Modernizing a kitchen in a Victorian house in England is no small accomplishment, even for a designer as celebrated as Robert Couturier. When a longtime client moved from New York to London, Couturier chose the classic black-and-white color scheme using white Smallbone cabinetry with black counters. He also worked in pale-blue walls (popular in Britain) [...]

It would be hard to argue against black and white checkerboard as anything other than a classic design motif in a kitchen — whether it’s used on the floor or played out in a tile backsplash. Yet the way it is applied certainly can change the overall impact.
Here is a clear “then and now” example:  [...]

Large, super high-end and gourmet-worthy, this black and white charmer by top Montreal designer Scott Yetman is one of the most interesting and well-designed kitchens we’ve seen in some time. It also has a popular color scheme worked out so thoroughly there are lessons even a practiced kitchen designer can take away.
Walls packed with equipment [...]

L.A. designer Kristen Buckingham (wife of Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey) built what we define as a Hollywood Family Kitchen – dramatic, glamorous, and fully loaded with a batterie of blue-chip (Wolf and Sub Zero) appliances, custom cabinetry and a comme-il-faut for the neighborhood high-prestige mix of features.
We can tick off the must-haves: pot filler-faucet, glass-door SubZero, [...]

Sleek, spacious and consistent in its concept and color scheme, this contemporary black and white kitchen has elegant details that merit study. Despite considerable drama produced by the contrast of black and white surfaces, careful planning has produced a surprisingly serene overall effect.
Anyone who knows my particular bias against upper cabinets — which I feel [...]

The cooktop installed on an island topped with polished black granite allows the cook to face into the dining room while still retaining a convenient relationship to the main sink just behind. Butcher block on the perimeter cabinets — round an undermounted apron-front farm sink — must be carefully sealed but many cooks prefer wood [...]