Black Kitchen Cabinets - Making Black Cabinets Work In Your Kitchen

Black is a color that can work well when done right, but it has to be used with care in your kitchen. Here are a few ideas on how to make black kitchen cabinets work for you. Since cabinets can take up 3/4 of the visible kitchen surfaces, you want to take care in what you mix with those cabinets to avoid having the black dominate the entire setting. At times you may decide to simply use the it as a contrasting element, and not the primary color used in the room.

There are a variety of styles that black cabinets can work in. Of course, it can be part of a very contemporary high tech look. In a setting like that black provides a great contrast to steel appliances or oven tops. As another alternative you can have it combined with gray countertops or walls that gives a wonderful subdued setting. With careful choice of lighting and the placement of the lights, especially in a kitchen that has a lot of window area for light, this can be a great design. Used with white for the ceilings and the walls, this works for many homes.

If you are interested in something lighter and more open looking, the use of white and black together is often found in homes. The approach in this case is to have just the two colors balance one another, and can create the focal points that you want to feature. Black for the cabinets combined with white wall and countertops is a good balance, and you can continue that balance by the use of both black and white appliances, or the occasional use of white cabinets in select spots. One approach to this is to use a large checkerboard pattern in the kitchen flooring, or similarly to do the same with the wall tile or backsplash.

If you want to use black cabinets, it's not necessary that you use black exclusively for the cabinets. A great idea is to use the black to create a focal point, say for an island in the kitchen, and then to use a more traditional hardwood cabinet for the remaining storage in the kitchen. This takes a somewhat more traditional kitchen setting, but adds a slight contemporary touch to the decor.

Black kitchen cabinets can make a real impression. One other advantage is that they are often not as expensive as other hardwood cabinets, since the quality of the wood grain is not as critical since they are either painted or laminated. Almost all the major cabinet manufacturers carry some black cabinets, and you can find them at the major home improvement stores as well.