5 kitchen décor ideas using wood
Our kitchens are no longer just a place to store and cook our food. Rather than a small space tucked out the way, we are making the cooking more of a social activity and an important part of hosting. Kitchens are now designed and built with socialising in mind and it has become the hub of the home, a mixture of the functional but also aesthetically pleasing. The kitchen has become a space to allow us to express ourselves and with a clever bit of design thinking we can transform the utility into the more architectural. Here are some good tips on where to bring the personality.
1. Worktops
Worktops are an important place to use your budget as they will no doubt see the most action. Solid timber worktops are very hard wearing and easy to revive when they get a little worn out. The natural colouring of timber gives you a great opportunity to showcase an organic look which can bring warmth and personality rather than a flat synthetic colour. Choose your timber carefully here as some wood species are more hardwearing than others like European Oak and Maple for example. Light woods can brighten up a space and dark woods can create more contrast and mood.
2. Shelving
Dont forget a key factor in choosing shelves is to consider what you are putting on the shelves. The items on the shelf take centre stage and its important to imagine shelves when they are full. Another good tip here is shelf depth. What are you putting on your shelves and will they need to be 200mm or more in depth? Some wood types can be tricky to get hold of in board widths over 200mm so you may need to contact your timber merchant to find out which ones you can buy without having to pay for jointing. Ash or Poplar come in wide boards which can be a good practical choice.
3. Furniture
Furniture for the kitchen has to be pretty solid and reliable to withstand the punishment it will be subjected to throughout its busy life. A kitchen table and chairs for example can be used for a lot of messy activities. Cheap doesn’t always mean low quality and Pine can be used in thick slabs to build strong tables. Scratches and dents from years of love can almost become part of the look on a characterful piece of solid timber. Ask your timber merchant for wood samples and accompanying prices so you can explore the options.
4. Cupboards
Kitchen cupboards when integrated are made up of a basic carcass, usually MFC or MFMDF which is melamine faced chipboard or MDF. These are then faced with cupboard doors and end cladded panels. The carcasses are hidden by these pieces and the doors and clads are a great way to bring the personality to the overall look of the kitchen. Using a painted finish can enable you to expand your range of colours to make them really bespoke. Great timbers for painting can be Poplar/Tulipwood for a very smooth finish and Ash if you want to see the grain come through the paint.
5. Interior décor
Sculptural elements can help to break some of the predictable square lines in a kitchen and give a focal point to catch the eye. If you are going for clean white or grey colours for the clinical design but need an element of warmth, this could be where hints of natural wood can help. American Oak or Ash can be used as vertical battens to add space dividers screens to provide semi private screens and zone off spaces. Ask your timber merchant about planed all round battens to see what effects you can create.
