I went from boring beige to true blue. No regrets! Depending on the kitchen, lighting may be an issue and influence the decision. We updated the lighting, as the old kitchen, despite its light colour, had dark spots which adversely affected functionality. I can't find my "before" pics - it's all just a bad memory. But here is the current, in-living-colour kitchen.

I'm going dark! DH previous kitchen was white and he was looking for a change. My/our current kitchen is maple stained nutmeg. So I too was looking for a change. What else to do but go for the really dark espresso finish! I don't feel it will give the cramped impression as the ceilings are 15'. There are two windows in the space plus open concept. Walls are a light grey. Counter tops are white quartz on the perimeter and the island will have a dark antique brown slab. Plus the appliances will be shiny SS as well as plumbing and lighting fixtures will be sparkling shiny too.
Change is always good!

cooksnsews
Your color is lovely ! Very cosy. If I can achieve half of that I'll consider myself fortunate.
chococake-I'm trying to decide between white and an acorn stained maple. You might want to look at the acorn stain as it's not light and not very dark. good luck with your decision.

I had the same as you in a smallish galley...white cabinets I painted 15 years ago, white laminate counter, white tile BS, white appliances, AND white walls--because we never got around to picking a color. Even though the room only has a slider, with some light coming from DR on one side and laundry room on the other, I was tired of white!!! Our kitchen was finished a month ago...natural maple cabinets, a darkish brown/gray floor and gray/tan granite for counters and BS, dark gold/tan on the walls. We did put in better lighting, but it does seem dark with just the natural light, but the white kitchen did too I think. Am still not entirely sold on the wall color and may lighten it. If you really love the espresso cabinets, but keep the counters and BS light I think you will be OK. Maybe go medium on the floor---not too light,not too dark. I couldnt keep the white painted cabinets clean anymore so don't miss them at all!

When I decided to go dark in my small kitchen my cabinet guy said he thought it would look fine if I had enough lighting. I installed can lighting and light fixtures. I think the can lighting really helped it not look too dark.

I went from "washed oak" to medium-toned cherry - and absolutely no regrets...and that was back in 2007 when everyone was doing white w/black counters (the "Something's Got to Give" kitchen was very big back then).

I love my kitchen and if I ever do another one (which I hope I don't have to), it will most likely be along the same lines wood & stain-wise.

If you have plenty of light (both natural for daytime and artificial of nighttime), you should be fine even with very dark cabinets. Layer the lights - light from above via recessed, pendants, and under-cabinet lights.

Here are "before" and "after" pictures. One thing to note, the "before" shot was taken during the day b/c at night we had really lousy lighting and even though the cabinets were very light, it was a bit dark at night. The "after" picture was taken at night with all of the lights on.

Before

After

We went from partially white (white ceramic counters and peninsula) to dark through and through and love it. We even closed up a window and put backsplash over it. It is dark but one day I hope to have a Solatube installed for additional light.

Jodi-

we went from ugly painted white cabinet doors with yellow/tan frame cabs to espresso and have absolutely no regrets. i love it and would never go back to white.

although i must say i did consider a cream cabinet but DH nixed that asap and we never looked back. we are so happy with our decision.

i, too, am drawn to warm colors and knew thats what i wanted. if you email me, i can send you some pics, still cant figure out how to post pics, tried but got frustrated.

good luck!!

We went from a sterile modern white kitchen with stainless steel countertops (bought the house with that kitchen knowing we would remodel) Now a traditional dark stained maple perimeter with a white island and range hood and love it. Still have the backsplash to install.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Wow, what beautiful kitchens. I have a very nice creamy kitchen, in the house we will be selling when we build again. I love white kitchens. But I increasingly find myself drawn to pictures of quarter sawn oak. Someone here had those cabinets with a blue range and it was just gorgeous.

I may end up with a non-white kitchen also--because of the wear and tear issue.

Ours is now darker than it was before. We are dungeon people though.
Darker just fit the rest of the house better.

Buehl, That's MY house! It was innevitably blue, and your furniture and decor looks like ours. Our kitchen looked alot like yours also.
Sad thing is, it's still going to look like your "before" photo when we are finished. Just a different color, and a bit darker.
I added lights...does that count?

Forgot to mention that the floors in the kitchen are a medium-dark wood stain. Looks great now with white cabinets but had to go polar opposite with espresso cabinets or the floors and cabinets would have blended together, needed the contrast.

We stayed with white cabs but went with dark gray, almost black, floors and countertops, and black appliances.
We also updated the lighting, in part because the former lighting was ridiculous, but mostly because we don't get direct sunlight into our kitchen until late in the afternoon and even then only for an hour or two.
I'm attaching a link to our before & after to give you a better idea.
From your description, with light countertops and backsplash, and adequate lighting
I think you'll be OK.
Several others here have gone down this road and have had great results.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Before & After

We went from white laminate, white tile counter and light gray tile floor to dark lyptus lower cabinets, white uppers (only 2) and travertine looking file floor. I used white upper cabinets to make sure that our smallish kitchen didn't look overwhelmingly dark and closed in. I love it and would never go back.

Here is before:

I don't have great pictures because my DH still hasn't finished the crown molding and painted the window/door trim. But here is after:

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess the consensus is going dark is fine as long as the lighting is right. Noted. Maybe I will splurge on the recessed lighting after all. I really hope I don't miss the dingy white kitchen, I'm having second thoughts but there's no turning back now....

