If you are not close to an IKEA store it may make sense to consider using another cabinet. Shipping their products is outrageously expensive.

I felt the colors varied slightly from door to door. My preference would be for them to be pretty consistently black with the wood grain showing but some doors in the display kitchen had a browner finish in areas (like they did 1 coat of paint but not 2).

I don't think it looked bad and the doors would still read as dark brown / black from far away but just something you'd notice close up.

I loved how they looked in the ChrisLovesJulia kitchen remodel but was disappointed at how thin / hollow the cabinet doors felt; I'm wondering if IKEA switched manufacturers, it's a wood door but definitely feels flimsier than the other solid wood doors.

(Your first two photos seem most accurate in depicting the LAXARBY in person, though the second one that is browner/showing wood grain is probably more true to life.)

Thanks everyone! I really want black, and not brown, so I might end up going with semi handmade or one of the other Ikea door manufacturers to be sure I'm not disappointed.

IKEA black brown varies in how brown it is, but to my eyes never actually looks black. Granted, depending on your situation the black brown could be a better 'black' than actual black, but if you want a true black then black-brown is not it.

(I could see it working in place of a true black in a older/farmhouse type concept, where a true crisp black might be too stark, for example. You'd need to pair it with other colors carefully, though, to tone down the brown tones.)

Thanks to everyone for your input. I ended up going with Laxarby and I would say that they're definitely closer to black than brown but as PirateFoxy stated, they're not a true, crisp black - maybe a soft black is the best way to describe them. When I hold something true black next to them (like my iPhone case or a remote), they're really close in color, although I suppose the cabinets are ever so slightly browner, but you really have to look for it. I have 4000k lights, so it's possible that that makes a difference. In any case, I love them and they've turned out to be exactly what I wanted. I'll try to post a picture if I can figure out how to do that.

I love the look of these cabinets. Considering them for my kitchen remodel. Your kitchen looks beautiful. Any feedback after a year using them? Do they show fingerprints easily?

Thank you.