I was almost writing the bad trade paper headlines after five minutes inside the halls - "All white on the night", "The white stuff", "Nights in White Satin (finish)" - the Eurocucina show is always the right place to spot the latest kitchen furniture trends but this was getting ridiculous.

The entire Italian kitchen industry seemed to have decided that the ultimate expression of minimalism is to make everything white  - the doors, the carcases, the worktops, the splashbacks, even the actual exhibition stands were so blindingly white that I had a headache by the end of the first day. I had a suspicion that they only reason they'd done it was so the always achingly stylish Italians had an excuse to wear sunglass indoors.

Then I remembered that Italians didn't really care about excuses for things like that, looking good was enough of a reason.

So where did all this white come from? Personally, I think the iPod has a lot to answer for as a modern cultural design icon, in fact a lot of the stands had Apple Macs as standard set dressings. Minimalism is obviously a key contributor but that wasn't true of a lot of the kitchens. Patterned surfaces were very popular, albeit white surfaces, and there were few kitchens that could be described as stark, despite their lack of colour, as many integrated living areas, breakfast bars and comfortable seating.

If I was being negative I would say that a white kitchen is the ultimate expression of the owner's own lack of personality. Something so deliberately devoid of colour must have something to say about a unwillingness to express oneself?

I'm over analysing this of course, but isn't that what fashion is all about? Because that's what Eurocucina undoubtedly is  - a fashion show. The Milan show is about trends and themes rather than practicalities and if white was everywhere there, you can bet it will filter down to the UK high street - just toned enough so it doesn't make the kitchen of your average three-bed semi look like the autopsy lab from CSI....

Andrew Davies, editor, kbbreview

andrew@kbbreview.com