Avoid These Now-Popular Home Design Trends in 2006

With the fashion cycle continuing to speed up, even fixtures like sinks and tiles go out of style quickly. We asked decorators, retailers and manufacturers to come up with the five fads most likely to die in the new year.
By: Sally Beatty: The Wall Street Journal Online
Judi Staab hopes she isn't a kitchen fashion victim.

For years, she and her husband wanted shiny granite countertops - like those pushed on TV home-improvement shows - so when the couple renovated their kitchen in Palm City, Fla., a few months ago, they made sure they got them.

But now that the Staabs have spent $45,000 on new fixtures and cabinets, Ms. Staab worries that soon it may all look so... 2005. "At some point, someone is going to say, 'Granite again?' I can't stand it," she says.

January's renovation resolution: Don't ring in the new year with a home-improvement look that's already on its way out. With the $233 billion remodeling business booming - up more than 50% from 1993 to 2003 - manufacturers and retailers are pushing more options for floors, countertops, bathroom fixtures and other stuff that costs tens of thousands of dollars to install and rip back out again.

But clearly, some big household fads are more quickly destined than others for the crowbar treatment. Those matte-surfaced, honed-stone countertops that have been big sellers over the past year or so? The idea may not look so brilliant in a few years, and even their makers say they chip more easily than shiny versions. Plus they stain.

So for homeowners considering installing open cabinets, floating staircases and bowl-shaped bathroom sinks, the question is: Which of these is the next doomed avocado-colored dishwasher? We talked to decorators, retailers and manufacturers and came up with five trends most likely to die.

It's getting tougher figuring out if your dream kitchen is destined to fizzle, because the options keep multiplying. In 2005, Armstrong Holdings introduced close to 500 new hardwood floor styles, bringing the company total to over 5,000. Ann Sacks, the tile outfit, now offers 200 collections - double the number from 10 years ago - including tiles made of aluminum, leather and even glass backed with 14-karat gold. (One of its new hand-set mosaic styles mimics a boardwalk in Rio De Janeiro and sells for $362 a square foot.) Wood-Mode, a custom cabinet maker in Kreamer, Pa., has recently introduced finishes that include as many as 27 manufacturing steps - including fly-specking, sanding, baking, joint-splitting, hand-staining and worm-holing. Seven years ago, the company's special finishes required at most 10 steps.

But even as manufacturers push old looks out to make room for new ones, some manage to stick around. Stainless-steel kitchen appliances, for one, have been declared "out" off and on for a decade - yet they're still a big seller, and real-estate brokers say they still boost home resale values.

The product glut parallels the renovation boom of the last decade. According to a study by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, almost 30 million homes were "significantly upgraded" in the past 10 years. The fastest-growing segment of the market was interior spaces, with kitchens accounting for the biggest chunk, at $13.5 billion, followed by bathrooms, at $10.5 billion.

With predictions that the housing market may start to cool, making the right decisions about fixtures and floors becomes even more important for 2006, since the investment might not earn back what it would have in a booming market. "It's been great the last few years," says Keith Hughes, a director of equity research who covers the building-products business for Atlanta securities firm SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. But now "that specific remodeling project could feel a little bit of pressure."

Some homeowners are ready to take a break from remodeling. Ellen Gefen, a TV producer in Greensboro, N.C., just finished redoing her kitchen, and was overwhelmed by the pressure to make the right choice in everything from paint color to cabinet knobs. She says she can't imagine ever renovating again: "It's different than having a baby, where you forget the pain."

Here are design trends that could be on their way out - and what's likely to replace them.

Sinks

WHAT MAY DIE: Above-counter sinks

WHAT'S NEXT: Wet surface, farm-style


OUT: Above-Counter Sink

Above-counter sinks (also known as vessel sinks) seemed like a good idea when they were introduced a decade ago in trendy bars and restaurants. The distinctive fixtures - they look like bowls on a counter - were a big departure from traditional sunken models. Consumers liked them so much they started installing them in home powder rooms and baths. American Standard plans to offer 26 above-counter styles in 2006, up from six in 2000.

But the more consumers experiment with these shapes, the more the sinks' downsides surface: The glass ones that look like mixing bowls show toothpaste, stray hair and water spots. The shallowest models splash. Taller versions don't, but are hard to clean, since the bottom of the sink is less accessible. And there's the confusion factor: Cheryl Fockler, a mother of two in Richmond, Va., says that when she updated her bathroom a few years ago with a crystal bowl set delicately on an antique dresser, her 6-year-old asked: "Where am I supposed to wash my hands?"


IN: Furniture Sink

Even makers say there are shortcomings. "If you are into practical design, you don't buy a vessel," says Mary Reid, vice president of advanced product development at Kohler.

Now, with prices coming down -- Lowe's sells a white ceramic above-counter sink for $98 from Decolav - the industry, too, is fishing around for other expensive looks to drive up profits. Some options include "wet surface" sinks, where water runs over a plate-like slab (Kohler has one for about $2,000), farm-style sinks (think of a big, rectangular box set into your counter) or sinks set into furniture, mimicking desks or dressers (Waterworks has one that looks like a baby changing table for about $1,800).

Kitchen Countertops

WHAT MAY DIE: Matte stone

WHAT'S NEXT: Engineered compounds

Polished granite has been fashionable for awhile now, but in the last few years it has lost its luster. "It's all about, 'I don't want shiny,'" says Marvin Daniel, president and chief executive of Kitchen Designworks, a kitchen designer and remodeler in Richmond, Va. "Shiny is conspicuous consumption."

