rooms), drawer organizers for utensils and cutlery, lazy Susans for corner cabinets, and pull-out pantries. Some of Rev-A-Shelf’s latest-and-greatest gadgets include:
• A heavy-duty stand on rollers that stores your stationary mixer in a cabinet.
• An award-winning drawer cookware organizer.
• Pull-down shelves for use in tall cabinets, allowing even the vertically challenged to access upper cupboards with ease.
• Narrow, three- and six-inch-wide pull-outs that transform decorative cabinet fillers, such as kitchen mantelpiece columns, into useful storage. “Decorative fillers can now have a function,” says Jenkins, who notes that the pull-outs come with either shelves for storing spices, oils and seasonings or metal grids with hooks for hanging everything from scrub brushes to pet supplies. “You can also use them to create message centers and hang your keys,” he adds. Lazy Susans with grape-leaf fencing for use in glass-fronted cabinets, he says, are “our first product with sex appeal.”
While Rev-A-Shelf sells most of its integrated components directly to cabinetmakers, do-it-yourselfers can purchase the company’s retro-fit wares at Home Depot and Lowe’s. And whether you’re building a new home or renovating an old one, the online catalog at www.rev-a-shelf.com, is a great idea generator.
In fact, today’s cabinet buyers often arrive at their first appointments armed with magazine clippings, listings of their most-desired features and even furniture drawers. “It used to be that all I had to do was go in, measure and have the customer pick out doors,” Johnson says. “Today, it can take anywhere from three to 10 meetings to get the final design and pick out all the accessories.”
As the saying goes, “You can never have too many kitchen cabinets.” In this copiously cabineted modern kitchen, drawer storage not only supplements but almost equals the storage offered by door cabinetry, keeping more cooking and serving materials within easy reach.
Kitchens
The kitchen’s 21st-century role as the locus for home entertaining has made homeowners more willing than ever to make it a showpiece — whether they cook in it or not. Here are the latest trends:
Maple and cherry continue to dominate. For the budget-conscious, Vinny Barber, owner of Springfield, Ky.-based Barber Cabinet Co., suggests alder as a lower-cost alternative to cherry, and Starla Vittitow of New Albany’s PC Building Materials says birch can be substituted for maple.
Stains and glazes are growing darker and more opaque — think toffee, java and chocolate — because “they t/files/storyimages/to show dirt and imperfections less,” says Lorie Swartz at the K-I Lumber & Building Materials Home Planning Center in Dorsey Plaza.
“Southern comfort” is the term Johnson uses to describe the ornate cabinets most Louisvillians request. Decorative legs and columns, detailed onlays, trimmed panel doors, corbels, crown mold and elaborate cooktop mantels are part of the package. And though Johnson is seeing more interest in contemporary finishes, they’re less stark than the plain-slab blond doors usually associated with the style. “Clients are asking for veneers, darker stains and doors with simple embellishments,” he says.
Glass is just one option for decorative door insets, says Doris Geoghegan of Builders Warehouse on Plantside Drive. Other panel options include punched tin, brushed metals, screening, wood lattice, rice paper and even fabric.
With ceiling heights increasing, more clients are requesting taller cabinets, says Wayne Maddox, a designer at Jeffersonville-based Finish Design Woodworking.
Islands are getting bigger and coming in all sorts of shapes. Because people usually eat on one side and work on the other, Barber recommends step-up bars when homeowners want to hide appliances or sinks from the family room, and step-down bars for families with small children. Another option: portable islands now available at PC Building Materials.
Extras that may not be worth the money: doors that hide the TV (many households never close them); tilt-out sink trays (they offer very limited storage); appliance compartments with tambour or bi-fold pocket doors; and touch latches on doors (they can malfunction over time).
Definitely worth the money: solid wood (no particle board) construction; lifetime guarantees on drawer fronts; concealed full extension drawer slides; and adjustable shelves.
Options to consider: storing dinnerware in drawers instead of upper cabinets; lights inside corner cabinets with lazy Susans so it’s easier to see inside; and a pull-out shelf beneath the microwave for setting down hot food.
Master Baths
Cabinets for the master bath are following the same trends as those in the kitchen: furniture-styled maple or cherry with darker stains to match the bedroom furniture. Commonly requested features include linen cabinets with space for a TV, pull-out hampers and taller vanity heights (36 inches), especially for men. Master baths and closets have become so elaborate, in fact, that some homeowners are spending more on their bathrooms than they are on their kitchens, says Barber.
Laundry Rooms
Surging sales of frontloading washers have revolutionized the look of area laundry rooms. “We’re setting the washers on deep drawers to bring them up to comfort level and placing cabinets above them for storage,” Geoghegan says. Other common requests: pull-out trash bins, pull-out ironing boards and bins that allow clothes to be sorted and placed in load-sized baskets.
Home Offices
With telecommuting, home offices have become hot commodities. Some homeowners are building in complete work stations, with desks, bookshelves, filing cabinets and cupboards that hide their equipment, says Tom Burkhart, owner of The Burkhart Company. “Others prefer a furniture desk and use the built-ins as a credenza.”
RESOURCE LIST
Barber Cabinet Co.
1837 Plantside Drive
499-7022
Builders Warehouse
1751 Plantside Drive
491-2452
The Burkhart Company
1010 S. Preston St.
587-1538
Finish Design Woodworking
2819 Sable Mill Road
Jeffersonville, Ind.
812-284-9240
K-I Lumber & Building Materials
Home Planning Center
10274 Shelbyville Road
245-6500
Mike’s Woodworking Inc.
12935 Shelbyville Road
253-1355
PC Building Materials
123 Cherry St.
New Albany, Ind.
812-944-4444
