Wood island countertops... an odd request for kitchen places??

12 years ago

I live in New Orleans. I realize we're not on the forefront of kitchen design and can be a bit more traditional than say, New York, etc. But I'm now on my third kitchen showroom for layout/pricing. All have been really great at everything except the darned wood sourcing. At each one I've said that I love the look of a light perimeter stone countertop with a wood (walnut?) island countertop. And I've pulled out photos. Our island top will be roughly 5x6.

All of them have looked at me funny like this is not something that's done very much or maybe never at all. All of them have said that they'll research on where to source this out. So this makes me wonder HOW much I'll end up paying. So is this something that I should ask our contractor instead? Do contractors source this out? I see wood islands, so why am I getting odd looks when I ask about it at local kitchen showrooms?

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Comments (8)

dash3108
12 years ago
LOL - I agree! I live on the Northshore, and when I first fell in love with the idea of a walnut top for our breakfast bar, I also ran into the same problem. I now work at a kitchen showroon, but I know we're not supposed to advertise on here, so I guess I can't say which one. We do carry CraftArt, but I've never had anyone show me how we'd order from them, nor have I had anyone ask me for wood countertops.

I will say that I did find a kitchen showroom in Mandeville who quoted me a John Boos walnut top - really not a bad price compared to two estimates I had gotten online from other parts of the country which were very $$$. If you go on John Boos' web site and look for dealers, the kitchen showroom I'm talking about should come up - that's how I found them. Now, she didn't look thrilled to work up the quote for me, but she did it.
nini804
12 years ago
We were fortunate that our builder's own home has a gorgeous two level, 3" thick walnut island. His home is in the neighborhood where we are building, and I saw his when I was taking something to his wife...it was super great not having to explain the whats/whys of what I wanted to him! :) We used www.jthompsontops.com here is NC, but I imagine if you could find someone local to template, they could construct it for you. They were so nice to work with! My kitchen isn't complete...but my top is on my island, and OMG, I really love it! We did dark walnut with a thick ogee edge.
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User
12 years ago
Here is a link to Ricca's salvage. If it were me I would contact them and other local salvage places...there is some beautiful wood out there...I would have loved to use cypress and old heart pine for an island. See what you can find that will be totally unique. c

Here is a link that might be useful: NOLA salvage
gregincal
12 years ago
Here in California our kitchen designer promoted wood island countertops. She mostly uses CraftArt.
mythreesonsnc
12 years ago
nini... Let's see pics, it sounds amazing!!
babs711
Original Author
12 years ago
dash, at least you know where I'm coming from! I'll look for that dealer. I did look for local dealers and one of my kitchen places IS one! That's part of why I'm so confused!!

nini, I'd also love to see a photo!

trailrunner, I forgot about Ricca's. I need to go there for some other things anyway. I'll check there.

gregincal, I'll check into CraftArt. I've seen them mentioned before and forgot about them. Thank you.

Thank you all very much!
User
12 years ago
babs: DH and I grew up in NOLA. We still have family there so we get back a couple times a year. I always love to go by Ricca's and look at everything they have. Also you might find a cool piece you can use for an island if you check out Magazine street. I still have my eye out for the perfect piece of furniture /salvage to use an island. You are lucky to be right there so you can shop. Good Luck. c
Mercymygft
12 years ago
Wow...just checked out that CraftArt site...beautiful!!

Wood island countertops... an odd request for kitchen places??

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Wood island countertops... an odd request for kitchen places??

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