Black kitchens add glamour and sophistication to any home, but are they for you?
Today, dear readers, we will show you a few inspiring examples, like the one above by Chicago designer Megan Winters, and let you decide for yourselves.
In addition, we will give you a few interior design tips if you’re thinking you might like a black kitchen for your own homes.
Ready?
When considering a black kitchen, three factors become essential to consider:
1. The lighting, both the task lighting, the decorative lighting and the natural light, as it will appear both during the day and evening hours. You want to make sure and have enough task lighting so the cook can see properly and enough decorative lighting [ that’s not too glaring – because noone likes to feel they are under a spotlight] so everyone in the kitchen can still see each other and their food, if it’s an eat in kitchen like the one above.
2. The finish. Notice how, in the gorgeous cabinetry above, the cabinet door panels are matte black but the frame of the black interior doors are high gloss black. Small touches like this make the design details stand out.
3. The contrast of black and white, and how that will look, during both the day and evening hours.
During the evening hours, you will lose the strong black & white contrast you see in the beautiful kitchen above, designed by Portland, OR designer Jessica Helgerson, so you’ll want to plan ahead for this.
This kitchen, originally the Sellwood Library, but turned into a home for its current owners, has been saved over 16,000 times on Houzz.
Another example of a black kitchen, very different from the one above because it is so much smaller [ but no less dramatic! ] is this one, by Toronto Ontario designer Jeffrey Douglas.
We love how he used every inch of space so beautifully [notice the small built in banquette] and his choice of red oak flooring and a walnut island to add dramatic contrast.
What’s not visible in this image is a window that’s incorporated into the backsplash, which lets in even more light. If you’ve ever thought you could not do an island in your kitchen, this picture will show otherwise! Also, make sure you have 36″ of clearance on either side and enough space to stand behind a dishwasher door when it’s pulled down.
And, as a small, but we hope helpful digression, if you have a really small kitchen, think about a dishwasher DRAWER so it will take up less space.
Below, see the typical dishwasher door when it’s pulled down. Leaving enough space for you to bend over and get out the dishes, and put them away comfortably, is something your kitchen designer will plan carefully for you.
If there’s not enough space, your kitchen designer might suggest a drawer dishwasher, like the one below by Kitchen Aid, so the need for so much space goes away.
On we go now!
In another part of this same black kitchen designed by Mr. Douglas, notice how he incorporated spot lighting underneath the cabinetry. Not only is this practical, but at night it will highlight the beautiful surfacing material he used.
And if you’re a lover of design details like we are, notice how the top cabinet at the end snuggles right into that elegant architectural millwork detailing.
Perfection!
At the recent #KBIS2016 show in Las Vegas, where kitchen and bath manufacturers showcase the latest trends in appliances, toilets, cooktops, etc., Baton Rouge based interior designer, Arianne Bellizaire, who writes the blog, INSPIRED TO STYLE, spotted the new trend of matte black, as seen below in her picture of DXV’s Vibrato 3D printed faucet shown off against a matte black sink and Brizo’s new LITZE faucet, also shown off against a matte black sink, versus the typical white or stainless sink.
Below, Brizo’s LITZE faucet…and what about those tiles with their black and white grout?
[ If you would like to read more about the new kitchen and bath trends from #KBIS2016, please see the link to Arianne’s post at the bottom of this one. ]
And, lastly today, dear readers, we share with you this gorgeous black kitchen, featured recently in Architectural Digest. It was created by 32 year old interior designer Dan Fink for a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur. We love the walnut wood backsplash and the way the vintage George Nakashima barstools he used tie it all together [ not to mention that exquisite walnut chopping block next to the sink! ].
So, what do you think?
Do you like the idea of a black kitchen? Could you do this in your own homes? What would be your concerns?
We’d love to hear from you in the comments!
