The pendant lamps, aluminum stools and utilitarian white subway tiles with dark grout give a nod to industry.

I am crazy about these French-designed, 1930's aluminum stools. So much so that my dining room has the matching cafe chairs.

Factory lights and metal shop stools inject a modern, masculine sensibility into this classic kitchen.

Here is an example of a popular trend in kitchen design in which the island's cabinets color contrasts the perimeter cabinets. In this kitchen the island is painted a contrasting black, adding interest to the space.

Show your kitchen wares behind glass-front cabinets. Don't be afraid to display your mismatched dishes, it's the stuff in a kitchen that makes a kitchen. This is also a good example of a less modern approach to keeping your wall cabinets all on one wall. Mixing metal finishes on the hardware and lighting is a good tip to remember when trying to achieve a European eclectic look.

Again we see the combination of black and white, here warmed up with wood floors and trim.

A contrasting island finish complements an all-white kitchen with black pendant lighting.

This kitchen is stunning for a host of reasons, not the least of which is its perfectly balanced use of dark colors in an otherwise white room. Spreading around those dark colors makes this island appear to be larger and, at the same time, expands the whole room. An island such as this is going to have activity going on all around it. The lighting needs to do its job while not creating a barrier. If you're lighting an area that people will stand around, the pendants should be high enough so that people can see each other, but no so high that those same people are blinded by light bulb glare.

There is also a stool version, which adds its own element of industrial chic to a kitchen island. Tip: Counter stools that can be tucked under your kitchen island or breakfast bar save floor space and visual space. The lines are so clean on this island that it lets us really admire the gorgeous counter top and pendants. Seats with high backs would not have allowed for this here.

Try a vintage-modern mix. Some of the elements that give this room this style are cabinets reminiscent of bulter's pantry cabinetry, classic modern stools, subway tile, wood trim around windows and the light fixtures.

Here's another kitchen with industrial-style pendants over the island. But look at the sconces above the window in the background. With their swing-arm industrial styling, these sconces are a great alternative to track or recessed lighting.

This home's existing window and door casing was such a showstopper that we couldn't help but have it milled to match in the kitchen. Occasionally in older homes you'll see the casing in the kitchen and bathrooms painted white, and this often solves many dilemmas when picking finishes, but in this home it just wasn't an option. There are so many windows in the kitchen and no wall cabinets on the window wall that the wood casing is almost a surrogate for wood cabinets. Again, the casing ties back to the flooring, completing the circle.

In the kitchen, many homeowners wonder if all the cabinets and trim should be the same color. The answer is no, especially if you want to accentuate a certain feature. In this photo, dark stained trim allows these terrific windows to pop. White trim would have only forced them into the background.

In this photo gorgeous white marble sits atop the kitchen countertops. 2. What is your attitude? Are you the type of person that needs a product to look exactly as it did the day you purchased it? Patterson describes two different mentalities: the European attitude and the American attitude. “When you enter into a European building, you can walk on the stone floors that are centuries old. Here in America, everything is roped off. I think that Europeans live more casually and enjoy the patina created from use and aging, where as some Americans want everything a bit more pristine.” Neither is right or wrong, it’s just a matter of asking yourself what your mindset is.

10. The Tolix Stool: This cafe stool dates back to France in the 1930s. Its enduring style has never been more popular. See more French cafe seating in action

A contrasting island will always make a statement. A traditional kitchen with white cabinets suddenly becomes edgy and high-style with a black-based island. Black paint will mask scuffs in areas where feet come into contact with the wall — a great solution for areas with counter or bar stools!

Tile steps into center stage in this timeless kitchen designed by Rebekah Zaveloff. Here even the hood for the range is covered in subway tiles. The dark gray grout is in keeping with the room's many dark-hued accents.

The black pendants and wall sconces in this kitchen provide contrast to the white cabinets, countertops and tile. The pendants define the floating island, while the sconces define the windows and sink area. Both types of lighting highlight the dark grout on the walls and the black on the island.