Hope I'm not to late to add that I went from White to Dark and LOVE IT. I wouldn't take my old kitchen back for anything. "Dingy" hits the nail on the head. And I won't even delve into how different it is not trying to keep a white cabinet with recessed panels clean versus my new flat front cabinets. What a difference! I am not a "clean those nooks and crannies" kind of person. Plus we are extrememly active cooks. You won't regret it.

This is the kitchen from my former home. Definitely went from light to dark. I miss my former new kitchen.

Before:

After:

Chococake, just for input from another viewpoint, for me dark kitchens work best when I'm using them in artificial light, like after coming home from work. They're wonderfully warm and inviting. I've never had an apartment, say, that was very introverted because of few windows, bad views, privacy problems, but if I did I'd choose finishes that looked their best with the curtains closed and the lights on. I'd be sure to choose them with the curtains closed and lights on.

Conversely, to me light kitchens are at their best in sunshine, or at least lots of daylight. They sparkle. They make the most of the sunshine, rather than absorbing it. We're in the country, with lots of uncovered glass, great privacy, nice views in all directions. AND I work at home, so am there are all day, and go to bed early because I'm a real morning person. Guess what color my cabinets are? :)

I thoroughly agree, by the way, with putting in stronger light bulbs to amp up the light level--NOT lighter cabinets that won't do the job and, yes, really need those big light bulbs added in anyway if they'r not to look rather dull and dingy. Even then, they're not going to look rich and luscious at night the way good wood will.

It's been a few years but I still miss the brightness of my white kitchen. We have very little natural light so the kitchen is quite dark unless the lights are on. When it was white, it was still dark but didn't feel so dreary. But in our case, I feel like it's the soapstone counters that really darken the room, not the cabinets. I sometimes wish we'd gone with a white granite or all marble.

Before:

After:

I can understand what you're saying, and can readily imagine that that wonderful soapstone soaks up the light big time, Cheril, but that really IS such a nice kitchen! There's so much to like everywhere I look. I notice you at least have windows that bring in light from 2 directions, not just the too-common one. That must be a very nice corner to work in.

BTW, Chocolate, maybe the marble on that nice old cabinet with hutch helps illustrate the energy that white can bring to a kitchen?

I've seen many beautiful white kitchens on this forum that I love! My old white kitchen was not one of them. (Cheapish cabinets and high maintenance white laminate.)

So when we reno'd I went with maple; I've always loved the look of stained wood and I guess I was rebelling against the white. (I hadn't found GW, so I hadn't seen what truly amazing kitchens look like!)

Before:
{{!gwi}}

Our new kitchen is darker, because we blew out the back of the house and added a new addition. (The window wall at the right in the before picture is now a big opening into the new FR.) That lost us a window and a big slider in the kitchen, although it gets ambient light from the big windows in the FR.

I also went from pale yellow paint to a color called "baked clay" -- a darkish red. So that makes it a bit darker too.

Sure, I'd LOVE more windows and natural light. But when you do an addition there are some constraints and compromises and our new space works so much better for us.

After:
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Butler pantry before:
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After:
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So as you may see from the pics, it is darker now. But it's a completely different feel, more warm IMO.

Chocacake - with a name like that - a white kitchen would be like vanilla cake for you - I think your personality says it all!
Have fun - but if you decide on the white cake - just add some chocolate frosting (some dark accents)

cheri127 - charming kitchen! I was going to elaborate, but really, that's it! Looks great to me.

We just finished our kitchen with dark espresso cabinets. It's in the center of the house, with no windows, but we did knock out a planned wall to get light from the dinette because we were afraid of it being too dark, too. Between the lighting, the extra daylight and the white quartz countertops (which sparkle with recycled mirror), I find it to be quite bright.

I just went from black cabinets to white. But I think no matter what colors you go with, if there is no balance in the light and dark, it will look washed out/ dark and cave like.

Hi! for those who went with the espresso cabinets, would you mind following up with me about how they have held up to nicks and scratches and have you been able to touch them up? I'm considering doing espresso, but have 3 kids under the age of 5 and I'm nervous about the wear and tear

I have white, not espresso, cabinets, but I do have other pieces of dark furniture in my house that get nicks and dings. Some are mysteries to me, others can be laid at the paws of my cats.

My handy MinWax touch-up pen (mahogany) is a miracle worker. My new vanity had a small white mark in front. Before I discovered it came with its own touch-up kit, I hit the mark with my trusty pen. Now I can't even find the original mark.

I would say it's much easier to touch up dark wood, even with a Sharpie, than white, which is difficult to disguise with paint.

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Bethesda Photographers Maxine Schnitzer Photography

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Bethesda Photographers Maxine Schnitzer Photography
One of my favorite kitchens is dark cabinets with light counter top. Looks yummy to me.

This post was edited by gr8day on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 16:04

My friend just painted all her kitchen cabinets black. She has a wonderful layout, tons of natural light with floor-to-ceiling windows in the adjacent room, and 2 windows in the kitchen.

We live in the deep south near the coast; we've got tons of natural light all day long. The painter did a great job, it's a beautiful finish. She added extra lights in the ceiling.

But I still can't SEE when I go over there, it is so dark.

I cook a lot, and to me it would be very frustrating to cook in such darkness. My friend actually does not cook, so she probably wouldn't notice. But to me it would drive me crazy just trying to do normal cooking.

I'm just a family cook, not a kitchen designer. But I'd say that if you want dark cabinets, you've got to plan for excellent lighting and probably lighter counters to make up for the loss of light.

And I don't mean to be snarky, but I want to say that the whole cleaning issue is silly. I'd rather see the grime and wipe it off than not know it's there because the cabinet is the same color as dirt. If I had dark cabinets, I'd still want them to be clean, not just mask it.