Observation of dealer lot inventory

[Underboss]

So while waiting for my build I have been perusing the current Newmar DS inventory. I still see a few 25's and a decent number of 26's on the lot or being built. The one thing that 99% of the current inventory have in common is white cabinets. The two tone design with white uppers. I personally do not like them and neither do other folks that I have talked to. I am surprised that they will still be an option on 2027's
I have to wonder what the percentage of coach sales or orders actually have white cabinets. Resale is always a challenge but when you buy something unpopular thats a difficult and costly change you really are taking a chance.

 

[Neal]

I think color choices in a RV or even S&B (homes) go in cycles. I think around 2022 the lighter colors started where back in my buy time of 2017 it was the cherry/walnut color era. My house built in 2005 had dark cherry cabinets, I don't think that's the fad now in 2026. It also depends on location. I think those in warmer climates such as when I lived in Tucson, AZ preferred lighter/white cabinetry and if you go to an area such as the North East they prefer darker colors.

 

[lostinfla]

Personally, I prefer the old style stained wood cabinets. Every time I look at a newer coach, I cringe when I see painted cabinets. Just my opinion though.

 

[Underboss]

Personally, I prefer the old style stained wood cabinets. Every time I look at a newer coach, I cringe when I see painted cabinets. Just my opinion though.

I agree to a degree. Every rv I have ever owned has had stained cabinets. While they will never go out of the new rv equation, I welcome some changes. I always liked the antiqued off white cabinet choices the last 5 years. They are timeless and gave some freshness to the builds. I personally ordered the Morel color on my new coach as in person it looks fresh to me.
As a kid, I never gave any thought that wood paneling in homes would go out of style but it has. The younger generation wants color. Many are tired of stained cabinets or wood work. In home building, this has been the trend the last 12 years or so. I used to do some ornate coffered celings on homes and they were all stained. When I built my last personal home in 2003, I decided to paint the woodwork, who knew that that trend would start.
More and more residential kitchen cabinets sold today are painted. Its only natural for this to transfer over to rvs.
Personally I like both, I just do not like stark white unless its in a laundry room.

 

[lostinfla]

The younger generation wants color. Many are tired of stained cabinets or wood work. In home building, this has been the trend the last 12 years or so.

I guess that confirms it.... I'm old.

 

[Richpatty]

I had not looked at the new models in sometime….i did just now and i agree…dark lower cabinets and white uppers looks pretty awful…to me anyway. I guess I am old too.

 

[GypsyR]

Years ago I had a neighbor with a carved wooden eagle in his yard. Great big one. Stained and mounted on a tall stump it was a pretty impressive hand-crafted piece of art. One day he decided to paint it brown. White head, yellow beak and claws. And just like that it went from handmade art to some random piece of whatever junk in the yard. If you didn't know, you'd think it was just a ten dollar blow-molded plastic thing from Wal-Mart anymore. I feel the same way about stained cabinets. You may not like them or think they are fashionable but they are only solid stained wood once. Once painted there's no practical difference between my solid cherry Newmar cabinets and the laminated chipboard ones our old Coleman popup had. My wife may not understand it but it's been made clear to her my dowdy old wooden cabinets are definitely off-limits. Seeing them the first time is a good part of why I decide to buy this camper.

 

[Underboss]

I guess that confirms it.... I'm old.

Well, as are most of us.

 

[newmarokie]

It's funny the things we bring and the responses they illicit. I worked construction in the early eighties when I got out of high school. The in vogue shades for stained wood then were dark. English Walnut was a common choice. We were building cabinets at the time mostly with lumber core ash. This was the most common combination for upper mid to lower upper end houses. I never worked on a house where we were building cabinets out of solid oak, but it was out there in the upper upper end houses. Then as the nineties and aughts rolled in, no longer being in construction, I started seeing more solid oak being used stained in a golden oak or honey oak shade. Lost, like you I cringe when I see 5" crown mold, 3 1/4' base and cabinets painted. But that is the world we live in. I suspect that the increased use of paint helps lower cost for builders. A buyer/owner can't tell the difference in painted white pine and cherry molding and base board. The same for styles and rails and doors on cabinetry.

 

[TheLooks]

No, they can't tell the difference between MDF or other garbage and wood. Plus if they are painted, like most are now, they can stop making nice miters and just caulk it in. I also worked construction for many years. I installed custom built cabinets for a couple of years here in the N GA and Tenn area. I could write a book on the lack of quality in new homes here. But the caulking gun is the most used tool in the region.

 

[Underboss]

Tract homes tend to have poor, flighty workers. Built cheaply with cheap materials. I was looking at rv homes in the Jax area and it was amazing how bad the windows were as well as the balance of the build. As stated caulking is the tool of choice. I built or remodeled higher end homes. Some of these homes had not one interior decorator, but two.
It was the decorators or the owners choosing paint over stain. Even my cabinet shop started to see the trend towards painted and antiqued finishes
My crew would frame your house like a piece of fine furniture. No gaps in joints and when it came to finishes, the only caulking done was by the painter, caulking the molding gaps at the floor and wall to molding seam. When you want to pay your contractor/builder the fair price, you tend to get the better work. The average employment with my company was 17+ years.
Later on I was in charge of getting a a 62 story building finished. The units had zero stained finishes, the kitchen, vanities and closets had faux wood. The units started at 2.5 mil for a studio and topped out at 66 mil for the two floor penthouse.
Its the trend set by the designers and younger folks who want more color. Tradition has its place but market drives finishes.

 

[TheLooks]

I didn't work in tract homes, and the workers could not speak english. They were living in a cardboard box in a foreign country not long ago and living in a 500 sq ft apartment with 12 other people here in the US. There was no supervision from an actual builder that I could see on most jobs. I was the crew for all my jobs along with the rest of my team. You don't have to fix as many problems if you are the guy that comes in next.
The custom built cabinets were generally the best thing in the house. I never once installed a whole kitchen or whole house cabinets that did not require extensive shimming. My first job for the cabinet company the granite guys chased me out to my truck because they had never seen an install that they did not have to shim the granite. I was shocked.....
The houses were just thrown together to get them sold or get on to the next one. I have learned not to mention quality around builders here as they get defensive.

 

[Underboss]

I didn't work in tract homes, and the workers could not speak english. They were living in a cardboard box in a foreign country not long ago and living in a 500 sq ft apartment with 12 other people here in the US. There was no supervision from an actual builder that I could see on most jobs. I was the crew for all my jobs along with the rest of my team. You don't have to fix as many problems if you are the guy that comes in next.
The custom built cabinets were generally the best thing in the house. I never once installed a whole kitchen or whole house cabinets that did not require extensive shimming. My first job for the cabinet company the granite guys chased me out to my truck because they had never seen an install that they did not have to shim the granite. I was shocked.....
The houses were just thrown together to get them sold or get on to the next one. I have learned not to mention quality around builders here as they get defensive.

It has to be horrible to have to work with [mod edit: removed]. I would look at jobs where they actually shimmed granite with corrugated cardboard. Insane. I am not sure how any quality contractor would get offended by mentioning quality work.
One of the reasons I opened my own custom cabinet company was to control quality and delivery time.

 

[TheLooks]

One of them looked at me and said, "I will build 100 while you build 5 or 6 and who makes more money?"

 

[Holdmybeer]

I recall the same anecdotal b.s. surrounding the Vietnamese refugees in S. Texas in the 70's and 80's. That the only reason the Vietnamese shrimpers were doing so well was they were fishing illegally. The truth was they were doing well because they were working their tails off and knew what they were doing. Go down there today (Aransas Pass, Rockport,....) and see who owns the fish houses and the fleets.