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With a little design consideration, black and white can work wonders in classic or contemporary kitchens.
Black and white kitchens are a design classic, and whilst this colour scheme may seem easy to pull off, it can throw up some unexpected design dilemmas.
Sleek, high-gloss units can be overpowering in black, whilst a black and white kitchen without warming elements such as brass or wood can appear too clinical. We enter tricky territory too when we use black and white in a traditional setting.
We've looked at the best kitchen designers and retailers, from Neptune to Magnet and Homebase, to find the very best black and white kitchens. Included too are some design tips and tricks to implement in your own home, whether you err on the side of minimalism, live in a period home, or are in the process of creating a classic farmhouse kitchen. Read on for the best black and white kitchen ideas to steal...
If you're looking for a third shade to add to your black and white colour palette, consider something brave. An eye-catching mauve, sky blue, or bright greens would all work wonderfully, especially when paired with accents of brass, like these bold pendant lights.
Pictured: Spingle Pendant at Pooky
A truly modern kitchen that maintains its sleek silhouette with built-in appliances. This black and white kitchen design scheme adds warmth with wooden accessories, touches of greenery, and that wonderful herringbone floor.
A masterclass in balancing traditional with modern. This kitchen uses classic design markers – the shaker cabinetry, open hearth, and a smattering of vintage accessories – with a modern monochrome colour palette, clean lines and unfussy hardware.
Pictured: Heather Kitchen Stool at Cult Furniture
Judging by this gorgeous country-inspired kitchen, black and white can work wonders in a traditional setting. When used in period homes, especially where furniture or architectural details are very ornate, black can quickly become garish. The solution, implemented so well here, is to use refined features – the slim marble countertops, simple brass hardware, unfussy cabinetry, and the neat silhouette on the central kitchen island.
This kitchen uses a clever colour palette technique to brighten an otherwise dark design scheme. Here, the laminate flooring has pinkish undertones that are picked up and reflected in the black cabinets. This technique doesn't require high gloss surfaces to work, just make sure to pick flat panel cabinetry with a subtle sheen.
Pictured: House Beautiful Sensation Candy Cane Painted Laminate at Carpetright
If you're fortunate enough to have plenty of natural light in your kitchen, there may be a temptation to keep your colours light and bright too. But this is the perfect opportunity to use great swathes of black, where natural light will lift your space and reveal undertones of grey or blue depending on your paint choice.
Pictured: Shaker Suffolk Kitchen at Neptune
If you don't fancy the cost of updating cabinets, a more affordable way to introduce a black and white colour palette into your kitchen is with kitchen tiles. We love the statement floor here, created using the Country Living Starry Skies tiles at Homebase.
Pictured: Country Living Starry Skies tiles, and Country Living Artisan Stormy Grey tile, both at Homebase
Black display cabinets might overpower a kitchen when first installed – especially an imposing double height cabinet likes this Neptune example – but this is where white accessories will come into their own. Fill your shelves with cream-coloured enamelware and watch them stand out.
Pictured: Henley Kitchen at Neptune
Black paired with white marble is a match made in design heaven. Any type of marble would work in this scheme, and the brighter or more colourful the veins, the better. We love the choice of copper lights here instead of classic brass.
With such strong orange tones, exposed brick can be a tricky design feature to complement. Other warm tones such as pink or red would appear overly saturated, but a cooling black and white palette provides perfect harmony.
Pictured: Autograph Elements Kitchen at Wren
If you're looking for design inspiration for your black and white kitchen, Scandinavian influences won't steer you far wrong. Introduce natural materials (rattan, oak, and stone would be a great choice here,) and keep the rest of your palette as simple as possible.
If you want bold primary colours in your kitchen, the temptation might be to use white as your base. Whilst white is perfect for your walls in this instance, black cabinets provide a greater contrast to make your colours pop.
Pictured: Shaker Suffolk Kitchen at Neptune
This farmhouse kitchen uses black as an accent, on windows, accessories, and to frame that fabulous pantry-style walk-in. Piles of enamelware, plenty of natural materials, and low hanging pendant lights are all classic farmhouse kitchen staples.
Pictured: House Beautiful Sensations Liquorice Patina Oak Laminate at Carpetright
Your window treatments are a great opportunity to introduce some colour and pattern into your black and white kitchen. These eye-catching Ingrid Pumpkin roller blinds from the House Beautiful collection at Hillarys would be the only colourful feature you'd need.
Pictured: House Beautiful Ingrid Pumpkin Roller Blind at Hillarys
No other colour palette will highlight metallics quite as well as black and white. Err on the side of caution with silver accents, as they tend to be less effective at warming up a design scheme. We would advise going for a polished or satin brass in modern kitchens, and antique brass in a traditional setting.
Pictured: Davey Lighting Pillar Pendant Light at Holloways of Ludlow
One for the minimalists. Black and white is an obvious choice in minimalist homes, and we'd recommend considering matte blacks for your kitchen. Whilst high-gloss units can work well in cool colours such as blue or sage green, they can be overpowering in black.
Pictured: Nuura Liila Wall Light at Nest
A common concern with black and white kitchens is the possibility of them appearing too clinical, and this is definitely something to consider early on in the design process. Adding wood is the easiest way to warm an otherwise cool palette. Darker oaks are a great choice here, and so too are raw wood counter tops that still have plenty of knots and grains.
Although counterintuitive, black can be a cheerful choice for a kitchen. No other shade will provide such a strong contrast to brightly coloured accessories, and so it's a brilliant choice if you want your sunnier colours to stand out.
Pictured: Portrait check tea towel at Tori Murphy
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