It should be no surprise that the biggest and most welcome trend in the kitchen and bath industry is to be “green”. California is setting the standards for healthy and environmentally friendly building but the nation and the industry is catching up quickly.

Green building is good for you and good for the ecology. It improves the quality of the air you breathe, the water you drink and helps to reduce the amount of gasses, mold and bacteria you have to live with.

The more the magazines tell us about the benefits of building green, the more customers will be asking their design and building professionals to specify eco friendly materials in their homes. As the demand becomes greater the manufacturers will make these materials less expensive and easier to buy. We are rapidly approaching the point where we will be remodeling our kitchens because we can’t afford not to. The energy savings in a “green” kitchen alone can produce a 30% to 40% savings in our electric bill.

Our clients have always demanded the best quality cabinetry available. At Bucks County Kitchens we have always specialized in true furniture quality cabinets for the kitchen. so it comes as no surprise to us that more manufacturers are showing "furniture-looking" kitchens in their magazine advertizing. We also use many unique moldings including hand carved wood moldings with grapes, flowers, acorns and leaves or rope inlays and the traditional egg and dart and colonial combination routs to achieve a "special" finish for our furniture pieces.

Visual focal points are always important. At Bucks County Kitchens we show our clients how objects are observed and how they can control what their guests see when they walk into their new kitchens. With proper balance and visual focus we can make even the smallest kitchen look big and the biggest kitchen look cozy and inviting.

It is not unusual for our clients to request cozy seating within the working design. This is the ultimate in an intimate kitchen. Old homes lend themselves easily to this type of design because they usually have tall, low windows under which we can install large drawer bases with cushioned tops. But in newer homes a banquette is often the answer when space is limited. Banquettes are seating areas usually fashioned from large drawer bases placed in a corner and upholstered of topped with cushions. Almost any table can be used in front of the seating as long as the base is not too large. This is the perfect way to have a seating area in a kitchen when a table and chairs would take up too much space.

Another big trend is to completely integrate the appliances into the kitchen design. Gone are the days when a refrigerator was simply a refrigerator or the dishwasher simply a dishwasher! Sub-Zero, Kitchen Aid, Bosch, just to name a few, are offering appliances that can be completely integrated with cabinet fronts that cover the exposed part of their appliances. These cabinet fronts, whose stiles and rails align with the adjacent cabinets, make it hard to tell where the cabinets end and the appliances begin. This has been a very exciting change that opens up lots of exciting opportunities for creative design.

And what discussion of change would be complete without including lighting as we "baby-boomers" and "yuppies" enter the stage of our lives where good lighting becomes crucial to the success of our daily tasks. At Bucks County Kitchens we develop a lighting plan for each of our projects which includes the traffic patterns, work areas, and the decorative touches that make the kitchen so much your own!