Choosing a kitchen from wood - 8 tips for the buyer

wooden facades for the kitchen

Kitchen made of wood is highly valued for its many advantages:

  • Nobility and "warmth" of wood texture;
  • The ability to grow old beautifully;
  • Durability with proper care;
  • The possibility of restoration;
  • Naturalness;
  • Great variability in the design of facades.

However, for those who are planning to buy a wooden kitchen set, you need to keep in mind the disadvantages, features, nuances of choosing such furniture - we collected them in a small reference for the buyer.

8 points you need to know before buying a wooden kitchen

We must immediately clarify that the concept of "kitchen made of wood" conditionally implies only partially wooden kitchens. After all, in them, most often, only the facades are made of solid wood, and the frame is made of MDF, laminated chipboard or plywood.

See also: Wooden Counter Top Guide

1. A tree is capricious and more expensive

Here you need to be prepared for such minuses:

Crack in solid wood frame
  • Since wood is susceptible to sunlight, facades can change their tone over time.
  • Because of the sensitivity of wood to humidity and temperature changes, facades can crack and become covered with small cracks. Therefore, all year round, including during the heating season, it is necessary to maintain a relative humidity of about 60-75%, for example, with the help of a humidifier. When cooking food, be sure to use hood (it should be a powerful and desirable dome).
  • Kitchen facades of wood require care and care: rubbing scratches, lubrication from time to time with water-repellent wax or oil.
  • Kitchens made of solid wood almost always cost more than kitchens with MDF fronts.
  • Wooden doors are made in standard sizes and shapes (can not be rounded).

2. Wooden facades are not always completely wooden.

Kitchen fronts can be of two types of design:

  • Shield - when the doors are made of solid shield (we will talk about them a little more below);
  • Framework - such doors consist of a wooden frame in which a panel of veneered MDF or chipboard is inserted. Also the central part can be glass.

Which facades are better - frame or solid? There is no definite answer here, since the quality and strength of them is the same, the difference is only in appearance.

Solid facades look laconic, and focus on the texture and design of the tree, so more fit into the interior modern kitchen in minimalism style, high tech, Scandinavian and so on. And it is also easier to care for them.

Kitchen with solid wooden facades

Frame facades are more suitable for traditional interiors in a classic style, provence, chebbi chic, country music, Art Deco etc. They can have a variety of decor - from carving to patinated.

Frame facades of the kitchen

3. Facades are made not from a solid array, but from a eurobar or veneered MDF / chipboard

In mass production, shield doors are extremely rarely made from a solid array due to its high cost, laboriousness and unpredictability in operation.Therefore, you should not take the risk and order such a kitchen from private masters - although it is really traditional and beautiful, with time it can “lead”.

Furniture factories most often make facades of spliced ​​wood (eurobar), that is, of shields assembled from dried wooden bars. And this not only reduces the price of furniture, but also makes it durable.

4. The secret of a durable kitchen is in hardwood doors.

The best and most durable kitchens made of natural wood are sets with facades made of hard wood: oak, ash, walnut, beech, cherry, acacia, as well as tulip (tulip) wood. It is these types of wood are the most durable and moisture resistant.

  • Oak - kitchens made of solid oak are considered the “benchmark” and the most noble furniture option. Oak is valued for its durability, peculiar texture, moisture resistance, strength and hardness. Its color can be very different: light yellow, light pink, greenish-gray, red-brown, etc. The photo below shows the interior of a classic kitchen with a set of bog oak (scroll).
  • Bog oak wood kitchen
  • Ash - almost not inferior to oak for durability and strength. It has a pronounced relief and rich colors (from light pink to dark brown).

Ash wood kitchen with patina

  • Beech - durable as an oak, but lighter and rosy, lends itself well to tinting in any color.

Kitchen with beech fronts

  • Cherries - loses to oak and ash for durability, but is highly valued for its rarity, luxurious reddish tint and characteristic texture. However, keep in mind that most often the headset, declared as “kitchen from the array of sweet cherries,” actually has a panel of MDF and cherry veneer, and the frame is alder.

