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Wood floor, counters and cabinets. Too much wood?

15 years ago

We are undertaking a major "green" kitchen remodel. We have decided on Tigerwood floors, fir cabinets and now are trying to decide on counter tops. Aside from (black) Paperstone we are also considering either Madrone or Black Walnut butcher block. The question is - how much wood is too much wood in a kitchen? Do you have several kinds of wood in your kitchen? If so - we'd love to see photos.

Comments (8)

danielle00
15 years ago
That sounds like a lot of wood to me. We are doing wood cabs and a wood floor, but our island will be paitned and we intend to do either soapstone or granite on the perimeter and marble on the island. I would consider some other materials in addition to the wood you have selected, although I am sure that an all-wood kitchen could be beautiful if well-executed.
furletcity
15 years ago
It depends on the varying colors and textures. If I remember correctly, fir is a pale wood with mellow markings and might provide a nice contrast to the busier tigerwood. Were you thinking of doing Paperstone on the perimeter, and bb on an island, or some variation of that? I think it could work.We have cherry perimeter cabinets topped with uba tuba, an antique pine island topped with cherry butcher block, pale cypress floors and log (pine) walls. It's a lot of wood, and might not be right for others, but we like it!
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We went for a contrast, mostly because I wanted medium-dark wood cabinets and we wanted to keep the original light maple floors. I've always thought contrast is better. However, we just finished our laundry room which is monochromatic in its wood tones and I love it! We had the original fir floors and wanted to use Ikea cabinetry but felt very limited in finding a fit with our old farmhouse. We ended up with oak cabinets and a butcherblock top. When it came together I realized it was all pretty much the same tone and color (along with the trim around the window) and it feels very soothing to me. We have some white shelving in the room + white appliances which provide contrast, but as far as the wood, I like the way it came together as much as our kitchen with the contrasts. Based on these experiences (and from seeing finished kitchens on this site but sometimes a 2D image just isn't the same as standing in a room) I feel as though either can work well. The trim in our house is pretty much the same color as our kitchen cabinets (but I painted the kitchen trim white because I wanted to lighten up the room with our darkish cabinets and dark counters.)
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Does wood cabinets plus ceilings plus floors = too much wood?
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Thank you all. Either painting the ceiling or the cabinets would be the easiest way to avoid too much brown wood everywhere. (I actually rather like modern high gloss lacquered cabinets.) White paint with a slight blue tint on the ceiling with walnut stained beams sounds quite pretty. However, my DH hates painted wood. Given the choice, he would much rather go with tile floors than paint the ceilings or the cabinets. The wood ceiling doesn't look too bad as is in the photo I posted. I like the depth of the color it is now - not too dark and overpowering - but the tone of the color is the problem. At certain times of day, as the light changes, the ceiling takes on an unattractive pinking or yellowish cast. One of our big problems in the house is lack of lighting, so we are adding as much as we can during the remodel, including cove lighting on top of the cabinets (we canÃ¯Â¿Â½t do any recessed lighting because there is no space between the wood ceiling and the roof), so the wood ceiling will become more of a feature with the lights aimed at it. Our contractor is supposed to do samples to see if we can dye the ceiling to a more neutral brown shade, without going much darker. We could try to do a greyish tone, like driftwood or aged teak, but that will probably be harder to achieve successfully over a large area than a brown tone. There are little wing walls that separate the kitchen from the dining/living area, so we could do separate flooring in each space. I do not mind using tile in the kitchen, it is the living room that concerns me. I agree that the trick to using multiple woods in one space is to vary the tones and textures, but they still must be complementary. We could leave the ceiling lighter, like it is, and use darker wood floors in the living room, but the furniture in that room is a mix of pecan stained cherry and teak, with medium-dark brown leather couches. I will buy a new contemporary styled rug in lighter tones (creams and blues most likely) no matter what we choose for flooring. In the kitchen, we are using white quartzite counters, stainless appliances and some glass doors in cabinets, so that will break up the brown wood. I still think wood floors in the kitchen at least will be too much with the cabinets and ceiling. I am really torn between lighter or darker walnut cabinets because I love both looks. Black walnut from Smallbone (not sure if this is stained or natural): Sanjuangirl, we are south of you, in San Diego.
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Wood Floors AND Wood Countertops? Too much wood?
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Take a look at Pirula's kitchen in the Finished Kitchen Blog--link below. She has slab cherry counters and wood floors, and her kitchen is gorgeous! Her counters and floor don't match exactly, but they look great together. (Dianalo is right about tones needing to match, I think.) Her counters were the inspiration for ours, although ours are oak. Do you have samples of the floor and counter you're thinking about? If the samples look good together, then I think you're OK. Oak counters with hickory floor: Here is a link that might be useful: Pirula's kitchen in the FKB
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Entirely too much wood
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My husband says it looks like a “safari suit” with all the wood. Thank you for all of your comments- it’s helpful to know I’m not alone in loving the wood. I am definitely implementing some/ most of your suggestions over the coming months- fridge, stools, etc. The microwave is actually broken and previous owners had hacked away at opening to make it fit so we will put in a nice stainless one with trim kit as well. The only wood not in the best shape is the island so either we need to refinish or paint. Thanks again all!
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ccoombs1
15 years ago
I think it MAY be a lot of wood, but it also could be very pretty. One little concern I had though. You mentioned that this was a "green" remodel. I don't know if you are aware of it, but not all Tigerwood is harvested in an environmentally friendly way. It is from Brazil, and much of it is stripped from the rain forests. Attached is a link that explains more about it and how you can insure that the wood you are buying was not taken from old-growth rain forests. Tigerwood is being farmed for harvest, but it is second-growth and not old-growth. Some companies are responsible, but unfortunatly most are not.

Please don't take this as criticism because that is really not how I meant it. I just wanted to inform you, in case you didn't know. Tigerwood is not usually a very green product.

Cindy

Here is a link that might be useful: rainforest relief
malhgold
15 years ago
furletcity - wondering if you have a pic of your island that you could post. Thanks!
Fori
15 years ago
Crazy guess, but if you happen to be in Oregon, lots of wood seems to be more "done" in the PNW than elsewhere, so you can get away with a bit more.

I think it can look very nice with the different textures, as long as your walls aren't paneled too! :)
furletcity
15 years ago
malhgold, here are some pics, but it's a log house so the lighting makes it hard to capture the colors accurately.IRL, the different woods look very nice together.
danielle00
15 years ago
furletcity,
what is that between your range and hood-- it looks interesting. we are not doing a tile backsplash, so I'm wondering what you put there-- is it decorative or functional? where did you get it?
furletcity
15 years ago
danielle00, it's a section of old wood railing I picked up at a local antique store years ago. Although I love the look of it, it can't stay since it's a total fire hazard.It would be a pain to clean and I considered mounting glass on top of it, but that would detract from the patina.Good luck to you!

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