In the 1950s, kitchens were all about chrome toasters and white appliances. Perhaps this was supposed to lend a "sanitary" feel to the kitchen. The '60s and '70s ushered in those festive avocado and harvest gold appliances. The last decade was all about sophisticated stainless steel and black. What's coloring the kitchen now?

"Old world style finishes on cabinets in lots of colors," said Nancy Garland, owner of Forum Interiors. "There's more unfitted kitchens, instead of having a wall of cabinets, it's broken up with pieces that look like armoires that have feet and moldings. These unfitted pieces come in any color; islands especially are often stained in colors of rust, teal, red, green and black. Glazes are popular, which is a contrasting color stain wiped on and off, that gives detail, or cabinet moldings."

Garland said wall paint in kitchens tends to run toward earth tones, golds, greens and lattes. In contemporary kitchens she's seeing a lot of true colors of red, green and blue, but in a darker, richer shade than in the past.

"In countertops, both stained and natural concrete with integrated sinks, are hot," said Garland. "Soapstone, which is a gray-green color, is a less expensive alternative than concrete. Polymer products, such as Zodiac and Caesar, are taking over. They are designed to look like granite and can be polished or honed in a matte finish. The benefit of these surfaces is that they don't have to be sealed and are maintenance free. There's a broad spectrum of colors and designs. Granite remains popular and comes in custom and prefabricated nine foot lengths, which cost considerably less."

Like cabinets, flooring tends toward the rustic, distressed look, with a variety of plantation woods, such as Brazilian cherry. Ceramic tile remains a favorite, with colors galore. Garland suggests using 12-inch to 14-inch tile on countertops and floors in both kitchens and baths to reduce the amount of grout that needs to be cleaned.

As far as appliances, harvest gold hasn't reared its autumnal head this decade, but that's not to say we've gone back to the basics.

"Commercial ranges and refrigerators, which people want in their residential kitchens, come in a wide variety of colors such as blue, burgundy, teal, ivory and while. Stainless steel is still popular."

Garland said there's no average kitchen remodel cost, since every house is different.

"However, start to finish including electric, plumbing and appliances, a small kitchen remodel starts at $35,000. Even when people think they just want new cabinets or countertops, when they see what's available they want a whole new look if they can afford it."

What to do if you want to add pizzazz to your kitchen but can't afford a remodel? How about adding color accessories?

Since its opening, Copia's retail store, Cornucopia, has drawn in visitors with its swaths of accessory colors.

"Our most popular items are the colanders," said Nicole Hamill, store manager. "They come in all different colors and sizes ($12.95-$24.95). I'd say the most popular color is shocking pink."

The biggest kitchen accessory sellers seem to be those in the pinks, oranges and red.

"They are colors that you don't see at a lot of other places," said Hamill. "Color draws people into the store. They'll shop color-wise and put together gift sets. Other new items are in vintage colors, soft green, blue and pink. Those draw a certain crowd."

In the venerable Shackford's Kitchen Store on Main Street in Napa, colorful kitchen tools are crowding out shelves of traditional, bland kitchen gizmos.

What gives?

"People are tired of stainless, white and black," said Laura Lewis, one of Shackford's buyers. "It started when KitchenAid came out with different colored stand mixers. Then when silicone hit the market, color exploded."

Lewis said the non-colorful Silpat silicone cookie sheet liners have been very popular for the last five years after cooking show hosts, including Martha Stewart, touted them.

"That led to silicone bakeware, muffin and cake pans, mitts, potholders, spatulas and basting brushes. Silicone can take heat up to 650 degrees, is easy to clean, browns the food and is flexible, so items like muffins pop out."

Shackford's silicone bakeware ($4.99 up) leans toward red and pink with purple "pinch" bowls to help organize your cooking routine. The potholders and Hot Spot silicone trivets ($6-$25) come in every color you can name, and some you can't.

"New this year are pop-out measuring cups," said Lewis, demonstrating how the silicone measuring cups lay flat in the drawer and pop up when you need to measure.

The lime green measuring cups share a pegboard with suction lids ($7.99 and up). These silicone suction lids come in all colors and sizes and attach themselves to bowls or pots.

"Another popular item are the colorful plastic storage containers ($12.99) from Reston Lloyd. That company also has a line of enamelware, including colanders.

"During the holidays, the cutting board section was a sea of colors. Our customers bought small to large in an array of colors. We're just now refilling the shelves."

The Oneida cutting boards range in price from $6.99 to $12.99.

She says the two most popular kitchen accessory colors in Shackford's are red and lime green.

"La Creuset is our best seller in cookware," said Lewis. "It's a heavy enamel cookware and at the holiday time, we sold out of the red, blue and lime green pots. Also at Christmas, we couldn't keep the color food processors, blenders and toasters in stock. We'd like to carry more colorful items, but we don't have room."

Other colorful stylish items include tea kettles in blue, green, red, black and orange ($40), pan jackets for storing your favorite cookware in red, lime green and blue ($12.99-$49.99), and plenty of multi-hued linens, aprons and cookie jars.

"Kitchens were filled with black and white and stainless for too long," said Lewis. "People are ready for a change and they love color."