Kitchen countertops, backsplashes, flooring trends for 2015

Published 1:18 pm Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Design trends come and go and no group knows better about what’s in, what’s out and what will stand the test of time than local furniture, flooring and decorating businesses. These stores stay abreast of the trends and provide the home products customers request. Sometimes they even help customers determine the style and type of products they’ll be most happy with in their homes for the long haul.

“The biggest change that I see is that the Internet has been invaluable for clients and designers. My clients use Pinterest and Houzz,” said Sue Ann Stodder of Flooring and Design Center. “Or they tag their favorite design magazine.” This pleases Stodder. “They bring this information to me so they can present me with who they want to be as opposed to me saying who I think they might be. We like to refer to the Internet’s impact on what we do here as “NET” gain,” she said.

The Internet is great for ideas and local businesses have all the latest products or can get them fast. “When customers come in they’re always saying, ‘I never dreamed you had so much to choose from.’ “ said Lucy Fuselier from Fuselier and Co.

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Stodder has experienced how new industry in Lake Charles is affecting what people want. “With all these new plants coming in, we’re seeing customers from other states and even other countries like New Zealand and Belgium.” These customers have been exposed to different styles and have different demands. “Typically the French country look and traditional have been popular here. Now we’re doing more modern, sleeker work…seeing Mediterranean and other European influences. In the U.S., design trends usually begin on the west and east coasts and eventually make their way to the Deep South.

Kitchen countertops

Sue Ann Stodder of Design and Flooring in Sulphur said that granite continues to be the number one choice for countertops among homeowners building new and remodeling. But there is something fresh going on with granite surfaces. “People are mixing the colors of granite in their kitchens,” she said. They’re choosing to have an island of one color and countertops of another.

She also said that as granite becomes more popular in more homes, customers are looking for ways to use this surface material while still keeping their kitchens and baths one of a kind. “Clients are asking for exotics,” she said. Exotics are granite selections that have more movement and can cost more than common granite colors.

Designers suspect that natural product surfaces as well as the surface materials that mimic the look of these natural stone countertop materials are here to stay.

Both Stodder and Emily Myers of Surfaces Design Gallery mentioned the classic quality of Carrera marble and the very fashionable white and grey tones in its design. “It’s a timeless product that’s been used in European kitchens for hundreds of years,” Myers said.

Porcelain tiles are now available that look like Carerra (a white and gray marble) Noche (soft tan marble) or Creama Marfil (a creamy yellow marble), according to John Fontenot from Gulf Coast Carpet. “Some people would rather spend $2.99 a square foot for something that looks like marble than $20 a square foot for marble.”

Backsplash

In the same way that the perfect frame can enhance the presentation of a photograph or work of art, the perfect countertop is further enhanced or “finished” (as Lucy Fuselier of Kenny Fuselier and Co., likes to say) with the perfect backsplash.

Fuselier, Stodder, Myers and Fontenot all said that glass and metal tile pieces are being mixed with tumbled natural stone or porcelain finishes and they don’t expect the trend to shift drastically. Fontenot said that some of his customers are using subway tile (octagon-shaped) and that the “larger subways are getting popular.”

Colors selected are generally in the taupe, brown and gray family among the customers at Gulf Coast Carpet.

Regardless of trends in materials and styles, Myers reminds her customers to buy backsplash materials and other surface products not simply because they are “in.” “I tell them to make sure that’s what they want, that they’ll love it for as long as they own home, Myers said.

Flooring

Porcelain tile flooring is big, literally. Some pieces are as large as 32 inches x 32 inches. Larger tile means fewer grout lines, which has its appeal and it looks a lot like pricier marble, travertine, slate and granite. Fontenot said that porcelain, a harder product than ceramic tile and can be installed inside or out.

Porcelain tiles are being sold that mimic wood. “They’re even making a longer piece, generally they’re about two feet long, but buyers should know that these longer porcelain pieces aren’t right for all slabs,” Fontenot cautioned.

New laminates are waterproof, making them able to stand up to a wet mop and used in different areas of the house like never before.

People are still buying wood, said Stodder and Fontenot. The big change is that it’s being laid in various widths. Customers are mixing 3-inch, 5-inch and 7-inch widths. Stodder said. Fontenot thinks glued wood floors are superior to padded wood floors because once the pad gets wet, it’s hard to dry.

As for the most popular finish in wood, dark is popular, Fontenot said. “The younger generation likes ebony but it’s terrible for showing footprints. Medium to dark stains are selling better than blonds. Exotics, which refers to a more varied wood finish throughout all the planks is also popular.””

(MGNonline)