It’s no wonder you may have chosen wood as the centrepiece of your kitchen. On top of the warmth and classic aesthetics, if you spend the time looking after it properly then you’ll get a lifetime of service from your beloved worktop.
As you sit down to design your dream kitchen you’ll be eager to get the most for every penny you spend. A recent study by home décor giant Houzz suggested that you’ll be looking to update the look and feel of your home followed closely by the form and function. The good news here is that with wood you can do both.
The Look and Feel you Get with Wood
Having selected a wooden worktop, there is no single style which is unavailable to you. Even ultramodern kitchens can use wooden worktops. Given the depth and breadth of colour, tone, and grain in the various timbers you will be able to find something that matches your requirements. Your next major decision will be the style of worktop. When dealing with hardwood you’ll find three options.
Butchers Block Worktops
This style is formed from a larger number of smaller blocks of wood, often offcuts from other jobs, which are glued together. This gives a patchwork-like quality to the worktop and certainly reduces the cost. While it can look good in smaller runs, it does not lead the eye or contain the warmth the way that a wider and longer run of continuous wood will.
Narrow Width Full Stave Worktops
Here narrower long planks of wood are used. If the grain pattern is very strong and the boards aren’t carefully matched, this can lead to a striped effect. Again this style can look well suited in shorter or narrower runs, but it might not be the look you wanted for larger, longer, worktops. It’ll be a little more expensive than butchers block.
Full Width Full Stave Worktops
With a full width full stave worktop wide planks of wood are cut to ensure the maximum length possible. This approach means that your get the full beauty of the timber in one single run. Unless your worktop is fairly small there will be joins, but they will be kept to a minimum. Some manufactures will hand match the boards to make the joins even less noticeable. This is the most expensive of the three options, but from an aesthetic viewpoint it’s unbeatable.
Having chosen the timber and style of worktop, the next step is to integrate the other elements of your kitchen. Depending on your overall chosen style (traditional, contemporary etc.) then you’ll face quite a few additional choices. Bold cabinet colours or plain wood? Tile, stone or wood floors? Metal or tile splashbacks? If you’ve selected a wide full stave worktop then you can be braver with other patterns, since the continual run of wood will draw the eye.
Lighting will also be key in bringing your worktop to the fore. The natural glow of wood means you’ve got options; light from underneath an island, for example, will give it a floating aspect. Avoid spot lighting the worktop in favour of a more task lit LED scheme.
The nature of wood makes it an ideal centrepiece for a kitchen. It feels fantastic to the touch and works well with light and sound. Sympathetic placement of the worktop and a well thought out colour and appliance scheme will ensure that your family, and every visitor to your home, gets the full WOW effect from your kitchen.
