Cabient Innovation wood mode featured on modernhouston.net

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The New Trend - No Trends
by Hardy Haberman

Some people are natural trend spotters, and Mary Calvin is one of them. As
owner of Cabinet Innovations she has her finger on the pulse of what people
want in kitchen design. She knows that in the past kitchen styles followed single
focused trends such as raised panels on cabinet doors, but today things are
changing. Calvin notes, “You could almost say the trend is ‘no one trend.’”

That doesn’t mean designers have lost their way. One visit to her showroom and
it’s evident that designers are expressing a new freedom in their work, not bound
by the latest fad. Styles here reflect a spectrum from Hill Country rustic with
distressed matte finishes, to streamlined designs reminiscent of the fabulous 50’s.

“It is interesting what the different age groups are attracted to,” Calvin observes.
“We have some clients in their 30s who want traditional kitchens, and then we
have people in their 60s who go for the mid-century modern.”

The focus on client tastes is nothing new, but today’s client is better informed.
They do research on the internet and watch the myriad of programs on television
about home design and remodeling. Still, they seek the services of professionals
when it comes to making the final design decision about the many details that
come with any kitchen design.

“There are so many more details than there used to be,” says Calvin. “There’s
different ways to do trim. You can have curved islands. There are new options for
under-cabinet lighting. Our job is to take our clients’ ideas and make them
functional while still creating the feel that the clients want.”

Making clients comfortable with the design of their kitchen is important. The
kitchen is often thought of as the “heart of the home” and that means you will
probably spend a lot of time there. It has to be functional as well as esthetically
pleasing and that is a tricky combination that takes a professional’s touch.

Since the kitchen is such an important room, in a modern or traditional style home
it needs to reflect the owners spirit and personality. To do that many designers like
to interview their clients and have them describe themselves and their lifestyle.
Mary says distilling this down is sometime aided by having the client, “make a list
of 5 or 10 adjectives that describe how the client would like the kitchen to feel.”
The answers give the designer a roadmap to the client’s imagination. That
roadmap helps bring the design to life. Since people are so varied in their tastes
and lives, the resulting design is far from something that can be expressed through
the latest trend.

Today, a great kitchen design can be visually stunning and still maintain
functionality tailored to the owner’s lifestyle. That means kitchen design has
taken on a more personal touch and if that is the trend,
then it truly is a trend with “no trend”.

resource:
Cabinet Innovations
5120 Woodway, Courtyard Suite 219
Houston, TX 77055
713.461.6424
www.cabinetinnovationstx.com

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