BRANDED CONTENT No matter where you live, the kitchen is the hardest-working room in your home. It is where you store, prepare and cook food, and keep all the tools required to do so; where you wake up with coffee, wind down with a nightcap, and refill your water bottle all day long; where you chat with friends and where kids do homework and crafts; where your family says, ‘Good morning’ and ‘Sleep tight.’ The kitchen is where you make a lifetime of memories. You need it to function like a pro while it is welcoming and warm and a showcase of your personal style. According to Victoria Thiessen, Royal Flooring’s director of kitchen and bath design, trends in kitchen cabinetry are shifting in 2025. Warming Up “We are definitely seeing a lot more warm tones,” Thiessen said about paint finishes, noting that beiges and taupes are in high demand — replacing the ubiquitous white cabinets — and requests for bold, moody, dark hues are on the rise. “And more wood tones. We haven’t seen a whole kitchen in warm woods in quite a long time, but customers are showing interest in that.” The long-loved maple species is losing its foothold to white oak, hickory and rustic alder. “There is a lot more texture and character in those wood species, with visible knots and grain and variations,” she said. “And wood stains are getting a little richer and warmer.” When it comes to combining colors, such as a dark island and lighter perimeter cabinets, Thiessen said the pendulum is swinging back toward using a single finish. “We are still doing a lot of two-tone kitchens, but there is a shift toward monotone,” she said. “Two-tone cabinetry are now combining colors differently, such as with fridge surrounds and range hoods.” “We are definitely seeing a lot more warm tones. And more wood tones. We haven’t seen a whole kitchen in warm woods in quite a long time, but customers are showing interest in that.” – Victoria Thiessen Door Styles “For the longest time shaker has been king, and its simplicity will always be popular,” the designer said, “but we are seeing door styles that have more character and decorative detail.” These are not quite as traditional as 20 or 30 years ago, she added, but curves are definitely en vogue when it comes to trim profiles. Shaker style’s recent BFF, open shelves, are also less popular of late. Upper cabinets are back, she said, and for variety, “we see hutches that come all the way down to the countertop,” a specialty cabinet design inspired by the traditional free-standing furniture piece. Paneled Appliances According to Thiessen, “there are a lot more appliances built-in to cabinets,” she said, noting beverage centers, professional-grade coffee machines, wine coolers and ice makers. “Homeowners want to incorporate many of these, but they don’t want to see them,” she said. Enter the cabinet panel, a custom cabinet door attached to the front of an appliance to create a seamless look. “Even full-size fridges get hidden by panels, so they blend into cabinetry,” she said. Hardware Details “Gold and black finishes definitely reign in cabinet hardware, and we still see a lot of mixed metal between appliances, lighting and hardware,” Thiessen said. “But again, everything is shifting a little more traditional with more detail and profiling.” Royal Flooring has recently added a specialty hardware company “to give folks decorative, more furniture-like options for cabinet knobs and pulls.” Rising to the Top “In higher-end homes the No. 1 request we get is to take cabinets to ceiling,” she said. “Even hoods and appliances — more height in everything.” When extremely high ceilings make the idea not so functional, “some use a decorative bulkhead, so it looks like crown molding to connect the upper cabinets to the ceiling, or incorporate big wood beams to bring the ceiling down a bit and fill the gap.” > CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ROYAL FLOORING 11801 Hickman Ave. | Urbandale, IA | www.shoproyalflooring.com