EVERY speck shows on black.....sorry I cannot run the links to the recent discussions on this!!

Nancy

I have dark red which probably reacts similar to black. On the most used cabs I do get some smudges around the knobs, quick damp wipe takes care of them. In the past I have had light stained, med stained and white cabs and I don't see much difference in maintenance.

Last kitchen had white perimeter, and very dark stained island and pantry cabinets. the dark cabinets were the worst for me to keep clean. Every fingerprint showed and cleaning them wasn't as easy as just wiping them down.

Painted black cabinets might be easier to wipe down. I'm not sure if there would be streaking (like I hear about with black granite).

and yes, of course there was the dust issue.

If you're into rustic things, the black that's a flat black with edges sanded for a rough use look seem to look cleaner longer. I think it's because a shiny finish shows everything. Which is why we never use shiny enamel on walls.

Hmmm, I know I need to hear all this but it's not sounding good.

We were looking at the IKEA Nexus Brown/Black cabinets to give us a contemporary/modern look. They aren't shiny but do have more of a satin finish.

I love the modern look but have thought too of having a beachy summer house kitchen look too but since we are going to eventually do a full kitchen in the lower level walkout, we figured we'd do that in light color cabinets since it's slightly darker down there.

I think dark lower cabinets would look nice, with little or no uppers...maybe just some shelves. Otherwise, I think it would look too heavy and a bit 'Darth Vader'. Kind of like those 80s black whirlpool tubs that still show up occasionally on remodeling shows.

We are a week or two from moving into our new house with very dark satin espresso finish maple cabinets. I cleaned them for the first time last week as the construction dust has come to a stop ( or really slowed down for now). They were super dusty but after a wipe with a wet rag and a wipe with a dry cloth they looked great! Even after a week there has not been any dust build up yet. I can live with a light wipe and dry once a week or two maintenance... At least I know they will be clean and less chance of having well hidden muck and germs on cabinets that don't "show" the mess as much. Out of sight out of mind.

I have a flat black milk paint on my island. Originally I painted it with the black milk paint, distressed it and then put an amber glaze on it to give it that 'old house' look. I make all my own food- mill my own grains- and have an old house = lots of dust! And, the drip marks..... I finally decided it just wasn't working for me.

So, this past week, I took all the hardware off and repainted to just the flat black. I really like it so much better. It doesn't show the drip marks as easily, and flour and dust just make it look 'aged'! I'm not sure if it's the shiny-ness of the previous paint that made it worse or not, but I'm much happier with it as a flat.

I painted our laundry room cabinets several years ago with a black satin paint. They don't show dust anymore than our stained golden oak cabinets. I do a lot of laundry.

We had beech cabinets in our last ktchen and pickled maple in the kitchen before that. And currently we have a (poorly) refaced kitchen. All of them show smudges, finger prints, drips, etc. I doubt Nexus BB would be any worse, or better for that matter.

FWIW I painted som old oak dining room chairs satin black and they dot show near as many finger prints as my refaced kitchen cabs. Perhaps because the grain texture shows through the paint?

I have been considering the same Nexus cabinets. The displays in my local store are gorgeous!

I love love love my black cabinets. I have them as on my full wall upper and lower with grey on the island. Yes problem is every little smudge shows which means constant maintenance. If you have kids I would avoid. vinegar and water i have found as the best option and a tooth brush to get dust out of the corners.

Terrible to keep clean and i have matte black