Reader request - black kitchens

Today's reader request comes from Beverly: I am considering painting my kitchen cabinets black, at least the lowers. Most likely will do the uppers, which are doorless, in white to keep the room from being too dark. There is no natural light. Do you have any inspirations? I sure do!! I LOVE kitchens with black, whether it be just an island, or a wall, or cabinets. Now without natural light maybe painting the uppers white is a good idea but if you have a reasonable amount of wall space and you paint that white, then you likely could get away with painting all the cabinets black. Plus whatever you are displaying in the door-less uppers will show so nicely against the black. I couldn't find many photos with black lowers and white uppers but you'll see in many of these photos that white uppers maybe aren't necessary.

Canadian House & Home
Amok
Sunset
McGill Design Group
Apartment Therapy
Bricault
Sköna hem

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mercer INTERIOR

There is a freshness, a lightness, a zing about Mercer INTERIOR's work. Dark, cluttered and dowdy becomes casually elegant with layers of texture, luxe mixed with rough. Rooms shed their frumpiness and come to life. Young, vibrant and fun. Because we all love a before and after on Desire to Inspire when Elizabeth Mercer Aurandt asked if we'd like to see what the rooms looked like before she wove her magic I jumped at the offer. Wow! (Photos by Emily Gilbert.)

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Reader's home - Michele's kitchen

This is kitchen #2, and it belongs to Michele. Here is part of her email: Wanted to share my very simple, spacious, and uncluttered kitchen for consideration for the blog. Our aim was to create something timeless, live-able, and easy to clean. We achieved this and allow our colorful personalities and laughter to provide color. I am a big fan of bright, light kitchen and this is certainly that. Perhaps a bold choice for a colour scheme for a space often filled with teenage boys but it seems to be working as Michele snapped these photos quickly one morning. Lovely!! (For more photos and details check out this post on her blog).

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Reader's home - Paul's kitchen

It must be kitchen renovation season. We're gotten a few reader submissions of their kitchens in the past week so I thought I'd blog them all today. It's kitchen Tuesday folks!

Welcome to Paul's teeny tiny New York kitchen! He worked some magic on the space, transforming it from REALLY awful to funky and modern for just $285!! (He's got the breakdown of costs on his blog). I had to poke fun in my response to his email, saying no one cooks in NY anyway (doesn't everyone use their stoves to stash off season clothes?), but he claims he cooks in his kitchen often. And I bet he'll be cooking even more now that it's not such an eye sore. Great job Paul!!

Quickie 1

Production Designer Michael Bednark just finished work on this cottage in Provincetown, MA and his agency sent through some photos. Love the zinc wrapped counters and shelving he created. Might have to steal this idea for my own temporary kitchen re-do. Believe it or not  he also painted all of the walls to look as if they had a thousand layers of paint and then glazed them to look aged. I'd love a weekend  relaxing in this tiny kitchen, whipping up a tasty something, leaning against the counter chin wagging with friends. Think I need those blue spongeware dishes too. Thanks to Alison from The Magnet Agency.