Dark Kitchen Cabinets: What to Pair Them With
Bold blues and nature-inspired greens have been a fixture in hand-painted kitchens for years now, and darker cabinetry remains one of the most popular requests we get. Getting it right is less about the colour itself than about what you put with it: the worktop, the hardware, the tap, and the amount of light the room has to give.
Dark Kitchen Cabinets at a Glance
Dark cabinetry absorbs light rather than reflecting it, so it behaves differently depending on the room. In a large or well-lit kitchen it adds depth and gives the eye somewhere to settle. In a smaller or darker room it needs help: glazed wall cabinets and open shelving to break up the mass, a lighter worktop to bounce light back, and good task lighting. Warm metals, brass, gold and bronze, sit better against deep blues and greens than chrome does, and the tap should be chosen at the same time as the handles so the finishes match. Handmade Kitchen Company hand-paint kitchens in any colour, from our workshop in Essex.
Start with the size and light of the room
Dark colour absorbs light. That is the whole of it, and every other decision follows from it. In a generous, well-lit room that is an advantage. Dark cabinetry gives depth, creates a focal point and stops a large kitchen feeling flat and endless. It reads as deliberate. In a smaller room, or one that gets little natural light, the same colour can close the space down and make it gloomy rather than cosy. It can still be done, but it has to be compensated for rather than simply applied. The usual remedies are to break up the run of dark doors with glazed wall cabinets and open shelving, so the eye passes through rather than stopping at a solid wall of colour, and to keep the worktop and splashback light. Task lighting under the wall units matters more in a dark kitchen than a pale one, because there is no reflected light to help you.
Hardware and taps
With royal blues and forest greens, warm metals do the most work. Gold, brass and bronze tones pick up the warmth in a deep colour in a way that chrome does not, and there is now a wide choice at most budgets. One piece of advice that saves a lot of frustration: check you can get a tap in the same finish before you commit to the handles. Cabinet hardware ranges are far broader than tap ranges, and it is entirely possible to choose a handle finish that no tap manufacturer matches. Choosing both together, at the same point in the process, avoids having to compromise on one of them later.
Choosing the worktop
A lighter worktop is the natural partner to dark cabinetry. Pale stone, quartz or timber gives contrast, introduces another texture, and reflects light back into a room that is otherwise absorbing it. It is also more forgiving day to day than a dark surface, which shows dust and water marks readily under kitchen lighting. Dark cabinets with a dark worktop can be done, but it is a much less forgiving scheme and usually needs a strong contrast elsewhere, in the splashback, the flooring or the metalwork, to stop the whole room reading as one mass.
Will it suit the house?
Interior trends move like fashion, and a kitchen lasts a great deal longer than either. It is worth asking whether a dark scheme suits not just the room but the property. A small period cottage with low ceilings and small windows may well be better served by a classic neutral scheme, while a Victorian villa with high ceilings or a modern extension with good glazing can carry a deep colour easily. The building usually tells you.
Dark Kitchen Cabinet FAQs
Do dark cabinets make a kitchen look smaller?
They can, because dark surfaces absorb light rather than reflecting it. In a small or poorly lit room the effect is to close the space down. It is workable if you break the run up with glazed cabinets and open shelving, keep the worktop light and light the work surfaces properly.
What worktop goes with dark kitchen cabinets?
A lighter one, in most cases. Pale stone, quartz or timber contrasts with the cabinetry, adds texture and reflects light back into the room. Dark on dark is possible but needs a strong contrast somewhere else to stop the scheme reading as a single block.
What colour handles suit dark cabinets?
Warm metals: brass, gold and bronze all sit well against deep blues and greens, where chrome can look cold. Whatever you choose, confirm a matching tap exists in the same finish before you commit, since tap ranges are narrower than handle ranges.
Is a dark kitchen a passing trend?
Deep colours have been popular for long enough now that they are less of a trend than an established option. The more useful question is whether the colour suits your house and the light it gets, because that will still be true in fifteen years when the trend has moved on. Our post on
covers pulling a bold scheme together.
Where does Handmade Kitchen Company hand-paint kitchens?
We hand-paint our bespoke kitchens in any colour from any manufacturer, at our workshop in Essex, for clients across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London. If you would like to know more about our handmade bespoke kitchens,
today. We look forward to hearing from you.
