It can look very dramatic and lovely, but I think it's all about the light. Do you have a big window and good lighting for the night?
Also, how much of it will there be? If there's not a lot of counter space or backsplash area, it's a great accent. If it's all over it could be too dark.

I think it would be helpful to see your kitchen.

It could be very dramatic. That much depth of color and shininess will be relatively high maintenance to keep it looking good, but that's up to you really.

I would have love to have done that with my blue pearl countertops. However, it is also DH's home and he was not a fan of dark tile.

Here is a before photo of the kitchen, please excuse the mess as we just moved in this week.

DH has started removing the tile back splash which is the strange and ugly imho, with copper and cream plug covers and seams that don't line up.

Are there black plug covers? If so where could I obtain them.

Light fixture was changed today but not shown in this photo. I could also add a halogen track light which I had in a previous kitchen which provided a lot of light over the island or an led directional light above the island to add more light ? I am not a fan of pendants and I think since the island and kitchen proximity are so close the pendants would distract and clutter the area, what do you think?

dining and living room can be seen from kitchen and visa versa, open/great plan

fire place in living is dark gray random slate almost two story, hence our choice of a darker color counter and back splash color in kitchen

helou, I will take photos and post, I have a three foot window over the sink and not a lot of counter space; during the day there is plenty of light but at night not much; I am thinking to get under cabinet lights installed as I think we would like the dramatic look, thanks

ineffablespace, there isn't much counter space; I will take photos and post, thanks

annalynn123, DH loves the dark and dramatic look so I am lucky in that respect, actually he picked out the back splash tile lol, thanks

Thanks so much for your input.

It isn't enough to add undercabinet lights. You should consider adding some bright (but dimmable) recessesed floods. I just got some wonderful LED recessed flood fixtures for our family room at Costco (they were about $25 each) and they're great. I'm considering switching my 4 year old kitchen fixtures as well.

You'll probably be fine during the day (I'm assuming from your post that you get direct sunlight through the window), but at night dark areas make the room feel darker; you need to compensate with lighting so you enjoy the dark counters instead of feeling that you're simply in a dark room..

Hi Helou, I'll contact an electrician to see how much installation will cost as we have a limited budget. Also we have an upper story so any wiring must be fished through the walls and ceiling but perhaps the electrician will not think that is a big problem, we shall see. We have a ceiling texture which looks like a slightly raised small sunburst which is common here in north Georgia and would be nearly impossible to match or repair.

the kitchen window faces north but the dining room adjacent has a bay window and another window and there is an exterior door with a window and the living room has a window facing west and a french door facing south which adds to all the light in the kitchen during the day, pluse the upper story beside the fireplace has an upper window facing south which sends reflected light into the dining and kitchen

Good point about the lighting for the night time use; I do want to see and enjoy that drama at night, thanks so much.

If you have a more extensive kitchen redo in the future, you really shouldn't put any money into doing granite and a pretty backsplash for the current kitchen. Do something temporary if you have to like the faux tin panels for the backsplash, but wait until you have the bigger reno figured out first before making any major expenditures. If you put in granite now, you really won't ever be able to change those cabinets or the layout..

Hi live wire oak, we are rethinking the counters and perhaps going to put in laminate with the look of granite, had an estimate of 3200 for granite and it seemed a lot for such a small space. I would love to have full height cabinets but I don't ever see us having enough money to majorly redo kitchen as we are retired on a fixed income. I am used to a much bigger kitchen and do a lot of cooking. Whoa is me, ha.

Our home is in a mountain area with mostly cabin sized and style homes, trying to maximize all the space and storage in this home is challenging. We shall see.

Thanks so much

Stay true to the style, date, and value of the cabinets. Mosaic, skinny rectangular tiles, and glass tiles are really designed to go into a contemporary kitchen. I'd use ceramic tiles.

I'd also remove the valance over the window. That will take a few years off the cabinets. I'd add wainscot paneling to the back and sides of the peninsula to eliminate the plain, boxy look. Do you use the overhang for seating? If not, you could add 12" cabinets to the back and increase your storage. That's what we did after we took down our pony wall.

It's a cute kitchen. I like may_flowers' suggestions.

My kitchen has a similar size and layout as yours. Same vintage, oak cabs. The window is east-facing and on the other side of the peninsula is my dining room with a slider. During the day I get plenty of natural light, direct and reflected later in the day.

My cabinets are painted white and I have dark gray counters, creamy white backsplash. My counters are plenty of dark for my kitchen.

With a kitchen your size, with black appliances, if you add black counters and black backsplash, that's going to be a lot of black in a small kitchen and it will suck up a whole lotta light, a big price to pay for drama.

I agree with may_flowers suggestions, and also would suggest an additional change (while we're at it :)
That is to add some crown molding to your cabinets. Instructions below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Updating cabinets with crown molding

I agree with mayflowers about removing the valance: it gives a country vibe and your choices seem to be trending more contemporary. I'd also replace the pulls and handles with something sleeker if you're looking for a more contemporary look. Can you post a picture of the new light fixture and maybe the adjoining rooms so we can see what style you're going for? I like the black/black but it seems contemporary to me and not sure if that's what you're going for.

nosoccermom has a great suggestion about seeing how the all black bs and counters would look. I like her pictures of alternates with lighter backsplashes; the first one especially looks like it would fit into a mountain setting (although I'd change the white outlet covers to faux stone or something that doesn't stand out so much.)

