A Bulthaup kitchen features wood accents throughout.
The formal dining room can now be considered an almost-quaint museum piece; separate breakfast rooms have also gone the way of the dodo, being replaced with in-kitchen eating countertops. Myhr has noticed Bulthaup kitchens are often a feature of current remodeling projects in traditional houses as well. To cater to that aesthetic, Bulthaup offers wood finishes in natural and dark rough-sawn oak, but in modern kitchen formats.
Warmer color palettes and wood accents matched with modernist architectural forms have redefined the conventional glass-walled, open-plan design. "[Home buyers] are still getting the modern lines and minimalist interiors," says Beverly Hills real estate agent Mauricio Umansky, CEO and cofounder of The Agency—but those interiors mirror the youthful, simplified lifestyle of Los Angeles's luxury-home buyer.
And without question, a home that is warm, modern, and architectural has good resale value. "There are just not enough of them," says Umansky. "Modern used to mean cold, stark, empty, and all-white," adds Oberfeld. "Now it means cleaner lines with warm décor and colors that match our clients' more relaxed, casual way of life."
