The soft, contemporary kitchen, designed by Tom Duke of Evolve Architecture and built by Custom Kitchens, includes an L-shaped island with curved top, pendant lights and comfortable seating.

Today's kitchens are a far cry from the kitchens of just 10 years ago.

Take technology for example. "We have touch screen pads that almost look like an ATM machine," said Mark Wentsel, appliance specialist with Reico Kitchen & Bath. "Everything is displayed right on the screen and it makes it so much easier for anyone, even a novice, literally to become a gourmet cook because the oven is literally telling you what to do. You can also create your own cooking directions and it saves it for you." Wentsel says there has been an explosion on the market of specialized appliance products in the last five or six years. There are now steam ovens for fast, healthy cooking and restaurant-style coffee systems for lattes and cappuccinos. "Microwaves are standard in every home but the newest technology in microwaves is the microwave drawer that you can mount under a countertop," he said. "And the drawer look is popular with warming drawers, drawer refrigeration and draw dishwashers. It is technology borrowed from restaurants." The hottest trends in appliance finishes are either the "Look at my appliances" look of commercial stainless steel or the "Try to find my appliances" with appliances integrated into the cabinets with wooden panel fronts.

In Brad and Kathy Matthews kitchen in Manakin-Sabot, their Dacor warming drawer and Subzero refrigerator are fully integrated behind cherry wood cabinets. But the two Viking wall ovens and Viking range are all done in stainless steel to stand out.

A work island featuring a small prep sink, offers a large area for food preparation.

"Ninety-five percent or more of the appliances we sell are either stainless steel or paneled or fully integrated," said Dave Raber with Classic Kitchens of Virginia Inc., who designed the Matthews kitchen in the house built by Dunkum Inc.

"In paneled appliances a refrigerator looks very nice but it is still clearly a refrigerator. With fully integrated appliances it looks just like another tall or short cabinet. and unless you know what it is you do not know what it is."

VARIETY OF TEXTURES Granite still reigns supreme as the countertop of choice but now there are a variety of finishes to choose from, says Raber.

The standard granite finish has a high sheen, such as the black granite counter tops used in the Horwitz house on Riverside Drive. A honed finish is a bit duller than a standard finish but still smooth. The leather finish is slightly more polished than a honed finish but has a slight texture in it that is put on with a stiff brush.

The textured, river washed finishes, also called flamed granite bring a more noticeable texture to the finish. Or you can get a more serious texture that is just this side of being chiseled.

Richard Hendrick, CKD (certified kitchen designer) and president of Custom Kitchens Inc., says other product manufacturers are stepping up to the plate to compete with the natural look of granite. "Quartz products - ground-up stone - have similar durability to granite and they are also going for an earthier look. Solid surface and Corian products are also getting more earthy-type finishes in their products because that is what is popular," he said.

Deborah Tomlin, branch manager for Reico Kitchen & Bath, says that the lower price, versatility of design, no maintenance feature and the less noticeable seams are also helping to make the engineered stone products, such as quartz, more popular.

THE DARK SIDE The trend in kitchen cabinets is going down the dark path.

"Deep colors are popular," said Hendrick, who sees the high cost of dark woods like mahogany and cherry driving new alternative dark wood products into the market. "Lyptus wood is a farm grown tree in South America that looks like mahogany but grows in 20 years where mahogany takes about 80 years so it is more reasonably priced," he said. Other expensive exotic woods like tiger and zebra are being used as veneers or as inlays in cabinetry.

In the Kinloch subdivision in Goochland in a kitchen Reico designed for builder W.B. Garrett Inc., homeowners Brian and Roxanne Rodill chose oak cabinets finished in a wenge stain to create black cabinets in their contemporary kitchen. For the Matthews' house, it was a 25-step distressed cherry-wood finish that created their rich, dark red/brown cabinets.

And take a hard look at hardware. According to Stephen D. Smith, CKD of Reico Kitchen & Bath, the hardware you choose can make all the difference in the appearance of the kitchen. "You can have the same cabinet and with that one hardware element it changes the entire look," he said.

Designer Ellen Norris of Carytatid Interior Design used flatware as handles on the kitchen cabinets in the Horwitz house on Riverside Drive to give it a whimsical feel. But to keep the sleek contemporary look the Rodills used brushed nickel cylinder-shaped handles.

GLASS IS AN OPTION Glass is shattering traditional kitchen design in appliances, cabinets and even counters.

Raber says glass is popular in induction and electric cooktops as well as wall ovens. "Sub zero makes a beautiful refrigerator that has glass doors in them and a gorgeous wine cooler with glass doors that is stunning," he said.

You can also get glass counters. "They can be clear or not," said Hendrick. "A number are clear but with a textured top or sandwiched colored or cracked glass in between that gives an interesting texture and feeling to the kitchen." Glass cabinet fronts are often used as accents in a total wood cabinet design. The addition of ribbed glass breaks up the Mandarin stained cherry wood in this house on Cedar Run Road that was designed by Custom Kitchens and built by Pitts & Associates. In the Mathews' house, glass end cabinets set o. the bar counter and are used as display cases.

Using glass in cabinets is very popular, says Tomlin, and many people are stacking the cabinets so the glass is at the top. With the taller ceilings, people like to use that extra space above the cabinets display area. He noted that glass-front cabinets with glass shelves lighted by halogen lights, reflect light all the way through the cabinetry. "It is a great place to display things and add a bit more of your personality in your kitchen."

Ellen Norris, owner of Caryatid Interior Design, created this kitchen at the Horwitz home with wheelchair accessibility in mind. The microwave is situated at chair level and lowered countertops in Louis Horwitz’s home.

IN THE MIX Mixing it up in the kitchen is a new trend that is not about cooking, but rather about to a diversity of styles within one kitchen.

"There is a lot of mixing going on from colors to moldings, to stacked cabinet heights and different countertop applications in the same kitchen," said Tomlin. Contemporary has also made a comeback in kitchens as well as a throwback to your great grandmother's kitchen with farm sinks and the period hardware and faucets.

Hendrick describes the contemporary looks as, "more of a soft contemporary where it is not so modern looking but has cleaner lines and a sleeker look," such as in the kitchen designed by Custom Kitchens in the Cedar Run Road home.

The fact is that today's kitchens are not just for cooking anymore. "They are very specific highly individualized designs that reflect their lifestyle, what they think of themselves or what they want others to think of them," said Raber.

"It is a showplace," said Tomlin. "You would be surprised about the number of really high-end gourmet kitchens where people do not cook in them every day."