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Handsome hardwood: Create a
'Living Kitchen'
with clever cabinets and delicious details
Want to spot the latest kitchen trends? You might want to check out the living room first. Today’s “living kitchen” features hidden appliances and richly varied hardwood cabinetry with all the detailing of fine furniture. The result? The heart of the home now looks more like the rest of the house.
The kitchen is no longer hidden, it’s open to other rooms, requires more detail, more thought to make sure it fits seamlessly into the overall feel of a home.
Cherry and maple remain the leading stars in today’s kitchens. Quarter-sawn oak is holding steady, and alder is growing more popular, especially in the West.
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Appliances are better than ever but harder to see in today’s kitchens.
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“I could take you into a room, and you would not be able to tell where the refrigerator is,” says Sub-Zero spokesman Paul Leuthe. “People want to make the biggest appliance in the kitchen go away.”
Rich hardwood paneling ties in with the rest of the kitchen and cleverly conceals dish washers, refrigerators, freezers, warming drawers, ice makers and trash compactors in the style known in the trade as the integrated look.
The newest integrated appliances fit flush with other cabinets and drawers. The hinges and frames are hidden, and the handles typically tie in with those throughout the kitchen.
Today’s integrated refrigerators are placed in the most practical spots: an island refrigeration drawer for fresh greens and beverages, an under-the-counter ice maker nearby. (The same units also show up in bedrooms, entertainment areas and workout facilities.)
Most people install appliance cabinetry while they are ordering custom cabinets for the rest of the kitchen. You can, however, find stock cabinet panels to cover appliances or even recreate the look of existing cabinets.
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Spice it up with darker finishes |
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Warm, rich tones in the spice and coffee families are moving to the forefront. Glazes add an aged look, even to painted white cabinets.
Darker tones are making an aggressive comeback to the forefront of kitchen and bath design. Pennville Custom Cabinetry offers an abundance of rich wood species toned to perfection as well as many specialty finishes including antiquing, distressing, glazing, washing and more.
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Combine woods, finishes and cabinet sizes |
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Blending varying wood species, finishes and cabinet sizes to achieve architectural interest has become commonplace in today’s designs.
It is advisable to be subtle and done with the right mix or a design can look “forced”
One example: Install maple base cabinets with a mocha finish under wall cabinets made of soft white bead board. Another idea: Set off the island with contrasting cabinets.
Or, add a few 15-inch deep wall cabinets among the standard 12-inch deep cabinets for more storage space (great for those oversized dinner plates) and variety. Bump a base cabinet about three inches from the wall to mix it up further.
Choose taller cabinets for new or old homes with high ceilings.
In homes with eight-foot-high ceilings, cabinets typically top out at about 7 feet with a one-foot-high space above. Now, with most new ceilings starting at 9 feet, 54-inch wall cabinets often go all the way to the top. That’s even the case in larger rooms with up to 11-foot-high ceilings.
Consider adding paneling or beams to bring even more attention to the ceiling, Valcourt suggests.
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Dress up the kitchen with artful hardwood accents |
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Carved hardwood details (including trim, onlays, corbels, handles, pulls, furniture-like feet, legs and finials) are transforming ordinary kitchens into one-of-a-kind statements. The accents are dressing up cabinets, islands – even hoods and large mantles over cooking ranges. Some actually are works of art.
Enkeboll Designs in Carson, Calif., offers more than 550 architectural carvings made of northeastern hardwoods in designs inspired by antiquity and folk art from across Europe and Asia.
“There is a way of living that has a certain grace and beauty. It’s not a constant race for what is next, rather an appreciation of what has come before,” said the late Raymond Enkeboll, who founded the company in 1956.
Enkeboll’s carvings are most popular in maple, followed by cherry. The company also offers alder and black walnut as well as white and red oak.
Onlays feature detailed equestrian themes with bridles, spurs, hats and gloves, as well as more simple leaves, ribbons and shells. A five-and-three-quarter inch wide trim sports starfish, seahorses, fish and plants. For stately corbels (often used underneath countertops): grapes, flowers, shells, swans or dolphins. Not right for you? How about the head of a cherub, elephant, horse or lion?
“Accents add a sense of permanence and elegance to a home,” says Enkeboll’s Ilda Vaja. “A touch of these classic designs can add a personal touch, even in modern kitchens with lighter finishes.” |
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Can I “stack” stock moldings for a custom look?
Absolutely. Custom-built hardwood moldings can be expensive, but chances are you can get the custom look you want on a modest budget. The standard width of trim is five inches. By combining some of the more than 350 molding profiles and shapes that are available off the shelf in stores, it’s easy to build up or “stack” standard profiles to create the effect of a single piece of wood several inches wider in virtually any style.
How can I combine stock pieces of wood to create a baseboard?
Many baseboards, especially those in new homes, can use some sprucing up. Visit your local home center or lumber supply house to find at least two pieces of stock hardwood that, together, can create the look you want. For a traditional baseboard, start from the floor with a relatively flat trim board that is four to six inches high. Add a piece of trim molding with a convex or rounded shape (such as a basic quarter-round) at the bottom of the flat trim board. Then top off the flat board with a recessed profile. The finished product should measure six to eight inches high.
What type of wood molding should I choose?
Nothing stands up to wear and tear better than naturally beautiful American hardwood. That’s why woods like oak and maple are the best choice for window and door casings and anything else likely to be bumped, such as baseboards, paneling and chair rails. To make sure the trim you choose is solid, check to see if the grain pattern on the face of the product continues over the ends and sides. When budget is an issue, it’s possible to get the look of a more expensive hardwood, cherry for instance, by using a cherry stain on a less expensive hardwood such as poplar or basswood. This technique works especially well in decorative applications above eye-level – crown moldings and recessed ceiling patterns, for instance.
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How much of the wall should wainscoting cover? |
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Wainscoting traditionally is made of individual tongue-and-groove solid hardwood boards. It typically is either the height of a chair rail (running along the bottom third of the wall) or the height of a plate rail (covering the bottom two-thirds of the wall.) In a room with eight- to nine-foot-high ceilings, wainscoting at chair-rail height typically falls 32 to 36 inches up the wall. For higher wainscoting, at least 60 inches is usually best. To pick your spot, consider dividing the height of your room by three and drawing a line at the point you find most visually appealing.
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How can I dress up my fireplace mantel? |
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