Kitchens from lacquered solid cherry wood

5. The secret of economy-kitchen - in the doors made of soft wood: pine, birch, alder

Pine, spruce, cherry, birch, alder are cheaper because of low performance and the prevalence of growth in Russia. They belong to soft woods, and therefore are often damaged by accidental blows with sharp and heavy objects. Another feature of such facades - not pronounced, almost smooth surface.

Birch kitchen

  • When choosing a pine kitchen, give preference to facades made from solid-wall shields, as they are more durable.

The following photo shows a set with pine facades in the interior.

Pine Kitchen

6. The design of the kitchen depends on the processing and finishing coating.

Kitchen made of natural wood can be treated with transparent, translucent and opaque (covering) coatings.

In the first case, the doors retain the natural woody pattern and texture (sometimes color), since they are only tinted with a stain, and are protected from above:


  • Varnish - the most practical option, as it best protects the fronts from household pollution, prevents the absorption of odors and moisture. Varnish is glossy or matte, polyurethane-based (preferably) or water (worse). The lacquer coating will last 5-7 years, and then the facades need to be restored.

Dark brown lacquer kitchen

  • Waxed or oiled - The traditional method of processing wood, when it is covered and polished with water-repellent oil or wax. The result is a very nice and beautiful surface. It is these kitchens made by Italian manufacturers, but in operation they show themselves worse - the fronts are afraid of oily stains, absorb odors and moisture.

The finish color of the kitchen depends not only on the type of wood, but also on the tinting color. For example, light ash can be painted under a dark walnut (pictured below), and oak under a cherry, etc.

Ash wood veneered kitchen

The colors of the fronts with visible woody patterns can be divided into groups of colors: red-brown, dark brown, light and whitened.

As for opaque coatings, color enamel is used here. Under it, the color of the tree is no longer visible, but the relief is preserved to some extent (depending on the relief of the wood).

  • Classic beige kitchen

Wooden kitchens painted with enamel can be of any color, but more often it is either neutral base tones (white, gray, beige), as well as blue and green colors characteristic of the Provence and Country style design as in the photo.

Blue kitchen from the array in the style of Provence

7. It is only necessary to buy a wooden kitchen from a trusted manufacturer that provides a guarantee.

Wood is very demanding to all stages of processing and in itself is very sensitive to external influences. Industrial marriages occur even in the most deserved factories, what can we say about ordinary manufacturers.

  • Understand that the furniture is defective, fails immediately, so it is important to purchase it with a guarantee. So, for example, if literally 1 month after installing a kitchen, you can find that it suddenly “led off” or began to go to varnish, then this means that the kitchen was made of raw wood.
  • By the way, when buying a wooden kitchen from an Italian manufacturer, be prepared to comply with all clearly defined rules for its maintenance and operation, otherwise the factory will remove all warranty obligations. However, to ensure the desired temperature and humidity is necessary in any case.

Of course, you may get lucky, and an inexpensive kitchen will last for many years, and yet you should not risk it.

See also the material: Guide to the selection and planning of kitchen furniture.

8. And a little about design.

The fronts of the kitchen in a classic style can be decorated with: decorative carvings, figured details, milling, cornices, pilasters, balustrades and gilding.


  • The more decorations have doors, the more difficult it is to take care of them and the greater the risk of "overloading" the interior of the kitchen.

In the next photo, the fronts of the headset are not only patinated and milled, but also decorated with cornices, columns and gilding.

Kitchen from the massif of a tree with eaves, pilasters, a patina and milling

The effect of old age and antiquity of facades is achieved with the help of brushing of panels (highlighting relief), patinating, creating artificial cracks on enamel (craquelure), artificial creation of grooves, as if eaten by bugs, etc.

Solid ash kitchen

  • The smaller the kitchen - the brighter and laconic its facades should be.
  • Keep in mind that dark brown, dark blue and black surfaces are difficult to clean - even small dust and dirt stains will be noticeable.

Black wooden kitchen

  • The more textured a tree is, the less decor it needs, because its beauty is self-sufficient and does not need an excess of decorations.
  • If the doors of a modern kitchen are made of solid shields, then you can feel free to choose facades made of exotic types of wood or originally processed, for example, brushed as in the interior of the following photo example.

Bleached Oak Kitchen

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1 Comment

  1. Dasha says

    Who told you that the facades of wood do not bend?

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