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Kitchen designers rely heavily on wood in their material lists. Whether you are looking for a kitchen that combines prep and dining areas in one seamless space, or you prefer the traditional look of a kitchen that is accompanied by a classic dining room and combined with a dining area, think of wood as the primary design material in every furnishing style.
Given the choice of wood cabinets and floors – cherry, oak, pine, teak, bamboo, and exotic products – any kitchen can incorporate the beauty of these sturdy natural materials. The solid and durable nature of wood gives it a more durable look than materials that seem to define durability, even concrete.
When you start redesigning your kitchen, consider using wood as an option to achieve every look you can think of. For example, light woods make modern kitchens warm and inviting and add luxury to traditional food preparation areas. Whether you choose from a range of prefabricated wooden cabinets or commission your own designs for a completely individual look, you can achieve elegance with stained or non-stained wood.
Wood equals flexibility
You can think of wood cabinets as an additional cost to your kitchen remodeling, but when you look at the long-term perspective of your redesign project, you’ll see the real savings on natural materials.
Sure, you can minimize the cost of cabinets with products that limit their wood content to door and drawer fronts, and replace side and back panels with chipboard. When you buy these products, chances are that every penny you save will be spent on remodeling your kitchen sooner rather than later when your inexpensive cabinets are showing their age quickly.
Real wood offers a longer service life than simulations and greater flexibility for future renovations. You can refinish or even paint wooden cabinets to change their look and redesign your kitchen without a huge investment.
It is difficult to implement these options with cheaper materials.
When looking to design a kitchen that is an instant, lasting classic, choose wood for elegance, pleasant charm, and lasting value.
Think about light
Many modern kitchen designs rely on light wood to give lively work areas the look of a sunny day. As tempting as lightly painted wooden cabinets may be, over time their hues can obscure their reception. In contrast, you won’t go wrong with natural wood.
Choose light wooden cabinets as the dominant central color or use light woods as accent shades in a two-tone design. You can create a neutral space that supports dramatic color additions from other materials such as curtains, wall treatments, furniture, and artwork.
Light wooden cabinets also go wonderfully with almost any worktop material. But watch out for light colors, which make an impression that is too subdued.
Light, dark, smart
Combine light wood cabinets with dark wood floors for a dramatic look that is both comfortable and stylish. Under the feet, wood offers an easy-care option that is also gentle on your feet and back.
Look for ways to incorporate contrasting woods through the use of dramatic built-in furniture like a porcelain cupboard from an antique cabinet. Add a built-in bookcase to display valuable cookbooks, both modern classics and fascinating volumes from bygone days.
Marry tiles with wood
To add interest to your kitchen remodel, combine wooden cabinets with wood-based tile countertops. Whether you restrict the tile to countertops or add it as a backsplash treatment that leads to over-the-counter cabinets, you can add an interesting piece of drama in the form of patterns made from contrasting tile colors or with inlays of handcrafted accents.
Mix the color
Painted wooden cabinets add a stylish touch. So also deep, rich patches of wood on an island or peninsula. Choose light colors or translucent splashes of color and expand the design element with cabinets that reach up to the ceiling, right up to your walls.
Above you can conveniently store items that you need less often. Make space below for everyday utensils, tools and important small appliances. Using white or cream colors on real wooden cabinets can open up the appearance of a small kitchen, dramatically increase the storage potential and bring light into a room without a window. The same treatments in a larger room add volume without increasing maintenance.
When faux is kind
Some kitchen designs benefit from the appearance of exposed beams to add overhead emphasis and define ceiling treatments. When redesigning your kitchen, maximize the value of your budget with imitation wood beams that add a contrasting touch – and leave most of your budget to the wood cabinets that live at eye level.
Synthetic wood passes the eye test high up and can serve as a useful mounting platform for hanging hardware, which you can use to display valuable copper pans.
Add a lot of polish
If your tastes go with a modern rather than traditional look, wood works well in polished, shiny designs that use marble or granite countertops, dramatic black accents on the cabinet side, and other highly reflective treatments. Glazed surfaces, wooden cabinets with glass fronts, backsplashes and washbasins made of masonry: all these techniques and materials contribute to the attractiveness of mirror-like surfaces.
Make it practical
Light woods offer some sneaky perks when it comes to maintaining your redesigned kitchen. Not that you’ll stick to your house cleaning schedule, but light-colored surfaces can hide a few dust particles better than dark wooden cabinets.
Whichever woods you choose, you should keep them clean to maintain their beauty. If you choose to have custom-made wooden cabinets in your kitchen, ask the carpenter for recommendations on the best products to clean and polish.
Stay up to date
Regardless of whether your style leans towards modern or traditional looks, your kitchen should present a durable, classic look that expresses your personality in durable materials.
The styles of kitchen remodeling change more slowly than other elements of the interior, simply due to the high cost of combining appliances, countertops, wooden cabinets, and everything else that goes into remodeling your kitchen. Most homeowners can afford to repeat paint or wallpaper, and even reupholster furniture to beautify other important living spaces more often than they can commit to a major kitchen remodel.
When you redesign your kitchen, choose the wood cabinets that match your decor ambitions and design a kitchen remodel that will enhance the look and functionality of your food preparation workspace.