Black is the new black in kitchens

A big trend in kitchens is the use of black. Black used to be a decorating no-no, but now its come out of the colour fan deck and being used all of the house. I personally love it as it's a good back drop for other colours and finishes. It's very versatile as it's a neutral that can look sophisticated or fun depending on how you style it. Black and dark charcoal has come into the kitchen as it can give a moody look, but yet still feel peaceful and make the kitchen recede back.

This trend of making the kitchen blend more into the open plan room and be seen more as furniture has led us to explore ways to "hide the kitchen". Creating appliance and food pantries behind tall doors can take all the clutter off your kitchen benchtops and give you a look that is more serene. There are also a number of exciting new door finishes such as finger resistant laminates in a ultra matt finish that both Laminex and Polytec are doing. Laminex Absolute Black has been used in the above kitchen image.

Black doors are usually more high maintenance to keep clean as they show up marks more easily- so this new finger proof technology helps to keep these doors looking great. But if you have small kids- do think about which doors you want in black as high use doors such as the pantry will show up marks if you have gone with a no handle look.