Vintage Key elements: The light fixtures have a Parisian flea market look, and French café stools lend industrial style. Subway tile with gray grout is another vintage classic that blends the vent hood into the wall. Traditional hardware and wood trim finish off the look.

contrasting island

black island with white cabinetry

Great island

Love

original wood windows and white kitchen

White cabs Marble counters

cabinet color

Drawers in island

island design

Love the detail for a smaller kitchen!

Mix of white and dark

light fixtures

white subway tile and grey grout for kitchen

like the glass cabinets and darker floor and hardware.

white perimeter cabinets and white countertop make the dark wood in the island really pop, making the island more of a statement.

Pendant Lighting

subway tile, black accents, milk glass fixtures,

Kitchen

love kitchen cabinets

Black island

contrasting color and island wood

BnW kitchen

paint the cabinets white and have black island

Paper in cabinet

Island

rustic kicthen

I like the two tone and brackets

Love only one wall of uppers

island seating

Kitche

everything

island design - drawers on side

glass cabinets

Island cabinet colour contrasts kitchen cabinets

best subway til: 3x6 1/16th grout in charcol

Kitchen wall

2 slim drawyers

stools

bar stools

white subway tiles

the lighting above the island. you can't see the bulbs

love the hood covered in subway tiles- interesting idea and neat look. very commercial looking in a nice way

tiles & colouring

Basksplash

color of cabinets

light counter dark cabinets

white countertops everywhere...even on dark island good article about marble

Color combo

Glass cupboard doors

All of it

Two colors cabinets

placement of stove and kitchen sink next to each other

QQ58

Texture

Color

Dark trim

covered hood

Doseret

Sink, dark island with white cabinets, canister lights, dark drawer pulls

Stools

island set up

backsplash tile and grout

Subway tile, black and white, wallpaper in glass front cabinets

This would be a nice compromise for us - modern with the black and white sleek lines and yet still vintage

I just like it

Kinda but too busy

Windows

subway tile, carrerra, black and white contrast

Kitchen

Tiles for hood, wall, backsplash

Tile lighting

pendants

white with dark handles

farm sink, island, bar stools, pendant fixtures, china cabinet

Bancs Lavabo

sink, tile, countertop, lighting

contrasting island, pantry cabinet at corner

very Biltmore

Kitchen island

sconces and sink

lighting

Like the look, forget tile more color

Color

Island with stools under

island

best design for island

this goes too far

island

sink

kitchen

kitchen

Will staining window trim making the kitchen warmer if we use the wall cabinet concept?

The contrast grout in the tiles

Hardware

The tiled hood is a great idea. Love the lighting and the stools, super cool look?

Pulls-dark on cabinets and nickel on island

like thick white marble island

Oversll

Cabinets and marble counertops

Counter top carrara honed

the perfect kitchen

sides of center island

the island

Lights above windows

Hardware dark in white

cabinets

long drawers on right

Анна

Lights

ilot noir

kitchen lighting

white tile with grey grout

lights above windows

Subway tile vent hood!

Dark light contrast

island pendants

Black & white

Need corner on island

Hood

Subway Tile to Ceiling.

Art deco

check all photos of kitchen-stained windows with lots of white

Subway tiles

dark grout sub tile w dark hardware white cabinets

Pendants

Ok Amanda...too much tile....

skinny kitchen drawers

Love!

flat island

Trend: Oversized islands

Black handles and black island

kitc island

wood windows

lighting

lighting in kitchen

Suffield

subway to ceiling

clean looking island

island

pulls

tiled hood fan

the colos combination

.

.

love the tile on the wall and the contrast of dark and light

Lighting

Nice kitchen

black and white contrast

rustic bar stools

Lights

drawers on side of island. one height. love the the cabinets with wallpaper behind glass doors

island/granite

love this kitchen

I love everything about this kitchen. This is my dream kitchen

Lighting

White cabinets. Black island

Tiles

big island

Carrera counters

Colors

Love the sink

like contrasts, white macaubus would work

Like the gray grout lines

island

style

Kitchen white/black/wood window

Black penants pull black island while wood windows tie wood floor

Tile EVERYWHERE is interesting

kitchen

Subway tile with dark grout, all the way up and across

lights with white tile

Black/white kitchen

Black & white

Industrial touches

brown window trim & lights

Kitchen

Sink and tile

Contrasting island cabinet color