October is National Kitchen and Bath month, but judging from the chatter on the design grapevine there are few people embarking on major kitchen and bathroom remodels at the moment.

Obviously, there is trepidation given our nation's current economic crisis. Most most financial advisors are advocating being conservative right now.

Because this is a time for tightening family budgets and most people are looking for ways to save money, what remodeling work under way is more basic, with fewer walls being moved.

More than ever before industry experts predict that homeowners will choose to stay in their current homes instead of purchasing a new one to "move up." In the long run, this crisis might prove to be quite positive in that people might become appreciative of what they have rather than yearn for bigger and better things.

One learns as you live your life that during down cycles it pays to take advantage of the fact that you have more time. Right now might be a great time to commence long-range plans and to start research about what you might consider when you are finally able to embark on a kitchen re-do.

When the housing market does turn around, it is most often a kitchen remodel that adds value to a home and helps to sell a residence faster than a similar one in the neighborhood that still has the original kitchen in place.

Small kitchens in older homes often are well suited to be done in a retro-style. Shown here is a vibrant aqua range called the Northstar, a 1950s retro range with 21st century insides. Believe it or not, intensely colored appliances actually were first popular in the 1920s. It is fascinating that it was during the Depression that the U.S. Commerce Department proclaimed six standard colors in response to the chaos of various colors that previously existed regarding kitchen equipment.

The fast-blooming kitchen industry became subject to a National Kitchen Modernization Bureau formed in 1935. White, delphinium blue, royal blue, kitchen green, ivory, and red were designated as standard colors.

During World War II, understandably, the bureau faded away and it wasn't until the postwar building boom that folks began to think again about kitchen colors. Some 6 millions U.S. kitchens were constructed from 1945 to 1953 .

In 1956, a General Electric advertisement introduced appliances in yellow, turquoise, pink, brown, and white. These so-called "mix-or-match" colors had companions in fabrics, linoleum, countertops, furnishings and smaller kitchen appliances. KitchenAid today offers colorful mixers and small hand appliances in a return to that era.

A small kitchen can take on a wonderful personality when you select one of these strong colors from yesteryear. I am currently working on a guesthouse where we are honoring the '50s with black carpeting, red and black tile, and a red refrigerator. Just as in the 1950s, today you can find ceramic tile, terrazzo flooring and solid-surface countertop materials in sharp color combinations to go with the strong appliance colors.

If you have a similar design in mind, investigate composite countertop materials that will allow you to integrate black or red or yellow.

Zodiaq is a material of composed of 93 percent crushed quartz, a DuPont proprietary binding polymer and pigments. Stunning colors include Indus red, Celestial blue, Vortex black and Magellan green, all of which are reminiscent of the '30s and '50s color schemes.

Trend USA offers an engineered agglomerate stone product called Trend Q. It is one-quarter inch thick and comes in tile sizes as small as 1 foot by 1 foot to slabs of 4 feet by 10 feet. Trend Q is available in a cornucopia of delicious colors and is an environmentally friendly, or green, product.

Sometimes old fixtures force people to undertake bathroom remodels because water leaks can cause expensive damage to other rooms. Tough times or not, damaging leaks force many homeowners to fix their bathrooms.

Most baby boomers and their children favor the amenities found at spas when they consider a bathroom remodel. If you are someone needing to take care of a leaking shower or tub, use this opportunity to incorporate stress reducers into your design.

This might be as simple as a plain color change or as sophisticated as the selection of a tub with air-jet technology that allows for aromatherapy and colored-light therapy in the soaking tub.

Christine Brun, ASID, is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Big Ideas for Small Spaces." Send questions and comments to her by e-mail at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net. To find out more about Christine Brun and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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