Here's one of my favorite kitchens......it almost makes me wish I did butcher block instead of granite!

Here is a link that might be useful: cherry countertops

Lots of wood and butcherblock counters done here. I did a search in the Finished Kitchens Blog for wood counters. The results page is linked below. Just click on each person's name to see their kitchen photos.

The only thing is, it doesn't list Pirula's kitchen, which is one of my favorites: http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/2008/05/pirulas-kitchen.html, or, I think, Trailrunner's either: http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/2007/11/trailrunners-kitchen.html

Here is a link that might be useful: wood counters in FKB

I had birch counters in the last house & I will be putting fir ones in this kitchen. They weren't the traditional "butcher block" they are strips, but I think this might be what you are asking for?
I loved them, had no problem with them at all, but you do have to do some maintenance on them.
{{gwi:1559975}}

also I just looked at trailrunners' kitchen blog & her wood counters are beautiful, I would check it out.

Hey, I looked at the pictures.
What my wife has been saying was right, it's alot of warmth but you pretty much have to have white cabinetry for it to look good? Ocassionally I see a few dark brown cabinets mostly an island with the checkered end grain (you know, that look) and that looks good too.

Mfrog, I am so in love with your kitchen. I don't know how you were able to leave it. Any chance you remember the paint colours on the walls and cabs?

poorowner, I don't think you have to go with white cabinets to pull it off. I think as long as there is a contrast, it would look fine with stained cabinets. You could go with a cherry top and birch cabinets, or go with dark cabinets and a birch top. Either would look fine although I think I'd like the darker cabinets and a lighter top better.

I don't think the cabs have to be white...Just anything that offers some contrast...Doesn't even have to be a lot.

Unless you like a tone on tone look. The kitchen from which I got my inspiration for my island had some tone on tone (wood counter on wood cabinets), I think. It was in This Old House Magazine. I'll have to see if I can find it.

How about light grey-beige cabs with mahogany or walnut, or even deeply stained cherry? I like the cool/warm contrast. That's what I'm thinking for my kitchen with may-be terracotta floors. I seem to be drawn to materials that are kind of similar to what we have now.

We really like this set here in this kind of color and was wondering if a traditional style maple countertop will work with the color or not. Since the drawers are a maple color I pulled out the drawers and try to visualize but seems to be a bit odd.

{{!gwi}}

also I am planning to use granite tiles for the floor (really small kitchen less than 10x10) so it may seem to have too much stone going on to have granite for counters, or is there such a thing as too much stone.

budge1;
The colours were Martha ones, mixed at HD. Merangue for the cream cabinets & trim, arbor green for the lowers & walls are teabath. Sorry, but I don't know the numbers.

poorowner;
my cabinets were green & the wood looked good, but if you are thinking of wood cabinets too, I understand your concern.

I love the look of butcher block countertops.

Poorowner;
We installed maple bb from Ikea. You are correct about the cost. We have about 45sq.ft. and it was around $300 and $40 for Waterlox. We did get the thinner bb though. The pictures show it a bit darker than in reality. In my heart I really wanted soapstone, but am growing to love the bb. In all honesty I don't even really like to cook, I just wanted a nicer room to be in and couldn't justify the cost. We even got our cabinets from the Kraftmaid outlet and flooring (to be installed) from an auction. Hope the picts. help. Excuse the mess it is still a work in progress.

poorowner, check out zaron's kitchen on the fkb it is one of my favorite kitchens!

poorowner, I'm so happy with my butcher block I've driven myself mad in the attempt to insert this picture (plus knowing there are a thousand other things I should be doing with that time!) so you could see it.

I had the same concern, wood with wood, and you can see how ours is turning out. I had enough money budgeted to buy one piece of granite which is on the island opposite this counter in our galley kitchen. I believe each of the counters is beautiful.

I couldn't have a kitchen without a butcher block. We had two maple blocks, one 3 feet the other 4 feet for over 30 years and loved them.
Now the new island is a 30 inch by 97 inch block and the counters are quartz, which are also great. The block is from John Booz and came with free shipping from the Butcher Block Co. on the web.
It doesn't need to be all or nothing.
Good Luck

Sorriso...That's gorgeous!

rhome410, thank you for the compliment. Do you love how I've adorned it with a fruit fly death machine? :)

No problem, sorriso, I can relate! Did it work? Mine like that didn't do much. The only thing that I found that works is to put the fruit away at night and pour a half cup of bleach down the sink for overnight.

Sorry to hijack your thread, poorowner...But I think your worries should be put to rest about having butcher block on wood cabinets after that photo!

Wow really nice pictures, I think I have made up my mind. :)

Do you think undermount sink with the butcher block is bad? Seems to me open end grain and getting splashes on it would be bad, even if sealed.. it takes quite a few coats of polyurethane to seal the end grains.

poorowner,
I'd love to tell you it will be fine since I have an undermount sink, but I really don't know. I saw another member on this forum have an undermount with butcher block so I decided to go for it. My sink is so deep that not too much water ever makes it up that high though. Also, the Waterlox makes the water bead and not penetrate the wood. We did put on five top coats however. We also put bb in our kids bathroom counter. I knew they would destroy it going in, but wanted a cheap update instead of a complete remodel. It has been there about a year. The only trouble spot is where they would put a cup that had water on the bottom of it in the same spot for several days. When I noticed it, there was a tiny bit of black and the wood had formed a hump and was soft. After drying out you really don't notice anything.

In my previous kitchen all of the counters were maple butcher block. We loved the look and were very happy with them. We moved after 6 years, but in that time had no problems. I'm currently waiting for my cherry, edge grain butcher block to be finished for my new diy kitchen. It will be topping an antique pine, two-piece hutch that was converted into a 4x6 island. The perimeter cabs are cherry in a pecan finish with uba tuba counters. I'm hoping that the cherry will look okay on the pale pine. Otherwise, I'll be further investigating the dark tung oil finish that was introduced in another post.

We agonized over undermount sink. Talked to everyone and decided that the block has to be maintained anyway. We put a million coats of mineral oil on regularly. Undermount sink doesn't seem to be a problem and the sink is so deep the cut edge doesn't seem to get very wet.

rhome410: It did attract the fruit flies and reduced the population but never eradicated it. I used cider vinegar and replaced it every few days. I was in the midst of an incredible infestation when I googled and found the directions. I was astounded by how they were immediately attracted and in they went!

Sorriso, We once had so many of them, I resorted to vacuuming them out of the air! That's when I tried that trick and it they weren't impressed. We're getting them now, since our compost is kept in a bowl on the counter, and I'm on the lookout for something with a lid.

Poorowner, I'd definitely use Waterlox to seal the end grain and underneath, rather than a 'regular' poly. The Waterlox is holding up much better for us, and yes, we did put on several coats to be sure.

Can Butcher Block counters be stained? I want a mahogany stain but wondering if that would be safe for a countertop?

ideamom, here's a thread from the ikeafans forum with a lot of different ideas about food safe staining:

Here is a link that might be useful: staining butcher block

I don,t have any pics but my last kitchen was white with butcher block counters. I was happy with the look and when I put in the kitchen at this house we did granite tile countertops with a nonstained butcher block on the island . I love the contrast of the unstained butcher block with the dark stain on the rest of the island. .