Traditional, Transitional, or Modern? What You Need to Know for Your Kitchen or Bathroom Renovation

When dealing with contractors, designers, and suppliers, you’ll often hear them reference three main design styles: traditional, transitional, and modern. Understanding the basic principles of each will help you work with them to realize your vision for your next bathroom or kitchen renovation.

Traditional

Traditional interior design is a broad-brush category that contains many styles, including Colonial, Victorian, Tuscan, and more. The style draws on older European design, prioritizing opulence through rich and heavy materials: dark woods, layered drapery, jewel-tone colours, and ornate millwork like crown moulding, wainscoting, and coffered ceilings.

Traditional design principles, including heavy, shapely furniture, extravagant accessories, hand-crafted artwork, and rich colour palettes are now being increasingly incorporated in design. In the kitchen, that may mean opting for a vintage-style oven, bronze or gold hardware accents, ornate cabinet faces, dark hardwood flooring, or an apron-front sink. For experimental touches, designers will often use freestanding tables for kitchen islands or Delft tiles for backsplashes.

In the bathroom, features like ornate mouldings, bold decorative wallpaper, vintage tiles, console sinks, metallic telephone faucets, and clawfoot tubs can add elegance and character.

Modern

Modern interior design is all about functionality, clean lines, and muted, neutral colours. This style puts an emphasis on open spaces, simple forms, and exposed materials like marble, wood grain, or concrete.

Modern spaces usually use whites, greys, and browns, and focus on maximizing natural lighting. Kitchens will usually feature flat-panel cabinet doors with minimal handle hardware. You’ll also find black faucets and accents, as well as quartz or marble countertops.

In the bathroom, you can opt for a neutral colour scheme, and contrast it with natural materials, like large stone tiles, and light-coloured wood panels. In modern bathrooms, wood is usually placed in large pieces, and stone tiles will also typically be larger and feature natural marbling. Modern bathrooms can also include floating stone vanities, stone sinks, and walk-in showers. It’s all about creating a simple space with clean lines and plenty of light.

Transitional

Transitional design combines both modern and traditional elements, like vintage furniture, open-concept layouts, ornate touches, and exposed materials. A kitchen, for example, might combine a marble waterfall countertop with traditional shaker cabinets. The key to creating these spaces is balance. To do it right, you’ll want to settle on a specific colour palette and stick to similar textures. In the kitchen, you might consider adding vintage accents to a mostly modern space or removing upper cabinets to make a traditional kitchen look more sleek. Hardware can also have a big visual impact: black metal fixtures will add a modern edge, while metallic pull handles and knobs will offer depth and character.  

With bathrooms, this may look like adding a clawfoot tub to pair with a stone floor or putting vintage wallpaper in a modern space. Traditional free-standing cabinets will also add character to modern bathrooms, as will textured tiles.

Are you looking to create a new space in one of these three styles? Our designers and custom cabinetry will help you achieve your ideal look. Visit our Vaughan showroom to learn more.