Two-tone cabinets, quartz counters in style for kitchen remodels
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 months, 2 weeks AGO
A quartz countertop is nonporous, durable and easy to maintain.
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Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | October 24, 2025 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The kitchen is the heart of your home, so naturally you want it set up to suit you. Matt Adame, owner of RD Construction, a Moses Lake-based contractor specializing in kitchens, said the current trend in cabinets is two-tone.
“In (a house) we just built, they went with white Shaker uppers and black Shaker on the bottom,” Adame said. “And then in another house, they did white panel uppers and dark gray flat acrylic on the bases as well.”
The dual-style trend popped up about a year and a half ago, Adame said. Wood cabinets are cycling back into vogue as well, he said.
“In the early 2000s, (oak cabinets) were in style,” he said. “Then they went to cherry wood, then white. And now I feel like it’s going back to oak.”
Quartz countertops are popular, Adame said. Quartz is tough, nonporous and easy to maintain, according to the home maintenance site Angi’s List, and costs about the same as granite, which Adame said is also a popular choice.
“We try to steer people away from marble,” Adame said. “It’s heavy and really fragile.”
Adame recommends staying away from painted cabinets.
“It’s not going to last at all,” Adame said. “If you have a professional do it, they have to use an expensive paint where it doesn’t want to chip easily. By the time you sand and paint them, you might as well just get new cabinets (as) pay for the labor on that.”
Sinks are another thing to be careful about, Adame said. He recommends going with an undermount sink rather than the cheaper drop-in kind where construction crews must seal the lip to the counter.
“I always recommend just spending the extra couple of hundred to make your kitchen pop a little bit more,” he said.
If you’re going to bring in a professional, have an idea in mind of what you want before you call, Adame suggested.
“(Customers should) be clear what they want at the beginning instead of being undecided about what they want or how they want their layout,” he said.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.