Thanks for your comment! Its only a smaller 10x10 kitchen I believe - I'm trying my best to make everything look larger so if the lighter countertops help open a space up, may have to go that route. Any other tips on how to make a smaller kitchen like that look larger?

'the trouble' with black is that it shows dust and crumbs. we have it on our island which is fine, it is wiped down in its entirety after dinner. but for perimeters, do you want to be dusting behind your appliances on a daily basis? we have marble-look quartz on the perimeters.

Thats a good point. I had a black car once - ONCE. lol, same story. Could never keep it clean. But when it is clean, it looked so good.

Of course, anything to help! A few things may help, depending on your likes and dislikes. It looks like you plan on having solid cabinets, if you want the space to look a bit bigger, using glass ones can open up the space. Avoid large/thick furniture - choose slimming pieces. Lighting is great, especially natural light, keep your window treatments simple so you can bring in as much light as possible.

I chose 2 glass cabinets on either side of the widow that are lighted, I wanted to do more but wasn't brave enough. Don't really have that nice of stuff to "show off" everything in our cabinets. It would be a bunch of plastic kids cups and bowls right now in our stage of life which would kinda kill the classy farmhouse look going on. I appreciate your help!

sippy cups are a short span of years. how about reeded glass instead of clear? down the road you could change them to clear or seeded if you liked.

Keep everything light and bright and airy. It will make it seem bigger. That's what we did for our tiny kitchen.

I like white, but really it depends on the decor

The other issue with gloss black that most people aren't aware of is that your under cabinet lighting will reflect off of them. And depending on the type of lighting you can typically see the entire fixture reflected in the stone.

I think black looks better !

Black glass cabinets · More Info

Lajoie Kitchen Remodel · More Info

Here are some examples with a white/gray countertop and light backsplash.

Greater Seattle Area | The Bodrum Kitchen · More Info

Greater Seattle Area | The Monza Kitchen · More Info

Greater Seattle Area | Palermo B Kitchen · More Info

If your goal is to make the kitchen seem larger white/gray countertops would definitely be the way to go. This will make the space look and feel larger while allowing you to get creative with decor and accent colors.

Using white countertops on the projects below definitely gave the kitchen a larger feel. Good luck with your kitchen project!

The View · More Info

Original · More Info

Love the contrast of the black. But if opening the space is a concern, white is definitely worth considering.

I've got shiny black granite in a small kitchen. Came with the house. Because it has whitish swirls and specks in it the crumbs show less than on my previous light gray laminate counters. It looks "classier" than a white granite would, and I don't feel it darkens the room. On the other side, my kitchen has two big windows and ample lighting, which might make all the difference.