My mother had black kitchen cabinets and they were a bitch to keep clean. They showed every handprint, stain, scratch. But they were very glossy. Perhaps a matte black could work better. Black seems so moody for a beach house, but could be cool to break with the typical open white and wood beach vibe.

Black shows everything. It never looks clean. It will suck all the light out of the room, unless you double your lighting plan, and always use artificial light. It can be elegant, cozy cozy, and intimate, but you will work hard for it to be that way, every day.

Black also seems like an odd choice to me for a beach house. Of course if you have a lot of natural light and that's what you really like, then no reason not to. But how about incorporating some white, or using navy instead of black?

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I have some black furniture and would shy away from black cabinets. The scratches aren't a big deal but every speck of dust shows.

I don't feel that dark sucks light although it can make things feel less well-lit. :)

If you clean a lot anyway, they may be a little more high maintenance than other colors. If you don't want to spend time cleaning them to remove fingerprints and such regularly, I would consider a more forgiving color.

You may want to see if you can get a black stain. It s a little softer visually than a black paint and scratches can be a little more easily touched up. We have a black and white kitchen on display and it does get a bit finger printed....

Make sure you have decent lighting

i would do black base cabs, but i think i would do a different upper cab. that's a lot 'dark'.... i would do stained wood cab for the uppers.

what r the rest of the details: floors, counter, paint color, rest of the main floor... etc????

My first thought was that it would feel like a cave, but I went looking and found some that feel much lighter.

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So obviously it depends on the total space and on other finishes.

No experience with dark painted cabinets, sorry.

A green that is almost black can look crisp. A black stain that shows the wood grain can be interesting. Depending on the door style, you might find black hides a lot of dirt and grease, and not in a good way. You'll only spot it at certain angles of light. I have strong blacks in my kitchen, and it takes a lot of white and rich dark wood tones to make it work. For a beach house (which beach?), I think I'd want an interesting stone or brick floor if I had black lower cabinets, and wood countertops, and something very different for the uppers , including a lot of glass, and yet a different light color for the walls.

Don't know how good the execution is going to be but it's a fair bet that some people walking into a black kitchen will wonder what you painted over that was so difficult you needed coats of black to get rid of it.

some black kitchens using Farrow & Ball -- honestly, it would just be too much work for me. Everything inside a kitchen that's visible is going to pop with black everywhere, and while I don't leave a mess around all the time, I don't want to be keeping everything out of sight all the time so it doesn't look a mess.

My cabnetry in both of my bathrooms is painted an almost black. I love the look and don't regret doing it, but the dark color does show dust as others have commented.

I have very dark green lowers and I would only recommend something this dark IF your light comes from north! No direct sun on the cabinets. For a moment I get morning sun through some east facing windows a room away...yes, very glad that isn't the situation beyond a moment ;) I did flat panel drawers for easy wiping, but honestly I don't wipe them more than I did my previous light gray/white combo. I LOVE having dark cabinets, they ground a large open space...and not everyone's kitchen has them. 4 kids, a heavily used kitchen...more of a matte finish.

Pink bathrooms like black kitchens are a fad that will start to look dated in 5 years. Even black windows will date the house before too long. My friend did black windows and all I can see is the white dust settling on the metal. You need to pay for dedicated detailing if you are doing black anything.

I spent most of my childhood in a house with black windows...not a new thing. It says home to me...and my new black windows are not any dustier than the previous white ones were.

I spent my childhood in a house with black windows too. They were single pane black painted metal, opening outwards. My friends windows are sliders, we live in los angeles with a lot of particulates in the air and they look terrible with all that dust after just 3 years.

I have 2 black oslands in my kitchen. i cant wait to get rid of it. it shows every scratch, dust particle amd paint chip. light and bright for the beach is great. off white cabinets with never go out of style. you can always accent a color on a kitchen island or in your decor. Good luck with whatever tou choose. Ultimately you are the one that has to be happy with it.

I think if you look at it, to some extent black just highlights cleaning that needs to be done anyway.

On the other hand, black finishes show fingerprints and burnishing around door hardware and such and that's not really dirt, that's wear. It happens to lighter finishes too but the burnishing is not as noticeable. Same with scratches because scratches tend to look lighter than the surrounding surface.

Black + beach just don't go together.

I think we need a ton more info as to why this choice at the beach. The style of your interior is a must to help us help you. I love black and white but not in a kitchen where fingerprints and mess are a daily occurence . Maybe the idea of stained wood might work but I need more info.

We had a black kitchen 5 years ago and it looked amazing. Ok, yes, it is a bit of a drag to keep it looking great (and clean), but it was worth it.

I second the poster who said black cabinets are an odd choice for a beach house kitchen. I would think lighter colors would be more appropriate.

"Black shows everything. It never looks clean." The same is true of white. If you love black get it. Love your beach house your way. But it sounds like the answer to your question is that black does show dust and scratches. If your priority is hiding dust and scratches, a slab mid-tone wood cabinet with some grain and a satin finish may be a better choice. If you are trying to repeat black elsewhere, try a black countertop, lighting fixtures, a black area rug in the kitchen. Good luck!

If

- you absolutely love black cabinets,

- have swooned over multiple houses with black cabinets IN PERSON,

- have loads of natural light pouring in to this kitchen,

- are obsessed with cleaning (or are okay with paying for at least once-a-week housekeeping),

- don't have children in the house who will knock and scratch your cabinets,

- and aren't concerned with resale, then GO FOR IT.

On the other hand, if -- like most of us -- the above doesn't describe your lifestyle, do something more conventional. A black island seems like a reasonable compromise, as it wouldn't suck out every drop of natural light and -- being a single item -- could be repainted more economically.

Yes, every room requires something black. Something grounding, but all the cabinets being black isn't going to work out well for most of us.

Will the house ever be rented out? Will cleaning be dependent on renters or a cleaning service? Renters are hard on everything, I wouldn’t want any higher maintenance finishes if it will be rented out.

I think the size of the kitchen and number of cabinets makes a big difference in the success of black.

Most importantly, what is the lighting in that space? The photos above all have professional lighting, and might have been manipulated beyond that. How much natural light will it get, and from which direction?

OP MIA???

Most black kitchen pictures on social media are overly processed to look "light". That is not how they look in person! Just like no one ever has the fresh carrots with green tops on the wooden cutting board next to the perfectly red Cast iron French pot of green beans steaming away. Social media can introduce you to lots of new ideas. Not all of them are real.

I’ve had black lowers (light uppers) for five years and other than showing dust, their maintenance regarding wear/scratches are no different. If concerned, think about doing a combo kitchen with less black , but still being a prominent feature.

Thanks for all the input and comments. We thought to do black and with wood uppers and trims and white tops. We have however decided to go with a dark grey instead of the black.

Too bad - a great black stained cabinet with light wood mix would have been beautiful!

Make sure to just do what you love! Can't wait to see pictures

Love the look, but I wouldn't do it in my own house because i'm not a clean freak. Maybe I would do it in a cozy dark on purpose room. Not my kitchen.

We had a Medallion Carriage Black Distressed island in my showroom for years. For some reason, the distressing minimized the appearance of other small scratches and dust. It was not high gloss, nor matte....somewhere in between. Had a matte black vanity in our showroom once...it showed a lot of dust!!!