The peculiarity of a kitchen is that cabinets cover a major part of the room. Thus, you should be careful while selecting the material and color of the cabinets. While white cabinets create a spacious and airy feel to the room, maintaining the same can be difficult. On the other hand, colors like pink and blue create a bold style statement in the kitchen.
One color that is often neglected in home decor is black. The general notion is that black makes the room look small and cramped up. Because of this, the color is hardly used for decor. However, several pros and cons are associated with using the color black.
Do Black Kitchen Cabinets Show Dirt?
Unlike light shades like white and pastel colors, black kitchen cabinets do not show dirt. Black cabinets also get dirty, but they hide grime and dirt. Smudges of your sauce-covered fingers or fingerprints will not be visible in black cabinets. This makes it a great choice for kitchen cabinets with heavy use.
But if some white dust or powder falls on it, it will be clearly visible.
Are Black Kitchen Cabinets A Bad Idea?
Black kitchen cabinets are not very popular. But going for a black kitchen cabinet is not a bad idea. Black creates a feeling of luxury and provides a sophisticated look to your kitchen. It creates a sense of depth as it pulls your vision. Since black cabinets are not so common, going for one creates a unique look in your kitchen.
Besides, black never goes out of style. Even if there is a change in the cabinet style trends, you can still continue using a black cabinet.
But whether to acutally go for a black kitchen cabinet or not depends on the overall style and size of the kitchen. If you have a small kitchen, using black cabinets can make the room look small and cramped up. Thus, it is best to avoid black cabinets and use black as accent colors.
If you have a large kitchen and decide on a black kitchen cabinet, opting between gloss or matte finish is very important. A glossy black kitchen cabinet has a modern look. The gloss surface reflects light, thus making the kitchen appear spacious. A matte black cabinet is best for traditional kitchen as it creates a rustic vibe. You can pair it with wooden countertop and accessories for that natural and earthy look.
Are Dark Kitchen Cabinets Hard To Keep Clean?
Dark kitchen cabinets can hide grime and dirt. Thus, it looks neat and sophisticated from the outside. Whether it is hard to clean the cabinet typedepends on the surface finish type.
In the case of cabinets with a matte finish, the surface is not so smooth. Thus, you need to use a solution of warm water and detergent to clean the surface. On the other hand, polished surfaces are easy to clean. If you notice a spill of sauce or a fingerprint, you can simply wipe it down with a damp cloth. Thus, it is not the color but the surface finish that makes a cabinet hard or easy to clean.
Pros and Cons of Black Kitchen Cabinets
Pros Of Black Kitchen Cabinets
Add a Unique Touch
Black kitchen cabinets are not so common. Thus, it adds a unique touch to your kitchen. It provides depth and a sophisticated look that makes your kitchen stand out.
When paired with lighter shades like white or any pastel color, black strikes a contrast and the color pops out.
If you want to provide a modern and updated look to your kitchen, going for black kitchen cabinets is a great option.
Hides Dirt and Grime
If you work in a kitchen, you know how dirty it can get. The black cabinet helps hide the grime and dirt common in the kitchen.
This is particularly important in houses where cooking experiments take place a lot. Because of the clean look, your kitchen will look new for a long time.
You need not paint or revamp your kitchen at short intervals. Moreover, if you do not want to spend time cleaning the cabinet, black kitchen cabinets are a great option.
Easily Pair with Other Colors
The peculiarity of dark shade, especially black, is that you can easily pair it with other colors.
Whether bold colors like red or yellow or pastel shades like pink or lavender, it would look good when paired with black.
Black cabinets also blend in well with all appliances in your kitchen.
Highlighting Color
Black makes a great highlighting color in the kitchen.
If you have a kitchen with a monochromatic color scheme, adding black cabinets is a great way to highlight the kitchen and the cabinet.
This makes the cabinet pop out.
Strong Background for Metallic Shade
Metallic shades like silver, gold and brass are increasingly used in home decor nowadays.
If you want to incorporate these shades in the kitchen, using black cabinets help highlight the same.
For eg; if you are going for brass hardware for the kitchen, using black as a background helps highlight the metallic shade of brass. This makes it look shiny.
Cons Of Black Kitchen Cabinets
Require More Cleaning
Black can hide dirt and grime. But you will notice that dust and powder can affect the look of the black cabinet.
Thus, you need to clean the cabinet quite often. If the cabinet surface is polished, only a damp cloth is enough.
But in the case of a matte surface, you need to use water and soap to wipe and clean it. Besides, regular cleaning is also very important.
Cannot Stand on Their Own
Black color, when used alone, does not create any impact in your kitchen.
For example, if you go for a black cabinet along with a black countertop, it will not create any impact unless you pair it with some bold or pastel color.
Thus, you need to think carefully and use some pastel shades to open up the space.
Cannot Hide Scratches
Though a black cabinet can hide grime and dirt, it cannot hide scratches.
Since a kitchen is a work area, there are chances that accidental scratches might occur in the cabinet.
Thus, you need regular cleaning, polishing and sometimes even painting to ensure that the black color maintains its look.
Difficult to Resell the House
Unlike kitchen cabinets in lighter shades like white and off-white, not all would prefer black kitchen cabinets.
So, it can be difficult if you want to sell the house. This, in turn, can even affect the resale value of the house.
Need More Light
Black color do not reflect light. Because of this, the kitchen can look dark and gloomy.
Therefore, you need to provide additional lights in the kitchen if you are going for black kitchen cabinets. This can shoot up your overall interior designing cost.
Color Schemes for Kitchens With Black Cabinets
The peculiarity of black is that you can pair almost all colors with black. But the colors should be wisely chosen to retain the room’s attractiveness.
It should neutralize the dark hue of black.
White
The contrasting shades of black and white never go out of style. You can opt for a white wall and white countertop to match the black cabinets.
Furniture with white upholstery can also complement the look.
Light Brown
The light brown shade of wood is another choice if you want to provide a natural look to the kitchen.
You can go for a wooden floor and blind in a light oak finish. This can be complemented with walls and countertops in a light shade like off-white.
Orange
If you want to provide a warm look to the kitchen, shades of orange is a great choice.
You can use orange on the wall or in the form of accessories to provide a warm touch to the kitchen.
Orange backsplash is another great way to pop up the black cabinet and provide a new dimension to your kitchen.
Stainless Steel
The stainless steel shade with its subtle and glossy hue makes another great pair for black.
Stainless steel in the form of kitchen appliances and hood provides a contemporary and elegant touch to the kitchen.
You can provide the same finish to cabinet hardware for a coordinated look.
Enjoyed this article? Make sure to read out similar ones to learn if kitchen islands need outlets and do kitchen cabinets have backs.
Conclusion…
Going for a black kitchen cabinet is a bold move. The beauty of black cabinets depend on how you style rest of the kitchen.
While some black cabinets create an aesthetic appeal, not all provide the desired result.
Carefully selecting the wall color and accessories is very important while going for black kitchen cabinets.
Besides choosing complementing colors, using glass lantern, skylight and glass doors create a spacious and airy look to the room.
Open plan shelves along with black cabinet also helps open up the space.
If open shelves is not your choice, you can opt for glass doors for the shelves.
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