Two-tone cabinets, quartz counters in style for kitchen remodels

MOSES LAKE — The kitchen is the heart of your home, so naturally you want it set up to suit you. Matt Adame, owner of RD Construction, a Moses Lake-based contractor specializing in kitchens, said the current trend in cabinets is two-tone. 

“In (a house) we just built, they went with white Shaker uppers and black Shaker on the bottom,” Adame said. “And then in another house, they did white panel uppers and dark gray flat acrylic on the bases as well.” 

The dual-style trend popped up about a year and a half ago, Adame said. Wood cabinets are cycling back into vogue as well, he said. 

“In the early 2000s, (oak cabinets) were in style,” he said. “Then they went to cherry wood, then white. And now I feel like it’s going back to oak.” 

Quartz countertops are popular, Adame said. Quartz is tough, nonporous and easy to maintain, according to the home maintenance site Angi’s List, and costs about the same as granite, which Adame said is also a popular choice. 

“We try to steer people away from marble,” Adame said. “It’s heavy and really fragile.” 

Adame recommends staying away from painted cabinets. 

“It’s not going to last at all,” Adame said. “If you have a professional do it, they have to use an expensive paint where it doesn’t want to chip easily. By the time you sand and paint them, you might as well just get new cabinets (as) pay for the labor on that.” 

Sinks are another thing to be careful about, Adame said. He recommends going with an undermount sink rather than the cheaper drop-in kind where construction crews must seal the lip to the counter. 

“I always recommend just spending the extra couple of hundred to make your kitchen pop a little bit more,” he said. 

If you’re going to bring in a professional, have an idea in mind of what you want before you call, Adame suggested. 

“(Customers should) be clear what they want at the beginning instead of being undecided about what they want or how they want their layout,” he said.