I've seen dark cabinets in tiny condo kitchens that looked great - but the kitchens were open to the living rooms, either completely open or via a pass-through. The living rooms were also dark, and stylistically it created one gorgeous space. I'm in an apartment with a galley kitchen that has a doorway at one end and a window at the other - it's not a particularly dark room, but it's closed in enough that I decided to go with fairly light cabinetry (with dark countertops and floor for contrast). But my living room will have all mid-tone colors, so I think it'll go.

Any chance you could post a floor plan of your apartment?

Here is a small condo kitchen in the Finished Kitchen Blog with dark traditional cabinets that people here refer to as a nice example of a small kitchen with dark cabinets :)

Here is a link that might be useful: luceestar's kitchen in FKB

Oh yes do gorgeous dark cabinets! Then make them sing with a pretty marble or granite (a vanilla marble with chocolate cabinets...yum yum...ummm and what i'm doing in my master bath). Finish the walls with a venetian plaster for some sheen...again in a light tone.

I believe that you can either try like an idiot to make a small room look large (it never works) or embrace the dark side, and make it rich, elegant and cozy by using high quality materials which are all rich in tone and texture.

I think it can work! I LOVE dark cabinets, and I don't think the size of the kitchen matters. Especially, if you choose a paint color that pops. I received some excellent advice on installing dark cabinets from this forum: Go with what you really like and want, and everyday when you see it, you will smile! As a matter of fact, I am using daki's kitchen as the inspiration for my dark cabinets!

We have a small kitchen with only one window and picked Kraftmaid Cherry with Ginger Glaze and a year later love it - we went with a lighter granite and floor to balance it out. I'd do it again given the choice.

One of my favorite kitchens on the kitchen blog, is luceestar's. It is sooo tiny, but she nailed it! Dark cabinets, dark counter top.

alku05 - what floors do you have? And you used white appliances! Aaahhh! I'm installing brazilian cherry laminate floors with existing fawn (medium)oak cabinets. I have a white dw and just ordered a stainless fridge and stove after switching to that color from white. I want to lighten the cabinets or paint them but dh says no. We'll see when the floor goes in what it looks like. But your kitchen looks great w/ the white appliances! Now I'm worried that stainless is too trendy. I'm so confused & $300 poorer because stainless costs more! lol!

I'd love to see more photos if you have them. Thanks!

You all are great! Thanks for the inspirational comments and photos. As for charlikin's suggestion to post a floor plan, I only wish I had one available. However, I think I'll create one in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Part of my problem coming around to this idea of dark wood/TINY space is the current state of my early 1980s cheap-o developer kitchen, which is a hideous yellowing ivory laminate w/oak trim. I'm so used to seeing this "lite" version of the space, coupled with the fact that I've found myself smitten with all the lovely white and off-white kitchens on this forum, well, my mind got stuck.

So I was all set to go this route until my KD urged to consider the alternative. I am thinking she may be right: given the rest of my decor, a pure white would be too stark, and the off-whites scare me because I'm not sure I could get them *just* right. And I'm pretty OC about color and blending surroundings together.

Plus I'm of the group that finds glazed whites look dirty where the glaze gathers (I hope this doesn't offend anyone who is happy with their glazed white cabs....in my case, it's really all about where the kitchen falls in my floorplan, which is unique to say the least!)

So again, many thanks! As I get deeper into the planning, you can be sure that I will be counting on your feedback.

I like dark cabinets. (sometimes, I like the white or antique white cabinets too, but mostly I like dark)
While it may in fact call attention to the smallness of your space, it won't be any surprise. You know it's small. The next buyer will know it's small. At least, make it small yet beautiful........to you.

Red

echoing what igloochic had to say... I have always ascribed the the principle of making a dark room darker... don't fight it, just embrace that as your concept.

A friend who bought condos in Boston to renovate and flip would use this concept. The kitchens were often times in the center of the floor so no windows... she would use VERY dark cabinets and lots of rich colors. I remember one condo kitchen had a mirror for a backsplash... it might sound cheesey but it really worked. It was such a glamorous space.

I hope it works out for you! I would really consider going dark... the white/off white look might appear dingy.

Mdmomof7, my appliances are stainless...we have two large windows and I think you're seeing the sun glinting off of them. Our floors are brazilian cherry-look laminates, and we're quite happy with them. If you like, you can email me through the MyPage link, and I'll share more pictures.

Angelina_101, definitely post a layout when you can. The people on this board are amazing and will help you arrange things so your kitchen will be perfect for you.

answering the original two questions, yes, and yes.
i think it could be very nice, and people entering would get the feel of a paneled foyer or library, rather than a white kitchen. white kitchen feels nice coming from the yard or the garage, IMO. kren

I totally agree that using the wood tones to link different parts of the visual space is a good idea...it will make the place feel more cohesive and therefore "feel" larger. I did that with cherry in the last kitchen.

Next kitchen will have cherry with a tobacco stain, pale counters and splash. When I saw your photo a few weeks ago Alku, I was so excited to see the picture from my mind's eye in your house! You made it work! Bee-you-ti-ful!

I have to ask you, do people actually still say to you that the scheme doesn't work? Or was it just before the installation? (I heard a lot of nay-saying with my last kitchen design, too...but only until it was in.)