Have you ever had a conversation with someone and they start talking about the different styles of kitchens they like? One minute they are rambling on about country kitchens, the next they’re talking about modern or traditional styled kitchens. And all the while you’re standing there thinking, “I have absolutely no idea what a country or modern kitchen even looks like!” You don’t want to look dumb, so you play it off like you do know what they’re talking about and say, ”Yeah, I love that too!”

We’ve all been there before. And to help prepare you for your next conversation about different styles of kitchens we’ve compiled a list of a few styles that will surely make you an expert!

Traditional Kitchens

Traditional styled kitchens tend to be more ornamental and have more fine details associated with them. They incorporate soft muted neutral colors like creams, warm golds, taupes, and greens. Kitchen cabinets that are considered traditional will have embellishments on them, like the picture above of our Java Maple Glaze cabinet line. Cabinet doors will have trim, and you’ll see lots of decorative ornaments on flat surfaces, as well as crown molding at the top of the cabinets.

Furniture chosen for traditional styled kitchens will be larger in scale and upholstered in fabrics that have lots of pattern, like stripes, geometric shapes, or scenes of nature on them. Other materials used to create the traditional look will typically be natural materials like wood flooring, and stone counter tops that have a more natural or irregular shape.

Everything in traditional styled kitchens down to the cabinet hardware will have a more organic shape and feel.

Modern Kitchens

Modern styled kitchens are the exact opposite of traditional styled kitchens. Modern kitchens are less decorative than traditional kitchens. Modern kitchens are all about the pure form of the design. Cabinetry tends to be sleek in styling, with clean, strong horizontal lines, and simple hardware. True modern kitchen cabinet door styles will have a flat panel with no trim or decorative elements on it. Furniture chosen for the room, just like the cabinets, will be sleek in styling with no ornamentation. Other materials like flooring or counter tops will have no pattern or texture to them.

Cabinet hardware will usually be integrated into the design of the cabinets, but you will also see flat linear pulls as well as tubular pulls that span the length of doors and drawers.

Contemporary Kitchens

Just like a modern kitchen, contemporary styled kitchens can be very sleek in terms of design, but what sets the two styles apart is contemporary kitchens use of new trends, materials, and technology. Contemporary kitchens tend to push the boundaries in terms of what’s new, hip and happening now. You’ll see lots of cutting edge technology in appliances, mixed use of materials on counter tops, walls, and floors, and numerous layers of materials, patterns and textures.

Got tile for a backsplash? Why run it horizontally when it might be more interesting to run it vertically. The whole idea and thinking with contemporary kitchens is finding new and innovative methods to use existing and new materials in different ways.

There are many other styles of kitchens that we haven’t covered in our blog. But don’t fret we’ll be back with part 2 soon! In the meantime, stop by our website and check out a few of our RTA Store kitchen cabinets and see if you can pick out any that are Traditional, Modern, or Contemporary in styling. Leave us a comment below to let us know what you’ve found!