High gloss black kitchen?

[Cats49]

I am thinking of getting a black high gloss kitchen in my kitchen that is currently in the process of being extended. Have to decide soon but can't make up my mind. Do black units make the room look dark? Do they need frequent polishing? We would be having a creamy coloured floor (as already have the tiles - long story) and creamy work tops, which would hopefully make it not look too dark.
We have had a quote via the builders from Howdens (trade). Does anyone know what their kitchens are like?
Any advice much appreciated!

howdens kitchens are good, however in our old house we had a high gloss red kitchen and i spent my life wiping away fingerprints! if you have people with sticky little hands in your house don't do it!

I have the black gloss kitchen . It doesn't look dark .
But it's a bugger for finger prints and dog nose prints .

I would advise you to invest in a bulk order of windolene and a lint free cloth (best and easiest method I have found of cleaning mine !) .

fingerprints

Howdens are great - they produce kitchens across a wide range of standards - their basic ranges are widely used by housing associations but they do upmarket stuff too.

I've got the Howdens White gloss kitchen and I love it, it doesn't show fingerprints, and is cleaned v easily with a spray of windowlene and a bit of kitchen roll once in a while

I have black gloss kitchen units from Howdens. But only the units above the worktop are black - I didn't want the lower cupboards to look like a chess board in between all our white goods so the lower ones are white. But even though sticky little hands can't reach the black gloss units they still need a fair amount of wiping. That said, I really like the way they look and I don't think our kitchen is dark at all - but then I don't really like rooms that are completely white, too clinical...

Oh, and I think they are good quality - no complaints there.

Wow..such quick responses! I thought it might be a bit late for people - first time I have posted on good housekeeping.
Thanks everyone - this is really useful. Topsyturner - what colour floor and worktop do you have with your black gloss kitchen?

Cats - I actually have a solid oak worktop and floor . It really lightens the black . And i have a splashback behind my hob of mosaic glass tiles .

I will try and get on my desktop once the kids have gone to school and add some pics to my profile .

Thanks Topsy, will look later! - are your kids not on Easter hols?

Grrrrr Cats ! (sulking cos all internet friends on mainland broke up last week)
No , we don't break up till 21st April . Oh and the desktop is making funny whiney noises when I turn it on , will get 11 year old ds to sort it out when he gets home from school .

Howdens tried and tested here for a couple of years (by in laws) - very good stuff, no complaints.

Black shows the dust though.

Thanks - have gone for high gloss but 'metallic anthracite dark grey'! And not from Howdens in the end. Saying that, order not gone through yet so I may well change my mind for the 99th time.....

Want to get an aubergine gloss kitchen.we are so in luv with it.it wont be much different from black would it... as the colur is dark. has anyone had an aubergine coloured gloss kitchen? I use my kitchen a lot.So provided I wipe and keep it clean would the units still look new and shiny in, say another years time, even with a few scartches? do they look worn out in time at all? We havnt made a decision yet but will have to soon. Any help would be greatly appreciated. this thred is very useful.

We have dark brown high gloss cupboards (someone told me it was a rosewood type of effect?) with speckly white worktop & floor. The cupboards do show fingermarks, but easily come off with a damp Jcloth & dried with the t-towel or kitchen roll.

I don't think the cupboards make the room dark, but it is quite a big room which gets alot of light through it's one window & we painted the walls bright orange (think easyjet-orange!) We had it fitted 3 years ago & I still absolutely love it

Hi Bessie 26, I m glad that you still like your dark brown units. it would be the same with aubergine. may be cleaning often isn't that bad at all if u 'still absolutely luv it'. I feel psoitive. Could you please tell me about scratches?
Also, after 3 years, do you feel that it still looks as new as shiny as it looked when it was first fitted? and if there are any downsides to it.Thanks so much.

e

Yep, it's still nice & shiney. I haven't noticed any scratches yet (although DD is only 2.5 so plenty of time for that!) It was from MFI (fitted about 3 months before they went bust) so we're stuck with any scratches we get!

I think the only downsides are the constant fingerprints/splash marks, but they don't bother me too much, tbh i find the fingerprints on the stainless steel cooker more annoying!

I usually vacuum (or sweep) the (white) kitchen floor twice a week & mop it once a week, but the flooring has grey splodgy bits on (it looks nicer than it sounds, honest!) which hides some of the inevitable marks so I could leave it longer if I wanted.

oh great! glad you still like it.who wants dirty units anyway? Thanx so much for the reassurance Bessie.