White is always in for kitchens. It goes way back to the Sanitary Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You can SEE the dirt.

Great tile by the way.

“EBONY” will look great with your beautiful tile!

“EBONY” will look great with your beautiful tile!

[houzz=]

I'm selling a crazy amount of cream... clients love the white kitchens on Houzz... but are afraid of the upkeep, and feel safer going with a softer color.

Things are lightening up! the Dark, Dark, cabinet trend is moving on ... until it comes back again! as they always do!

Can you show a closeup of your backsplash?

My non-professional opinion is that white kitchens may decline a bit. Yes, white has always been in...and there are some spectacular white kitchens out there. It seems though that a LOT of people are painting cabinets white and it's becoming a very common 'fix'.

IMO it's a little like granite. Sometimes it's absolutely perfect for a particular kitchen and nothing else would work as well. But it started being common and a default for every kitchen and just doesn't always have that perfect look. It stops being quite as popular and something different takes it's place.

Really great looking white kitchens will always be around. Kitchens that are "painted white because that's what you do with a wood kitchen you're tired of" may be less common.

Just my 2 cents worth. That and $1.08 will getcha a cup of coffee ;-)

I love both.... And I have both!! I can honestly tell you first hand the white is every bit as easy to keep clean as ebony!!! With my white kitchen you see the dirt for sure, but then you just spray, wipe...and poof...all clean. With my ebony kitchen all the finger prints show...like on a grand piano..and every speck of dust shows on all the grooves. So I'd say the two equal each other out re labour.

Does your kitchen face N E W or South?

I do think your backsplash would be great w ebony!!

Back splash

Not a fan of cream w your backsplash and the white grout

Our kitchen faces W and S

I like the color of your cabinets now. My two cents is to keep them and change your accessories or paint color on the wall.

I agree with onthefence. I love white kitchens (and have one in my own house), and I think white kitchens (in different styles for different eras) are classic. But at the moment absolutely everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and painting their cabinets white. Yours are lovely and don't actually need updating (the ones that need updating are the arched top, raised panel, builder's grade, heavy grain oak cabinets from the 1980's). So if this were my kitchen, I'd hold tight and keep it as it is.

Seeing your backsplash and counter up close, I agree with lionnessone - dark will work much better.

Now that I see backsplash closer...white cabs would be funky too. Does your kitchen get a lot of natural light? Regardless, it is going to be Fabulous done in either white or ebony!!

Normally I'd say white, but I think a really dark stain would be great with backsplash. Plus if I were really honest, I hate light wood cabinets unless its arts and crafts or a really modern sleek look. Good luck with your choice

The dark looks better. White would work if you change the wall colour though

feeny, your kitchen was one of the spectacular white kitchens I was thinking of. It's absolutely perfect and timeless. It's going to be as current 20 years from now as it is today.

You are impossibly sweet, onthefence! Thank you.

I really want to see feeny's kitchen. How do I find it?

Here's a picture of it, coby, now that onthefence has made you curious (and raised expectations much too high!). It is a modest little Shaker kitchen designed to blend into a house built in the 1920's:

Yep, feeny's is still great and still timeless!

White is safe,dark is wow!

They were never out!!!!!!!

@onthefence. "IMO it's a little like granite. Sometimes it's absolutely perfect for a particular kitchen and nothing else would work as well. But it started being common and a default for every kitchen and just doesn't always have that perfect look." I am glad you prefaced by saying this was only your opinion. Everyone please remember there are 330 million people in the US and I doubt very much that granite is "common" and/or the "default" for today's kitchens in most of the country. And that's my humble opinion.

I would aim for a color (like this below) that picks up the taupe in your backsplash, which is beautiful...

I agree that white is being overdone and it's popularity may be starting to decline a bit. Kitchens designed around white look really nice, but those painted later to try to get the same look don't always achieve it. Feeny's is beautiful - thanks for the picture. I was also curious after onthefence's comment :) I really like your cabinets as they are Nancy, better than all the example pictures of your kitchen with changed cabinets. Taking the colors in the splash, counter and floor into consideration, what you have now is the best choice. You did a nice job - please don't mess with success.

Its always nice to get orhers opinions, but you really need to trust your own instincts and go with the colour you like best. Cabinets aren't something we want to replace often or have to paint or stain on a regular basis.

Kitchens are the most expensive rooms next to bathrooms to invest in . I really don't see anything wrong with the cabinets that you have they are warm and also send a country feel , the backsplash is beautiful also ,perhaps you could add a little more colour to this room , can you post a full picture of the kitchen ?

http://hgrm.sndimg.com/HGRM/2013/01/09/TS-86508657_oak-kitchen-cabinets_s4x3_lg.jpg

Really, I like the honey cabinets with the way you have designed the kitchen (backsplash, counters, hardware). I think "antiqued white" could work and I think java would as well. Not sure about just the traditional white though. Are you planning on painting or staining the cabinetry yourself or going with a cabinet refacing company?

Here is a link to our blog discussing more in depth the cabinet refacing process- http://www.granitetransformations.com/southjersey/blog/kitchen-remodel-the-cabinet-refacing-alternative/

Hope this helps!

I like your cabinets. I love white kitchens too but yours I would leave. Maybe some black cup pulls and knobs could tie in your tile and give a little something.
http://houzz.com/photos/140340

The cabinets are lovely, great color

White cabinets have never gone out of style. I would go with dark base cabinets and white uppers. Throw in white quartz or polished marble top too.

Thanks for the picture feeny. your kitchen is beautiful! Great job! Do you love your stove? It looks awesome tucked in there!

Thanks, coby! We decided to splurge and I do love my stove, though the starters on the Wolf burners can be a little over-enthusiastic. You turn on one and the others start clicking in excitement (just at first)!

I always recommend white cabinets to my clients who are interested a timeless style. Shaker style door fronts are quite popular as it contains clean lines that will not overpower the other design elements in your kitchen.

That's funny re starters. My decor used to do the same thing. :)

Since you have a lot of natural light in your kitchen, you could definitely go darker. But I don't even think your kitchen is in bad shape at all! If you need a little upgrade for yourself (we all get tired of what we see every day, right?) I would totally upgrade my hardware and knobs before painting those cabinets. See if that suffices before painting them. Also another note to consider- if your cabinets have a warranty, painting them can void it. Just something else to consider. Best of Luck!

I just LOVE white!! White kitchens, white bathrooms, white flowers, white teeth, white cars, white houses, white angels. So I guess I'm a tad biased. Ha

Thanks for everyone's comments! I think we are going to keep the cabinets the way they are and maybe change the hardware. If my appliances are stainless does my hardware have to be? I was thinking of getting rid of the silver knobs and changing them out with pulls in maybe a rubbed bronze or black?
Thanks again!

Absolutely not re having to be the same. Black or bronze would give you a nice updated and rustic aesthetic.

Yes to ORB or black, those would be fine. I'm glad to hear you aren't changing cabinet color. Your cabinet hardware also looks nice as is but those other two options would look just as good if you feel like a change. You probably know already, but the price of nice cabinet pulls can add up pretty fast.

@nancy: If you are considering a change in hardware, go somewhere first with a good return policy where you can buy some samples, try them out next to your cabinets, and return them. This is what we did (using Restoration Hardware), and it really helped to see different styles in the space. Otherwise shipping costs, returns, and trying out different styles can get expensive.