Another Black Kitchen

When I blogged a few weeks ago about black kitchens a few people asked about my black kitchen. Mine is indeed black with accents of what I call "margarita green" - pretty much the same color as the cocktail. I took these this morning while the sun was still coming up and the fog was sitting in the valley.  The windows face north.  My kitchen is not big but it's plenty for what we need.  No children so it really suits two people very well. That is Greta on the stool.  I keep my many cookbooks on shelves on two sides of the island. The end near the refrigerator holds wine.

My goal was to create a usable kitchen that I could live in and not clean all the time, hence no white cabinets. The floors in this room are not original but the match the older floors very well (were made by a local craftsman and stained to match).  These were the only wood floors in the old part of the house we could not save.  Counter tops look like they are marble but they are a high end granite.  There are flecks of copper in them (some green and also some beige almost yellow and gray which picks up the black).

We have three windows that look  out towards the barn.  They are tall (we have 9 foot ceilings).

Cabinets go all the way to the ceiling (I have a lot of dishes and needed the storage). Stove is Viking. Wanted to add a double oven but venting to the outside was an issue and we have a copper roof so I just kept it to 6 burners and one larger oven.   It has worked pretty well (except on days like Thanksgiving).

My husband picked out these lights. They add a lot to the room. From Juliska (same company that makes the china).  They are the first thing you notice when you come in the room.

We bought this old weather vane at an antique show about a year ago.

I put my flat screen television above the refrigerator (it is such wasted space) and it is perfect there. I use it often and sit at the island (we do not have a breakfast room).  And you don't even notice it is there. Would highly recommend doing this.

We had these four old hunting prints. I hung two over each door. I hate clutter and did not want to hang a ton of things in here.  Less is more.

The other two are here and that is the mudroom.  The wood door leads to the outside.  The center door leads into the "library."

We used a green glass tile behind the stove and also on the wall where the sink it. It is the color of margaritas but you can't tell that from these photos.  

More green tile and the view towards the barn.

The island is a perfect size for two.  (I have two needlepoint cushions on them that you can't see).  When we renovated our house we never intended it to be a "family" house. It works perfectly for two people (has only two bedrooms too) but it is not a small house.  

I don't have a rug on the floor. My plan is to needlepoint this and make it into a runner.I have the sheep already in my stash.  One day........ 

We bought this hand painted vase for about $10 at an antique store near here. In summer and fall it is full of flowers in the window.  You can see my barn off to the left.  Horses are still in there, sleeping, or waiting for breakfast. 

I thought about having a black kitchen for a long time but I must say that I really love this kitchen. It is the perfect choice for our lifestyle. It is not dark at all (these photos were taken at 6:15 am) and it is functional and easy to maintain.  We bought very good wood cabinets and used very good materials everywhere - tile, faucets, appliances, lights, moldings, etc. It just works for us!   Hope you like it.