I have a white kitchen and it shows marks as will black or any other colour, I'd just go for it, remembering that you will have all the other household clutter helping to disguise any marks unless you're a clean freak, photos are lovely

One of my clients has just completed their all black kitchen, which includes a black, lowered bulkhead. It was a gutsy choice, but at the end of the day it looks fantastic as it is in a very large, light-filled space, with a wall of full height north facing windows, and white walls, which are a great counterpoint to the drama. For anybody considering an all black kitchen you need to consider what is happening in the rest of the room, and will only really work when you have loads of natural light.

I have a huge black kitchen, white marble benches love it and hate it at times. Mainly because the doors are shaker style so have all those nice little trims to hold dust. It is a country home which is dustier than suburbia but anything else would have looked too contemporary so I just deal with it. Having said that, I admire it daily and everyone's jaws drop when they see it, so kinda makes up for the extra work. If you chose a flat black door it would be half the work. However, I totally agree with Dr Retro they're not for every home, it is essential to have loads of natural light, high white walls and as in the last photo, a touch of timber and natural stone complement it nicely. Go for it.

Black better than white and maybe high gloss laminate better than polyurethane as if the poly is not put on correctly can crack in grooves if doors have a pattern. Been there! Don't think I'd have white as juatbreplaced a "faulty batch" of polytec white urethane kitchen that yellowed in 4 years. Opted for malt colour and decided to steer away from white altogether. Maybe black is ok though handless kitchen you'd see fingerprints. That's the only drawback.

The house we're in has matt black kitchen and black stone bench tops. You can still see all the marks etc as much as you could on white. This kitchen is in the middle of the house with no natural light and is the worst colour possible for the small space - lights must be n whenever we're in the kitchen. Done right - I'm sure it would be great, but this one's turned us off forever!

We’ve got a combination of dark charcoal and white, in 2pack. Love it! But I occasionally think it should have been matte. The charcoal shows fingerprints, especially on press to open doors.

The comments about natural light are well worth considering. If we hadn’t included a roof window, I think the kitchen could have become drab.

All the best with your project!

Whatever colour you choose, it needs to be something you can live with for a long time. Personally I hate black, and find being in it depressing as well as showing all marks - but then so does white. Our new kitchen is a mix of light wood and antique white and I've never seen so many small crumbs as seem to gather on the benchtops. The only thing I would say is that in my childhood black baths were popular, but dated very quickly. Am not sure if black kitchens are in the same boat, but at the end of the day, everything in a kitchen marks and shows mess, what matters is if you like it and can live with it for a long time.

The grey drawer fronts are vinyl ( and this grey is BRILLIANT at not showing dirt, and so easy to clean if you get self-close) and the walls and top cupboards are paint (Dulux Klavier) Rob, my husband, sprayed the cupboard doors, and the walls with a roller. The splash back is a strip of stainless steel. I rarely wipe any of it, and I do cook!

Hi, I have a black and white kitchen with a stainless steel bench. We put it in in April last year. Our lower cabinetry is black, quite matt (30% gloss) and our upper and tall cabinetry is the same finish in white. I absolutely love the look of the black. Love love it until the sun shines on it! Then every finger print and speck of dust shows up. Luckily it is not the sunniest of rooms most of the year. The white shows no marks apart from obvious splashes but the black shows everything. We also have a large black fridge and it is the same. But it looks incredible so it is just weighing it up. If it is a very sunny room, I would take that into consideration. Good luck. Donna. Ps I have added some photos. Excuse the no trim on the windows yet and the stuff on the bench.

You need a very light house to get away with it - we viewed a house recently that was quite dark inside and the black kitchen added to that making it feel quite oppressive.

I have a matte black kitchen installed in 2006 - no regrets at all. I have drawers inside a tall cupboard for storage of food and crockery opposite the sink, dishwasher and prep area with granite composite black bench tops. It is a small kitchen but highly functional. I love black and when this kitchen was installed black wasn't "in": as they say. How times have changed. I also have 6mm thick mirror splashback which helps to give the illusion of a larger kitchen. Couldn't be happier in my kitchen

I have a black gloss kitchen, with white benchtops, and absolutely love it! It gets lots of comments, and hasn't dated after 8 years. Like the others, it has loads of light, and white walls and art to show it off. It does show fingerprints, but it makes you wipe them, and cupboards are therefore a lot cleaner than those that are never wiped down! It takes about 15 seconds with a microfibre cloth, so not a stress at all.

Nearly 7 years ago we built our new home and installed black glossy Polytec cabinetry in our kitchen/family room and the laundry with white stone bench tops, because I'm 'vertically challenged' there are no overhead cupboards but our full-height pantry has gloss white doors. The fridge is also a gloss black, everything gets swiped with a damp microfibre cloth as it's all very easy clean. We have big tiles in a milky latte everywhere, the walls are Wattle 'Diva White' throughout the house except for the ensuite and bathroom which are matt black, there is a lot of natural light to balance it all. Would we do it again... absolutely!!

My new kitchen has the finger-printless black .. love it a lot! We do have handles, I think without them it would be annoying marks to wipe. The timber cabinet section of our kitchen is far more fragile to scratches and stains.

We have a lot of natural light, white walls, timber, stone, garden & art to compliment. Pic below, the shelves were just installed and we are still waiting for the glass splash-back and sisal rug. Nearly finished yay!

Actually, I had a black color cabinets with white marble kitchen 30 yrs ago, they are fantastic, I like black color, easy to take care, now my outdoor kitchen is charcoal black, stainless steel and black marble combined together, they are look great.

As this may eventually date, what about overhead cupboards only in matt black?

Bath Queen are your cabinets black or charcoal? I do love it!

Zaffa, great kitchen. Can you post some finished shots? Are you still happy with your black?

Finally have a completely finished kitchen pic and loaded photos into my profile. I have had the mat black all this year and absolutely love how easy it is to keep clean!

Our mid-century kitchen renovation · More Info

Our mid-century kitchen renovation · More Info

Our mid-century kitchen renovation · More Info

Hi Tim, it's charcoal: Polytec in 'Feldspar' colour and the finish is Shimmer Matt. It marks like hell (only because the other users don't get that you don't have to paw the doors to shut them) but it's a pleasure to clean (microfibre cloth and Windex). Still a amazing. My tip is to get the carcass of the top cupboards made out of a matching (or close colour). White carcasses look cheap when you open them. Bottom cupboards not as obvious amd they don't stay open for as long as often.

Thanks for the pics. Looks great. Zaffa that timber works really well With the other colours. Can you tell me what it is please? You have me very excited about finishing our design and getting it built.