black kitchen cabinets

Don’t we all love white kitchen cabinets? I know I sure do, especially ones that are a little more modern. But what about black kitchen cabinets? Are they a trend or a new classic? 

In early 2019, when we set out to build another house, I ventured down this rabbit hole. To be honest, I was feeling a little bored with white kitchens. At the time, we were living in our modern build (you can see it here) with an all white kitchen. We loved it! The cabinets were modern with slab panels and minimalist tab pulls. The countertops were Arctic White quartz. Our large U-shaped island was a white washed wood. The kitchen design was very clean and beautiful.

Then, black kitchen cabinets caught my eye, arriving on my design radar. As I gathered inspiration on a mood board for our new build, I noticed the majority of my kitchens had black cabinets. Would I dare? Still neutral, yet bold, striking and dramatic. It would be a departure from what I’d done before, with having had mostly white kitchens. And no cliff hangers here, yes we did end up with black kitchen cabinets in our current house. 

Once I made the decision to make the black cabinet leap, there was a lot of vacillation on the countertop selection. Would I go even bolder with a black countertop or would I play it safer with something white? And by the way, there were of course so many other options, but knew for sure it would be either black or white for me. I also knew the walls would be white, creating balance for the black, but I just couldn’t decide on the countertops. I looked at quartz, marble, granite, etc. I actually spent hours, and made multiple visits I might add, perusing the isles at the stone yard. In true me fashion, I’m pretty sure I looked at every possible option. After all, these are not inexpensive, easy to alter decisions. 

The turning point in my decision making process came when I fell hard for a marble, Danby marble to be specific. Oh la la, with its over all organic feel, the subtle, neutral coloration and veining set against a white background just spoke to me. I wasn’t necessarily looking for a marble, although they were definitely on my list to explore. Marble can be tricky from a livability, maintenance and expense perspective. But when you’re looking at stone and the design possibilities are literally endless, discovering something new can be inspiring. And although slightly out of budget, finding that marble and envisioning it in a vertical application, helped me frame the direction I’d go with the countertops. 

The Danby marble slab ended up on or range wall. We added a black range hood, simple, reclaimed wood shelves and bare bulb sconces. For the countertops, I ended up going with Absolute Black honed granite. We absolutely love how the kitchen turned out! I will confess black cabinets are not as easy to keep clean as I initially thought they would be. For some reason, I thought the dark surface would hide everything. Sadly, that’s not the case. They do show spills, drips and fingerprints so theres that. Although, white kitchen cabinets weren’t easy to keep clean either. All in all, I’m glad I followed my design gut with the black kitchen cabinets.

Of course it would’ve been easier to just stick to a formula, doing what I already know and had done before. But really, that’s not creatively fun or rewarding, and it’s most definitely not how I roll! I wanted to try something completely different. I’m so glad I did. And, I guess what always helps me take a chance is never really seeing anything as permanent. I feel less bound by that constraint, and there’s a lot of freedom in that. I mean, who needs a forever home? We could move again in a couple of years!

So back to my original question – Are black kitchen cabinets a trend or a new classic? What do you think? Well, I must say I don’t really know or have an answer. Ultimately, I believe time will tell. Whether they are a trend or have some staying power, I’m going to love every minute with my black kitchen cabinets, at least while I’m living in this house! Here are some of my favorite black kitchen cabinet kitchens followed by several images of our kitchen.

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