We stayed in a condo that had black counters, black splash and black appliances. I wanted to run out of there screaming. It was just too dark and too much sameness and drama for ME. But everyone is different. I was glad that I had that hands on experience because I knew I wouldn't do well with too much black in the kitchen. I still think black countertops are beautiful and I would definitely consider it on an island or used with another primary granite as an accent. Light and airy seems to work best for me. In some of the photos above I like the ones that have the contrast of a lighter backsplash. Nice photos!

Hi may flower, DH and I both like the contemporary look but can't afford to redo the whole kitchen unfortunately. Also the area we live in most homes have the mountain look and not ultra contemporary so in case we ever sell our home we probably shouldn't be so contemporary.

I was just looking at that valance today and it does block a lot of light from coming in. there is a above the sink fixture hidden in there but I could add something different.

thanks so much

Hi nosoccermom, what a good idea about the black garbage bags and we have some. Ha I'll try that.

thanks so much for all the photos, you have given me some ideas and I'll let DH look at all of those. we had tumbled marble in our last home with a laminate counter top and it really looked nice, I like the no grout look and the staggered subways so may bring home a few more samples to look at; thanks again

Hi linelle, you may be right about all that black, if I painted the cabinets white it might be better but not a fan of white cabinets and not for this house, will look at some more samples before decide. thanks so much.

Hi nosoccermom, I will check out the crown molding idea, I just happened to find a finish carpenter in this area and that would be right up his alley. I wish I had cabinets all the way to the ceiling. Oh well. thanks for the tip.

Hi chicagoans, oh I didn't even think about the cabinet pulls must look into that and never heard of faux stone plug covers I must do more research. For the fixture we took down the old fan and put up a new one because the old fan had drooping blades and so we thought the kitchen must get hot but maybe the air wasn't on or something, not sure. For now we'll keep that but perhaps you can give us some other suggestions for a light fixture that would bring more light into the kitchen without disturbing the texture on the ceiling.

Not sure how to add more than one photo so here is a photo of the dining area, will post more photos after someone else makes a comment seems like I can't make multiple comments in a row either. We are looking at wood dining tables I can post a photo of several choices we are looking at. thanks so much for your ideas.

Hi gr8day, I am slowly being convinced that all that black may be too much, but I am not a fan of contrasting a too light backsplash with a dark counter top. I think I prefer similar tones to make the kitchen have a more seamless look if you know what I mean. I think I better have DH look at the photos above and we should do some more thinking before we decide what we'll do.

oh mayflowers forgot to say that I like the idea of adding cabinets to back of peninsula area but was also thinking of having two backless bar stools with black leather seats there as well. Will have to think about the wainscoating and now that I look closely the area could use an update and it is scuffed up. the more we look the more we see that needs help with this house Ugh thanks so much

Here is the living room, my carpenter is fashioning a pine wood free floating mantle as we speak, it will have oil on it and natural tones. We have sofa facing the fireplace that's a thin cordoroy material in a light blue/green and plan to have an accent chair against the other wall (the staircase wall) with perhaps some type of server or china cabinet over there, dining area is too small for china cabinet but might be able to have a behind the sofa credenza (for more storage)

we also plan to have an area rug in front of the sofa. I am looking for a gray one with texture if I can find one.

what do you think of those ideas?

Right now the dining area has a work table we're using till we find what we want lol

Here's a photo of the sofa we bought, although I don't like the throw pillows I have others and/or I can change the floral pattern side to something more geometric, I don't want the cottage look of those but more contemporary style. The sofa color is more blue/green than the blue that shows in this photo.

Here is one of the dining tables we are thinking about with a server behind the couch, we won't get the bench though, only four chairs, will post photo of server in next post.

not sure why these furniture photos are showing with a black background edged in white, will post a link instead. very strange looking that way

here's one of the server (behind the sofa placement) we are thinking about

Springville, yes, the cabinets are why I showed you the photo of my peninsula, not to suggest a new kitchen or changing the style. "Stay true to the style, date, and value of the cabinets." 12" deep oak cabinets for the back of the peninsula shouldn't be very expensive. I would weigh which I needed more, seating at the peninsula or more storage?

If you add wainscoting to the back, you can make that door disappear as one of the panels, and that will really dress up the peninsula.

Love the colors in the louvered doors of that server pic. Was thinking some of those colors in the backsplash tile would be really nice. Kind of a rustic-ey vibe rather than contemporary in there, it seems...

Someone posted on gardenweb a while ago about how they framed in the tops of their exiting wall cabinets, put on larger doors and crown molding, and were able to have the look (& storage!) of cabinets that go to their ceiling using thier existing cabinets. I thought it was a very clever solution, but can't find the post right now. Just wanted to point out that you might be able to find a way to get those cabinets to the ceiling without totally replacing your cabinets. Best of luck with your project!

Michelle

Hi may flowers, thanks, we are rethinking the use of the kitchen, the dining area is so close that we may not need the bar stools but we have a kitty door and three cats so not sure how to keep that and add the extra cabinets as the kitty door is directly to the left of the peninsula.'

Hi deedles, thanks, country rustic ish is actually the style of the home need to stick with that genre and theme I think.

Hi mpq2004, thanks I have never heard of that solution to bringing the cabinets all the way to the ceiling, I will research on this forum to try and find the post, what a good idea.

thanks so much for the additional tips, we are snow bound this week, but will be looking into solutions very soon.

ok now I am thinking about a lighter counter color and backsplash will post a photo as soon as I get the samples in another thread.

thanks so much.

All of your choices are beautiful. You are going to have a beautiful finished project, such good taste!