Black Kitchen Cabinets

Black Kitchen Cabinets, Tried on a Photo of Your Kitchen

All black, black over wood, or black lowers under white uppers: upload a photo of your kitchen, name the black, and see it on your cabinets before you commit.

Free account required. New accounts get 1 free render (watermarked), then paid plans.

Try it on your own photo

Upload a photo of your kitchen with the lights on. Name the black and say that only the cabinets change and the counters, backsplash, hardware, appliances and floor stay exactly the same.

Open the full paint tool in Custom mode

Black Kitchen Cabinets, Before and After

AI-generated sample edits of three kitchens. The before photos are AI-drawn stand-in rooms, not photos of real homes; the camera angle and light stay the same and only the cabinets should change. None of the three was rerun; the captions name what the model changed besides the paint and where the color came out different from what we asked for. The samples were made with an image model and settings (4 processing steps) that may differ from the live paint tool, so your own render may look different. A render shows a color idea, not real paint.

Modern kitchen with flat white slab cabinets, white quartz counters, a white tile backsplash, a stainless range hood and a light oak floor, before — Flat white slabs to matte black on every upper and lower, out to the edges of the photo. The quartz, the white tile, the stainless hood and the oak floor look the same.

The same kitchen with the slab cabinets painted matte black, with the counters, tile, hood and floor kept — Flat white slabs to matte black on every upper and lower, out to the edges of the photo. The quartz, the white tile, the stainless hood and the oak floor look the same.

Kitchen with reddish cherry-toned shaker cabinets, butcher block counters, a white subway tile backsplash, a farmhouse sink under a window and a wood floor, before — Cherry-toned wood to solid matte black. The paint covers the grain, so it reads as painted cabinets, not a stain. The butcher block, the subway tile, the farmhouse sink, the window and the floor look the same.

The same kitchen with the wood cabinets painted solid black, with the butcher block, tile, sink, window and floor kept — Cherry-toned wood to solid matte black. The paint covers the grain, so it reads as painted cabinets, not a stain. The butcher block, the subway tile, the farmhouse sink, the window and the floor look the same.

Bright kitchen with white shaker upper and lower cabinets, white counters, a white tile backsplash, a brass faucet and pulls and a light wood floor, before — Only the lower cabinets turned black. The white uppers, the tile, the brass faucet and pulls, the appliances and the floor look the same.

The same kitchen with only the lower cabinets painted matte black and the white uppers, counters, tile, brass and floor kept — Only the lower cabinets turned black. The white uppers, the tile, the brass faucet and pulls, the appliances and the floor look the same.

How to Preview Black on Your Kitchen Cabinets

Photograph the kitchen with the lights on. Black cabinets look very different in a dim kitchen, so take the photo in your normal daytime light and include the counters and floor.
Open the paint tool in Custom mode. Upload the photo and describe the change in one sentence: “Paint only the cabinet doors, drawers and cabinet boxes matte black. Keep the counters, backsplash, hardware, appliances and floor exactly the same.” For lowers only, say “paint only the lower base cabinets below the counter”.
Compare all black with lowers only. Render both and look at how dark the room feels. Then get a real sample of the black you like and look at it on a cabinet door in your own light.

For other cabinet colors, use the cabinet paint color visualizer. For wall colors around dark cabinets, see kitchen paint colors with dark cabinets, and for a dark color on the island only, see kitchen island colors.

Black Cabinet Paints and Ideas to Try

A neutral black

Designing Vibes lists Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black SW 6258 as a neutral black with an LRV of 3. Designer Brittany Farinas, quoted by Domino, also calls Tricorn Black neutral with little undertone.

A softer charcoal

Designing Vibes lists Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore SW 7069 as a charcoal with an LRV of 6, a little lighter than a true black.

Warm or cool blacks

Designing Vibes describes Sherwin-Williams Black Magic SW 6991 as warm with brown, Benjamin Moore Black Beauty 2128-10 as slightly warm, Jet Black 2120-10 with a hint of blue and Soot 2129-20 as cool.

A green-black

Designing Vibes lists Benjamin Moore Midnight 2131-20 as a black with a green undertone.

Black with warm wood and tile

Hello Lovely Studio describes Farrow & Ball Off-Black No. 57 as having less blue, and suggests it with creamy zellige tile and butcher block.

Walls around black

RoomDsign suggests white, blue-gray (Rain SW 6219), taupe (Repose Gray SW 7015) or gray-green (Kind Green SW 6457) walls with black cabinets.

Before You Paint Your Cabinets Black

Choose the sheen with care. Designing Vibes suggests satin, says eggshell is fine and says to avoid high gloss because it shows flaws.
Expect fingerprints on matte. Designer Lauren Svenstrup, quoted by Domino, uses satin on Jet Black because matte shows scuffs and fingerprints.
Think about your light. Domino says black works best in sunlit kitchens, and Designing Vibes says to avoid the lowest LRVs in low-light kitchens.
Plan the lighting. RoomDsign says black cabinets need proper lighting.
Test a sample door. Look at a painted sample in your kitchen in the morning and at night before you paint every cabinet.

Black Kitchen Cabinets FAQ

Is it free to try?+

You need a free account to generate. New accounts get 1 free render, and free renders carry a small watermark. After that, paid plans on the pricing page give you more renders without the watermark.

Do I need to sign up?+

Yes. Rendering requires an account so your credits and results can be saved. You can sign in with Google or a one-time code sent to your email.

What is the best black paint for kitchen cabinets?+

There is no single best one. Designing Vibes lists Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black SW 6258 as a neutral black and Iron Ore SW 7069 as a softer charcoal, and Benjamin Moore Jet Black 2120-10 as a black with a hint of blue.

What sheen should black cabinets be?+

Designing Vibes suggests satin and says to avoid high gloss. Designer Lauren Svenstrup, quoted by Domino, uses satin because matte shows scuffs and fingerprints.

Do black cabinets show dirt?+

Benjamin Moore says dark colors hide dirt better. Domino notes that matte black shows scuffs and fingerprints, so the sheen matters.

What wall color goes with black cabinets?+

RoomDsign suggests white, blue-gray, taupe or gray-green walls with black cabinets.

Will the tool change anything besides the paint?+

It should not if you say so, but it is an AI edit, not a mask. Write that the counters, the backsplash, the hardware, the appliances and the floor stay exactly the same, then compare the render with your photo. In our first tries one cabinet at the edge of a photo stayed white and wood grain showed through; asking for every cabinet edge to edge and a smooth, solid painted finish fixed both.

Will the render match the real paint?+

No. The render shows a color idea, not a paint chip, and your light changes how a color looks. Black can look brown, blue or green depending on its undertone and your light. Paint a sample door and look at it in your kitchen at different times of day.

Related Color Visualizers

Cabinet paint color visualizer – any cabinet color
Kitchen paint colors with dark cabinets – walls around black
Two-tone kitchen cabinets – black lowers, light uppers
Navy blue kitchen cabinets – a dark blue instead
Kitchen island colors – black on the island only
Kitchen paint colors – walls for any kitchen

See Black on Your Own Kitchen Cabinets

Upload one photo of your kitchen and compare black on every cabinet or only on the lowers.

Try Black on Your Kitchen See Plans