INDIANAPOLIS - Representing Norcraft Cabinetry (NYSE:NCFT), Monte Young share tips on Kitchen Trends for 2014 with Indianapolis DirectBuy. The group purchasing organization also featured Norcraft president Ryan Wanninger in a webcast on design trends.

The budget of a kitchen remodel project will allocate about 41% for cabinets, and 6% for countertops.

Young said Americans are designing kitchens based on ideas gathered at online sources like Houzz, Pinterest, Restoration Hardware, and Design Sponge.

Among the current trends is use of the kitchen island as a table, selecting cabinetry as furniture pieces. Painted finishes are trending, especially darker colors and gray - the “in” color this season.  On the horizon: blue is predicted to become the next popular kitchen color scheme.

Other trends include straight wall layouts with the large island, floor to ceiling cabinetry, more drawer storage and working zones for cooking, prep, clean up and storage.

New to kitchen design: LED Lighting is being used not only under the cabinets, but also at the toe kick area to light up the floor space.

Organization is also big on consumer wish lists, with larger drawers being used for plate and cup storage, mixer shelves for heavier pieces of equipment, tray dividers to use for those smaller spaces and knife drawer inserts for those top drawers. 

DirectBuy offers over 700 quality manufacturers to its members at manufacturers pricing. It also has a referral list of preferred installers, each approved by the DirectBuy of Indianapolis service staff.