For years Kitchen Designs has been implementing solid wood butcher block style tops for island counters varying from maples to cherries to beautiful teak wood tops. Although they are absolutely beautiful, they might not be the best choice for a family with a busy lifestyle. Wood tops require routine some maintenance to keep them preserved. Some clients don’t mind this step, but some do. For those that would prefer the look of wood without the maintenance, we like a product called “WoodForm” created by JM Lifestyles. They created a light-weight concrete counter that that looks exactly like a wood including all the textures of the real thing. The beauty of this product is that it doesn’t stain. It has closed pores, so it is extremely food-prep friendly and cleanup is a breeze. The best part is that it requires absolutely NO MAINTENANCE!
In the kitchen below, we installed a 14” concrete “wood” countertop in a beach-front community (photo below). This top not only had the wood grain showing, but we implemented a 3” thick live-bark edge as well as an open end grain on the two short ends. This home is located on water on Long Island’s Gold Coast overlooking the Long Island Sound, and the kitchen has spectacular views. Since the clients love to entertain, their main goal was to incorporate natural-looking features into their kitchen that complimented their views of the beach. The resulting kitchen countertop mimics a piece of drift wood that may have washed up on the shore. The characteristics of the final kitchen countertop were an uncanny resemblance to the real thing.
You may be wondering about that cabinet with the birds… yes those are real birds in a custom designed birdcage cabinet for the kitchen. In the corner of the old kitchen was an ugly stainless steel bird cage, which triggered the idea for this custom birdcage.
If you’re thinking about a concrete “wood” countertop, you will be happy to know it is engineered to be quite versatile and can be used indoors and outdoors. It is the perfect choice for residential as well as commercial projects and are a great choice for a wine room or bar.
Posted in Kitchen Design, Countertops, Wood | Showroom: © Kitchen Designs by Ken Kelly, Inc., 26 Hillside Avenue, Williston Park, NY 516-746-3435 | Editors’ Finds for your kitchen
