We like our kitchens and baths to be sort of furniture-like. A big row of cabinets doesn’t look right to me unless it displays some pretty interesting wood, colors, or something to make it interesting. If I can avoid upper cabinets, I’ll try as hard as possible to make sure there’s adequate storage without them. I like the open feeling that fewer uppers give. Of course, the key word is “adequate storage.” It’s gotta work.
Here are a few kitchens we’ve done that aren’t the standard white-painted ones. I’m assuming you’ve seen enough white painted kitchens that a couple of more aren’t all that necessary. We actually like hardwood cabinets with hand-rubbed oil, especially if there are kids in the family as they’re VERY easy to repair with the inevitable scratches. What follows is a bunch of pictures…
Pretty large curly cherry kitchen. It's beautiful in person. This is after the first coat of hand-rubbed oil, so all the colors haven't blended completely.
more curly cherry, with a Port Orford Cedar (old growth) desk top. The old growth cedar can't be cut, it can only be harvested from a natural blow-down or forest fire.
and again with the cherry. All bookmatched, matching boards for drawer fronts, etc.
Here's the log the curly cherry ktchen came from. That's right, we start with a tree, old-school style.
OK, one last curly cherry kitchen picture...
Nothing like quilted maple. The painted backround makes the wood "pop" even more.
Single-board bubinga countertop. The log this came from was 18 feet long, 7 feet in diameter.
Vanity made out of scraps and reject tonewood from guitars. Don't tell anyone the knobs don't match...
Flame red birch cabinetry
Flame birch cabinetry
cool countertop out of bubinga, an African wood
