RE_Domain Trends_White Kitchens
Kitchens and bathrooms are the most common rooms in the
house that buyers comment on when touring a home,” says
Lee Johnson of Sotheby’s International Realty, who reps a 30-
unit live/work project in the open-loft creative space market in Venice.
“The open, clean look of a new white kitchen can create an inviting
appeal to a broader pool of buyers.” Buyers, who want the ability to
manipulate or customize the visual theme of a space through color by
way of cookware, dinnerware and décor. For them, adds Johnson, “A
white kitchen is like a blank canvas.”
The irony of the white of right now, however, is that the color is utterly
timeless, outlasting trendy, quick-to-fade shades complementing a
variety of home styles. “White is the perfect neutral,” explains Betsy
Burnham of LA-based Burnham Design. “It’s clean, crisp, happy and
adaptable to all tastes, from New England traditional to updated
farmhouse to strictly modern.”
With endurance comes savings, as a classic white kitchen negates
the need for costly kitchen remodels, which can run upwards of more
than $50,000. “None of us redo our kitchens very often, and when we
do, we want to be sure to make decisions that have longevity,” says
Burnham. Helping change the perception of white as a danger-zone
of impracticality is the wealth of modern-day materials that have
eliminated maintenance costs stemming from issues like staining.
White was always doable, but now it’s truly durable.
While Johnson notes that in itself a white kitchen may not be enough
to increase a home’s value, the look it creates—gleaming white against
the perennially sunny skies and Pacific Ocean vistas that permeate
our indoor/outdoor living spaces—helps set a sophisticated tone that
resonates with the same class of buyers. White always looks like a
million bucks—and, in the right dwelling in a hot market, can help put a
similar asking price in point blanc range.