“I WANT a traditional kitchen—but make it cool.” Today, younger, hipper homeowners are texting designers with such seemingly irreconcilable desires. They want a look they can relate to. Not the “coastal-grandmother kitchen,” a middle-age status take on cottage white. Nor the British-style luxury sculleries by outfits like Devol that evoke “Downton Abbey.” “People are trying to transition their homes from something traditional or conventional to something more them,” said Victoria Sass, who says her Minneapolis firm, Prospect Refuge Studio, works primarily on old homes for young families. At the same time, clients aren’t looking to break too many rules. 

A clever designer compromise? The layered kitchen, a neo-traditional approach that artfully patches together materials and styles. Counters might be soapstone while Carrara marble tops the center island. Cabinets typically vary, too: Paint might coat the lower set, often Shaker style, while the upper set sports glass fronts edgily framed in blackened steel. Meanwhile, a stack of drawers left in their wood-grained glory supplies another note. Next to this look, the standard monolith of same-color cabinets seems as dated as a matching lipstick, blouse and pumps.