Wood kitchens continue to grow in popularity, and I'm not mad about it.
If you are planning a kitchen remodel sometime soon, here are some more tips to inject this warming element (see what I did there? warming element, in a kitchen? ha.) into the space. Even if a kitchen reno isn't in the cards for you any time in the foreseeable future (or ever), later in this post are some ideas on how to add some small doses of wood into your current kitchen this weekend.
So let's start with a totally aspirational photo to get the salivating going:
That image makes my heart hurt, it's so beautiful. Warm natural wood looks so darn good with black...
In case you are new to this party, before we go any further I want to mention that I have another post I published a while back on wood kitchens, so be sure to check that one out here for even more ideas.
If you're in the process of planning a complete reno, now's the time to be on the lookout for a vintage piece that you can incorporate into the layout. Or, shop your house! In a current kitchen remodel I'm working on, we have created a place of honour for the owners' beloved antique hutch, and it's going to look fabulous! Here is a quick iPhone snap of it in it's current location. It should be moving to it's new home in the kitchen sometime in the next couple weeks! I can't wait to show you more photos of the completed kitchen!
This example below has been built in, rather than being freestanding. The tile in the back makes it feel extra special :)
This is a new build kitchen with old world charm, and that is in part because of the wooden cabinet built to look like a freestanding piece. The wooden ceiling, Lacanche range and showstopper hood help too!
Even if you're not renovating, there may be an empty wall in your existing kitchen that would welcome a beautiful old piece with open arms...
Another free standing piece that lends itself to adding a touch of wood finish to your kitchen is with a free-standing work table rather than an island in your kitchen. I'm seeing farm tables, work tables and leggier islands a lot lately, instead of the standard large block of island cabinetry.
The example above also has a lot of other wood elements--okay so it's pretty much all wood, but you can imagine this lovely work table looking just as beautiful, and really standing out, surrounded by painted cabinets, white or otherwise!
This one below has actually added an old wooden table as an extension of the island, which looks like it is an antique or vintage piece as well. It's another example of how you can use a little or a lot of wood in the final look, because this beautiful kitchen would also look stunning with only the island and table done in wood, allowing them to star.
This final example of a wooden worktable also uses the next element I want to show you that's a smaller scale way to bring just a dose of wood to the overall palette:
Yes, it's the trim on the vent hood! Skillful segue on my part, right? Here are some other nice examples, if you like this look:
Love the portrait hanging on that hood!
Notice, in the above photo and the one to follow, the other hits of similar toned wood in the utensils and cutting boards that 'speak to' the wood trim and make it all work together so beautifully?
So, hood trim is one possibility, or if you're feeling bold, go whole hog with the entire hood made of wood:
A lovely antique wooden door can be incorporated into a new kitchen, or can be retrofitted onto an existing kitchen doorway, if you're lucky enough to find one in the right size:
These butler's pantry doors above add some soul to what looks to be a newly built kitchen.
The kitchen below uses a wood door on their pantry, and the trim on the range hood references it nicely:
This kitchen above also has wooden stools which is a super easy way to get some wood into your kitchen, and requires zero handyman (handyperson?) skills. Let's take a look at a few other examples, because if you can click "Add to Cart', you can pull this one off:
OH and look--matchstick blinds! Which are made of... wait for it....wood!
Here's a great example that shows how a nice light wood plays so well in a modern Scandi kitchen
And lastly I want to mention again a tip that I also brought up in my previous wood in the kitchen post, because it is SO. DARN. EASY. Just throw a bunch of wood stuff on your counter. Okay maybe not that carelessly, you might wanna take the time to display them on a tray, in a container, gracing a shelf, you get the idea. Although these assorted wooden utensils do look pretty lovely just tossed on the counter in a pile, which proves my point:
(Although don't be fooled, although this looks like a random pile of goodies, someone who really knows what they're doing took a long time to arrange these into the awesomeness you see here!)
Below is a snap from a kitchen project I recently completed where we added a sweet little container of wooden utensils to play off the wooden butcher block counters (see my last post for more about those):
So if you don't think you can pull off this casually-tossed-on-the-counter look (and who could, really?), then you might try something like this:
Or this:
And so you know that there are plenty of beautiful wooden accessories that work well for a more minimalist or modern kitchen, I give you these images:
And as always, I'll wrap up with a beautiful image to inspire your day :)
Just looking at this kitchen makes me exhale and relax. My heart rate slows, and I can even feel the furrow in my brow smoothing over, which is not easy to do these last few years... ha ha
I'm going to try to take this 'om' moment with me through the rest of my day, and my wish for you is that you can do the same :)
Until next time!
Susan
Related posts: Wood Kitchens: They're baaa-aaack
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