Warming Up the Kitchen With Wood: A Dozen Examples from Real Homes

Sleek metal and elegant marble look great in the kitchen. Cabinets painted bold colors or fresh white give an instant face lift to a room. But nothing can quite replace the warmth of wood. For your inspiration files: twelve kitchens celebrating the natural beauty of wood in different ways, from rooms completely wrapped in wood, to spaces with a few well-placed wooden accents.

In Alison & Jeff’s Chill Scandinavian Meets Mid-Century Style, a brick accent wall is complemented beautifully by wood countertops, open shelving and accessories.

In Nicole & Ben’s Eclectic Family Pad in Western Australia, vintage wood kitchen cabinets are embraced and elevated by painting the cabinet base white and leaving the doors unpainted.

A wood ceiling and open wall shelving in A Modern, Vintage Houston “Tree House” help warm up a kitchen full of “colder” materials.

The natural edge wood countertop, rough wall planks and complementary accessories all combine to create a woodsy and warm dream kitchen in Kirsty & Simon’s Cozy Century-Old Coastal Cottage.

In one of the kitchens of Breeze & Lauren’s New Orleans Shotgun Filled With Vintage Charm, wood is everywhere.

The simple act of extending the wood countertop into a small wood backsplash adds warmth in Katy’s Eclectic and Always-Changing London Flat.

A nearly all-white kitchen is kept from feeling too stark by a lovely layered collection of wooden cutting boards in Chris and Amber’s Old + New Renovated Home. (Evidence you don’t need to wrap an entire room in wood to feel wood’s warmth.)

Another example of a few well-placed wooden accessories adding a powerful punch of warmth to a kitchen with “colder” materials, seen in Edith’s Clean & Colorful Oslo Townhome.

Why pick just one finish of wood when you can have more? In Shena and George’s Formerly Blighted, Beautifully Salvaged New Orleans Home, the kitchen is a medley of multiple wood finishes.

Need proof that you don’t need to use expensive wood to have its warm? In Seth & Elisabeth’s Shipping Container Home in New Orleans, affordable wood is used in a modern way to create a simple but warm kitchen.

In Carlos’ Custom DIY Loft kitchen, reclaimed wood installed in a pattern makes a warm visual impact.

The kitchen in Erin’s Warm & Wood-Wrapped Austin Budget Bungalow is proof that wood everything works!