That has given rise to a more subtle countertop - with surfaces that are sanded or honed for a matte appearance. At Poggenpohl U.S., honed granite counters represent 39% of granite-counter sales, up from about 7% in 2000, while polished granite is down to about 61% of granite sales, from 93% in 2000. Similarly, Joanne Hudson, the owner of a kitchen-design firm in Philadelphia, says honed countertops now represent about 80% of granite sales, up from about 5% five years ago, while shiny granite has slid to 20%.

The problem: Honed stone is generally softer and more porous than polished versions and can end up chipped or stained. "If you leave a glass of red wine or tomato juice on a honed counter, you've had it," says Lothar Birkenfeld, president of Poggenpohl U.S. So while retailers from Gracious Homes in New York to Home Depot's Expo Design Centers are marketing honed to their customers, some decorators are advising their clients to steer clear. "I tell people you need to understand this is going to stain, but they don't always hear what you're saying," says Mr. Daniel.

With kitchen-countertop sales relatively flat, makers are pushing alternatives. One newer option: engineered slabs made from a mixture of quartz and synthetic compounds that feel like stone and come in colors like lime green and cherry red. Makers say the slabs are practical because they are stain- and scratch-resistant, and at $50 to $80 per square foot, a lot cheaper than Italian marble. In Boston, Dalia Tamari, owner of a kitchen-design business, says engineered stone countertops account for 35% of the countertops she installs, up from nothing two years ago.


OUT: Glass Cabinet Doors

Kitchen Cabinets

WHAT MAY DIE: Glass doors

WHAT'S NEXT: Dark woods, smooth surfaces

Kitchen-cabinet sales were strong across the country this year, up about 15% from 2004, according to David Rothermel, president of StyleCraft, a custom-cabinet firm in Terre Hill, Pa. That was driven in part by the popularity of glass cabinet doors, which go well with contemporary kitchens, one of the strongest segments of the markets. In Mr. Rothermel's business, contemporary kitchen cabinets represent about 15% of total kitchen cabinet sales, up from about 5% three to five years ago. And homeowners like Carol Janes in Brentwood, Calif., say they've chosen them because it's "fun to see" pretty china and other decoratives.


IN: Solid Cabinet Doors

But many kitchen designers say the look is too high-maintenance (lots of fingerprints) and even slightly embarrassing - especially for families with young children who need a place to hide sippy cups. "People invented cabinets for a reason - to keep things dust-free and make them disappear," says Tom Newman, an architect in Culver City, Calif.

Susan Smart, a kitchen-design consultant with SieMatic Mobelwerke, the German kitchen maker, says the percentage of her clients asking for glass doors on cabinets has fallen to about 50%, down from about 70% a year ago. At Poggenpohl, seven out of 10 kitchens featured glass cabinet doors in 2002. But in the past two years, the glass has migrated from cabinets to counters and backsplashes.

Other trends in kitchen cabinets include smoother surfaces and a return to darker woods. Poggenpohl has added nearly a dozen lacquered colors to its line, in glossy, matte or satin surfaces, including red, French blue and light gray. StyleCraft, the Pennsylvania maker, is using more mahogany and a genetically engineered wood called Lyptus that looks like mahogany. Meanwhile, SieMatic is encouraging customers to keep things simple - doors in medium-toned brown woods like pine and oak, with light washes or finishes to give the color more depth.

Televisions

WHAT MAY DIE: Built-in flat-panels

WHAT'S NEXT: Flat-panels on top of furniture

Your new flat-panel TV is a work of art, boasts a new ad for Panasonic's plasma TVs. "So why not frame it like one?"

Ads like this, and falling prices, have helped fuel a big run-up in sales of flat-panel TVs. But is mounting one on the wall really such a good idea? Certainly, it makes an expensive purchase even more costly. Panasonic's frames - including black modern and traditional faux gold-leaf styles - start at $400. (Panasonic says 30% of its large-screen television customers do a wall mount, up from 10% in 2004). Hiring a contractor and electrician to reconstruct your drywall and reroute wiring can mean hundreds or thousands more. Some installers are even rigging flat-panel TVs to descend from the ceiling with a push of a button.

But a few design experts warn homeowners away from such costly installations because most televisions get mounted in the wrong position. Mr. Rothermel, the StyleCraft president, says many are hung for straight-ahead viewing, which can be uncomfortable; others are positioned over a fireplace or as artwork, which is too high for most viewers. Plus, with a television stuck on the wall, it can be hard to rearrange your room.

But you should proceed with caution. "If you do too many built-ins around too much technology, which is changing every year, you are going to be outdated pretty fast," says Victoria Hagan, a New York interior designer. Her suggestion: Set your television on a piece of furniture to minimize the wires.

Tile Floors

WHAT MAY DIE: Tumbled stones

WHAT'S NEXT: Oversized tiles

In the past few years, tumbling, a process that gives floor stones a rustic, old feel, has become a mainstay of upscale tile firms. These makers push the look as unexpected - bringing the outdoors inside - and practical because their rough surfaces are less slippery than polished tiles.

But the tiles also have an impractical side: Because they're used to create a country feel, they're often installed with wide grout lines, which is hard to clean. What's more, now that more mainstream outlets like Lowe's are carrying tumbled wares, high-end tile stores are directing their clients to a more refined look. At Artistic Tile, a stone and mosaic importer based in Secaucus, N.J., tumbled stone accounted for 10% of sales in 2005, down from about 23% in 2001; the firm says demand is shifting to honed and polished styles.

One new look is oversized stone tiles, measuring 12 inches by 36 inches, instead of the traditional 12 inches by 12 inches. "It gives it a more substantial look," says David Meitus, a partner in Studium, a New York tile and stone importer. One caveat: Make sure the big sizes work in proportion to the rest of the room.