Black kitchen cabinets alternative

8 years ago

I'm a new interior designer. I've redisigned 6 kitchens including redoing the kitchen cabinets in all of them. I have a client that has seen my work and loves it which is why he sought me out. Problem is, he hates white/light kitchen cabinets and that's pretty much all I've done in the past (Distressed antique white, white, light grey and brown). His favorite colors are Black, dark blues, reds and burnt orange and wants to incorporate them into his kitchen. Normally I would say let's stain the cabinets black, but #1 his kitchen isn't huge nor well lit and am concerned it would make it feel like a cave and #2 black tends to show dirt so bad and he has young kids and is a single father. Any ideas?

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PRO

Patricia Colwell Consulting

8 years ago

Navy would be a nice alternative and no the client is not always right sometimes they need to be guided to good conclusion.I think we all needed some help when we first started out and I personally would have loved the Pro forum on here.

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Comments (11)

armchairshopper
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Rule #1: The customer is always right.

I looked at your idea books, and one is labeled Mark’s kitchen. The black cabinets look nice. It sounds like you might be reusing existing cabinets on the job. Here’s what I would like, if I had a black kitchen: Black cabinets, stainless steel appliances, wood-look tile floors, stainless steel countertops (some large HVAC contractors with sheet metal shops with a heavy metal brake can fabricate them reasonably), a light colored backsplash to reflect light, under cabinet lighting, and an LED track light to distribute light along the length of the kitchen, and shiny matching cabinet hardware. Getting the dark blues, reds and burnt orange into the kitchen would require some lovely washable rug runners.
sheloveslayouts
8 years ago
What about dark navy base cabs and white uppers?
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DrB477
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Black horizontal surfaces (floors, counters) really show dirt. Not so much vertical surfaces.

Dark bottoms, light uppers or some other way to mix the two so it's not ALL black could work well. You can also improve the lighting as part of the remodel...
armchairshopper
8 years ago

Frank Lloyd Wright Inspired · More Info
It took a while to find a black kitchen with SS countertops.
pink_peony
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
If he likes orange and wants to use it in his home and kitchen I wouldnt do black cabinets id do a deep charcoal or a deep navy. I would keep the flooring and counter tops light. White quartz for counters and light wood floors in the blonde range.
armchairshopper
8 years ago
One of the architects I worked with used to say “Everyone thinks they are an architect”. The corollary applies to other professions as well.
palimpsest
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
When it comes to interior design I don't think the customer is always right. If they were always right, they could just do it themselves and they would not need me. An interior designer is supposed to give the client better than they could do themselves. I talk people out of things regularly. That said, I think there are right ways to do a dark or black kitchen.
PRO
Mint Design and Development LLC
8 years ago
Cabinets done in a high gloss black oil paint would be lovely and easy to keep clean. Lots of warm LED task lighting will help give light as well as a mirror tile backsplash. Will the appliances be integrated?
User
8 years ago
Shouldn’t you know all of this if you are getting paid to know this?
Tmck320
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you all for your feed back! Like I said, I'm newer to the industry and all of your comments are extremely helpful and pertain not only to this design, but future ones as well I'm sure.
I got some replicas of his cabinet fronts off craigslist and am staining one black, paininting one a dark navy, one a light grey and one a charcoal grey so that he can make an educated decision. To brighten the space up I'm keeping the countertops and backsplash light and got samples in quartz, marble and a few with some warmer tones as well as some pulls so that I can pair it all together for him. Thanks again everybody!