The National Kitchen Bath Association has announced the top trends from the almost 500 designs submitted to its 2012 Design Competition. Popular designs for kitchens include glossy finishes and fixtures, with shimmering surfaces, shining fixtures and high-sheen finishes. Other trends include interior use of concrete, as well as exposed brickwork, colour infusion behind glass (simple painted walls with glass panels overlaid) and suspended lighting. White kitchens have also been reinvented. Although white for kitchens never really went away, it is now being cleverly used in modern ways, in hues ranging from snow white to varying shades of creamy, muted tones. Symmetry in design is also on trend. Symmetry in kitchen design creates stability and balance. If not a mirror reflection, the space should, at least, possess components and pieces that counterbalance one another. Repetition of shapes is currently popular designs start with a shape which is repeated in various sizes, colours and textures. Finally, also featuring in the competition was traditional technology in non-traditional spaces, or rather appliances applied or installed in unique ways. One example was a kitchen that started out with the inflexible obstacles of plumbing, venting and openings which could not be moved. Fridge drawers were integrated into the sleek lines of the cabinetry and a steam oven was added where the sink plumbing existed.