Thoughts on choosing dark kitchen cabinets

 Questions  about the wisdom of  choosing dark  kitchen cabinets keep cropping up in my reading and client discussions. Of course there are no absolutes in decorating.  You can make anything work or look good if you have the skills, and using dark cabinets in any room  requires a deft hand.

If you want your dark cabinet choice to work and have the longest style staying power, consider the following:

Let the cabinets shine

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 When I work with clients who want everything that they consider trendy in one space, I always discuss the wisdom of this approach.   Something has to be the star in a space and you should decide in the beginning what the star will be.  When you choose dark cabinets they demand centre stage, and everything else should support them and make them look their best.  Using lots of white or very light colours with dark cabinets is the way to go to get that sophisticated, rich, classy look that many people are after when they choose dark cabinets.  

Use  in open area spaces

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Dark cabinets work well in large, open area spaces where the wall colours are lighter rather than darker. The dark cabinets help to balance and ground the space. .

Have breaks in the dark flow

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 Leaving lots of wall space free of cabinets and/or having glass with light interior cabinets can do a  lot to balance a darker cabinet colour.  Having contrast with the floor is a must to create a lively space.

Mix dark and light together

Braam's Custom Cabinets

 If you are afraid of too much dark but like the look why not do a mix of darks and lights together? 

Questions to consider: 

 Is there enough contrast with the floor? 

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When you choose dark cabinets your floors need to contrast with the cabinets or you are going to have the "bear cave" look that happens when your floors blend in with your cabinets. This is not an attractive look for  smaller spaces.    Even thought the floor above does have some contrast with the cabinets, I would have chosen something a tad lighter to open up the space.  Again, no absolutes, only considerations and photos often lie.  This is a lovely space.

 Is there enough contrast between elements?

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This space is unusually dark.  It is the perfect kitchen for someone, but I would venture to say that it would not be a selling point for many buyers.

Can you have too much  pattern?

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  When you have darker, busy countertops  and then have patterned backsplash you are setting up pattern competition, and it can look very busy in a small space. My rule of thumb is patterned counter, plain backsplash.

Do you have enough lighting?

 LDa Architecture & Interiors

Sometimes it is difficult to tell from a photo exactly how much light is in a space.  This space is reading dark even with the obviously adequate lighting from three (probably four with under counter) light sources and light reflection from the white counter and backsplash.

Who knew there was so much to consider when you decide to go for dark!  Again, there are no absolutes only considerations and balances.   Happy decision making.

Kitchen cabinet colour trends

My choice for kitchen cabinets has always been white because I just don't like living with dark colours or too much wood grain. I liked white before it became popular; I fought the natural oak trend when we built our home in the mid 80's and now that  dark stained cabinets seem to be the going trend where I live, I continue to love white.

Just how popular are white cabinets?

  I decided to conduct a very unscientific poll using the kitchen section of Houzz.   I looked at the first 50 pictures of long views of kitchens  sorted by most popular today and here is what I found out:  Of the 50.....

8% were  natural wood or stained wood

 There was a mix of  stains...

 Laurysen Kitchens Ltd.

....from this very dark espresso like colour ...

Paragon Kitchen & Bath Studio

.... to a mid value cherry....

Christian Gladu Design

.....to natural wood .

 14% were painted colours other than white/cream  

 Photographer Maxine Schnitzer Photography

Most of the cabinet  were lighter colours so this black  kitchen stood out. I think it works in dark because it is open to a much larger space and there is a liberal use of light creams and white. Working with dark cabinets has to be a balancing act or you end up with a cave.
  

T Architect Kemper Associates Architects, LLC

Yellow was perhaps the most  unusual colour choice   of the fifty surveyed kitchens and you would really have to love yellow to live in this kitchen. 

 Natalie DiSalvo

 You can never go wrong with a soft colour for kitchen cabinets.  This creamy green is light enough to open up the space, but you can still define it as a colour.  I think it was a good solution in this Craftsman style house where the traditional finish would have been stained wood.

JLF & Associates, Inc.

Who would ever think of a grayed lavender as a cabinet colour, but it really works in this atrium kitchen. The wood tone in the medium stained island  is repeated in several places throughout the space to create visual harmony. Grays with purple undertones actually work really well with mid toned woods, but it not a colour everyone likes. 

22% were white/cream with dark islands
 

Kitchen And Bath Venegas and Company

I think the darker island concept with white kitchens works really well  to add drama to a space. This  dark colour also grounds the room and integrates well with a darker hardwood floor.    Oh, to have all those drawers!

 Great Spaces!

Of the darker islands, the most prevalent colour was a deep stained brown.

 
2 % were white with a lighter coloured island 

 Birmingham General Contractor Structures, Inc.

Barnes Vanze Architects, Inc

 I think the soft blue/green works great with the wood tones in this very Mediterranean  styled kitchen.

54 % were white or off white
  

 Shuffle Interiors

 Of the kitchens I showed did you notice what the most popular floor treatment was?

And there you have it.  What's your favourite cabinet finish?

What's your kitchen style?

I like my kitchens clean lined, and light  with lots of storage.  Medium to dark wood tones  make me fell heavy and closed in.  It's a personal preference and that usually  gets left behind when you are designing for a client.   In my locale there is a strong trend toward darker kitchens with the richness of wood showing through.

Photography: Brian Ricks

 

  Sometimes there are factors that negate the cave feeling I often get from dark wood cabinets. In a recent job this sleek modern kitchen design won me over.The client had very definite ideas about the overall look of everything so my job was to tweak the colours and problem solve space and placement. The cabinets couldn't extend all the way across because the depth beside the window was only about 10 inches.  Open shelving for glasses was the solution. 

 

Photography Brian Ricks

 

The second problem was storage because there weren't many upper cabinets. This  was solved by making the peninsula wider to include lower cabinets  facing the bar stools and drawers on the opposite side. The openness of the space around the peninsula makes a great gathering space when there's company.

 

 

 Photography: Margaret Ryall

 

I love this back splash tile. It is difficult to see but it is three dimensional with an alternating wave pattern between the squares. The tile and exhaust fan run to the ceiling for a seamless look. The tile also extends across the top of the cabinets to finish the look.  

 

Breaking the line of deep upper cabinets with 12 in ones by the exhaust fan added variety to the space.   The pulls varied in length with  depending on door size.  The 12 in. upper cabinets needed knobs because long bars bumped when the doors opened. So many things to think about!

 Photography : Margaret Ryall

 

A highlight of the kitchen detailing is the stainless steel counter beside the cooktop. The colours in the backsplash tile are a blend of the tones in the granite on the peninsula which serves to connect the two spaces.