Manufactured cabinets look to be a story of two extremes in 2016, according to what Timber Products saw this January at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Las Vegas.

The movement toward very rustic cabinetry is going strong, with reclaimed barn wood and hand-scraped textures leading the pack. On the opposite end of things, streamlined, modern frameless designs are using bright colors of paint and vinyl, and even foil overlays to stand out from the crowd.

Even as these trends gain traction, there’s still a healthy demand for traditional kitchen cabinets. Many companies continue to succeed in this space, with the very best using real wood (usually maple) in the interiors.

We were excited to see that interest in the outdoor kitchen and garage cabinets space is on the rise, and we also noticed new technology integrations in the kitchen. One of the most innovative, for example, was a flat-screen television built into a stove hood.

On the other hand, there’s one trend that caused us to raise an eyebrow. We noticed that some cabinet companies are using misleading terms like "assembled in the U.S.A." or "warehoused in the U.S.A." to misrepresent their imported status. These are vague terms which do not speak to important issues such as product consistency or Lacey compliance.

The quality of imports varies widely, so it’s important to stay educated on manufacturing quality and ethical standards for imported products.

(Source: woodworkingnetwork.com)