Features

July 4, 2009

How to design a timeless, clean, classic kitchen

SHAILA WUNDERLICH Chicago Tribune

Kitchens are expensive. It cost about $56,611 for each major kitchen remodel in 2008-09, according to Remodeling magazine’s annual “Cost vs. Value Report.” Which means if you’re remodeling yours, you’re left with this to chew on: Spending that kind of money on a home improvement means it had better have a nice long lifespan. Ideally, it should look as sharp and attractive in a couple of decades as it does the day the renovation crew clocks out. So, how to get a kitchen that doesn’t rely on flash-in-the-pan trends or stodgy cliches? What exactly goes into a timeless kitchen? We asked Oprah’s resident decorating genius, designer Nate Berkus, to give us his ingredient list and a few style pointers.

First and foremost, Berkus and his team believe in giving a kitchen beautiful bone structure. “There are certain parts of the house that don’t ever change,” says Alison Wilcox, project manager at Chicago’s Nate Berkus Associates. “You may remodel your kitchen or bath over time, but there’s a good chance the floors, for instance, won’t ever change.”

Wilcox, Berkus and the entire Berkus team consider flooring and other unchanging materials “the bones” of a house, and they consider it their job to build bones that are timeless.

For Berkus, this means an almost religious reliance on white- or red-oak flooring (“It’s sturdy but also looks better as it ages,” Wilcox says); Carrera marble on the countertops and Shaker-style cabinetry (“Shaker is a style that doesn’t update as the trends do,” Wilcox says. “It has been around forever, almost every manufacturer does one, and it remains classic”).

Berkus’ clean-lined philosophy, includes cabinetry (glassed-in upper cabinets bring a lighter quality to the room but don’t distract with busy trim) and backsplash (linear subway tile makes an interrupted run to the ceiling.)

Other favorites in the Berkus classic toolbox include white and gray paint—in all their various shades—polished-nickel hardware and stainless finishes on appliances. With these as the foundation, Berkus and his team contend, homeowners can shake things up down the road by manipulating less permanent details, such as chair cushions, window treatments and accessories.

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