What to Know About Using Reclaimed Wood in the Kitchen

Everyone is buzzing about reclaimed wood. But why, how and where should you use it? In the kitchen, there are plenty of fantastic opportunities, from floors and cabinets to island accents and floating shelves, all the way up to ceilings and ceiling beams. You can also add the material in furniture, accessories and light fixtures.

Why choose reclaimed wood in the kitchen? For one thing, lots of these woods are no longer available — today’s lumber comes from much younger, less dense trees. “The warmth from the natural colors from the reclaimed wood’s patina is remarkable, and the integrity of the wood due to the tree’s age is unmatched,” says Malachi Milbourn, who creates furniture from reclaimed wood. “We enjoy uncovering the character, texture and beauty that salvaged timber has to offer.” And so should you. Reclaimed wood will bring warmth, rustic charm, character and a sense of history to the heart of your home.

More: How to Bring the Beauty of Reclaimed Wood to the Bath

Why Use Reclaimed Wood?

It brings a special charm to the kitchen. Reclaimed wood lends a sense of history, as you think about where the wood lived in its former life — perhaps your cabinets were crafted from a sturdy beam, your floors were recycled from a house that is no longer standing or your butcher block came from a 19th-century charcuterie in Paris. It can also contrast beautifully with the sleekness of surfaces like stainless steel, tile and stone.

It can add age to a new kitchen in an instant. This stunning European-style kitchen looks decades old, thanks to the planks of reclaimed white oak on the ceiling and island. The planks originally came from a mushroom farm. The carpenters planed, sanded and treated the planks with an ecofriendly clear sealer.

Wood fabrication: Exclusive Woodworking



It gives you the chance to use a wood that is no longer available. One of the homeowners of this Connecticut home had fallen in love with the aged look of kitchens she saw on her travels to Africa — nail holes, mortise and tenon joints, and imperfections in the wood just made it better in her eyes. The pros at Crown Point Cabinetry got their hands on this American chestnut wood from a dismantled barn in Virginia and made the cabinets and other wood accents in the room from the wood.

Be aware that working with reclaimed wood does have its challenges. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth the extra effort and labor costs. The pros on this project first had to X-ray the wood to find the hidden nails, then remove them and replane the boards. They finished the wood with a honey stain and a glaze.

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It comes in boards much wider than those of most new lumber. The designers at Historical Concepts used boards made of reclaimed heart pine in this Florida vacation home. They range from 12 to 14 inches wide.

They bought these boards from Willis Everett of Vintage Lumber Sales. Everett also taught the designers the trick of mining the attics of old homes for wide vintage floorboards.

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You can also have large beams turned into hardwood floors. These beautiful wide-plank floors are made from resawn 200-year-old fir beams. They are unstained and have a clear polyurethane finish.


It has interesting one-of-a-kind details. Artist Tandi Venter covered the front of this midcentury modern–inspired kitchen in reclaimed barn wood and engraved it with her work. She also left a little note that someone had scrawled on the barn years ago. It says, “I Miss Amy.” Thus, this is just the spot for sipping a martini and putting forth theories about who Amy was and who missed her.

Stools: Toledo, Restoration Hardware
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It’s a great way to recycle building materials during a renovation. After ripping out a pony wall made of high-quality fir during this Portland, Oregon, bungalow renovation, the designers at Encircle Design and Build reused the wood wherever they could throughout the project. In this clean-lined contemporary kitchen, the wood forms a striking high backsplash. They used a durable lacquer-like varnish to protect it from cooking and water splashes. Not only does it look handsome, but it also kept that lumber out of a landfill.

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The designers at Historical Concepts often mine from the homes they renovate for wood. This countertop is made of heart pine beams they salvaged from the home during the renovation.


How to Use Reclaimed Wood

There are many places to use reclaimed wood in the kitchen, from floors to countertops, open shelves to ceilings. The following examples show some great ways to add it to the style mix.

Contrast crisp white with warm rough-hewn textures. In this cabin, interior designer Lauren Piskula created a strong contrast in the white kitchen with boards reclaimed from a hundred-year-old Wisconsin barn. The rugged grain of the boards looks wonderful next to the elegant Cambria Torquay countertops.

Wall paint: Stonington Gray HC-170, Benjamin Moore; Madeleine Barstools: Restoration Hardware

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Provide a contrast to sleek industrial style. Shelves in this kitchen combine iron straps and vintage boards, mixing old and new with aplomb. The shelves bring the reclaimed oak seen on the wide-planked floors up the wall, creating continuity from floor to ceiling.

Custom shelves: Alba Custom Iron


Add the right amount of rustic style. At this cozy lake home in South Carolina, reclaimed-oak counters have been planed and finished for a clean look, warmed by all of the rich tones in the wood.

Be aware that when using reclaimed wood on countertops, you’ll have to refinish them every few years, particularly around the sink. You’ll also have to keep on top of any splashes or standing water, something that is not a concern with most other types of countertops. If you are mixing wood with more durable stone countertops, try to use the more durable surfaces around the sinks and in spots where you’ll be setting down hot cookware.

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Where to Use Reclaimed Wood

In the photos above, we’ve seen reclaimed wood used on floors, ceilings, floating shelves, countertops, backsplashes and cabinets. But just one reclaimed piece, like this tabletop, will stand out as the star of the room when placed in the middle of other pieces in solid colors.

Create a beautiful kitchen tabletop. This farmhouse table serves as a rustic focal point in this Shaker-style kitchen. Milbourn, whose company is called Against the Grain, made the table from reclaimed oak, finishing it with natural linseed oil and beeswax. The table base is made from reclaimed Douglas fir that was given a dark stain and distressed. The materials were salvaged from old barns and historical buildings in Oregon.


Use it in a light fixture. This piece of wood has special meaning to the homeowner — it had been part of his great-grandfather’s workbench. Designer Heather Alton had it fashioned into a unique custom light fixture over a kitchen island.

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Find a vintage butcher block to use as an island. Give it a good scrubbing and you can use it as a chopping board. Evidence of your slicing and dicing will only add to its appeal.

Interior designer Charmean Neithart wanted to add a big chunk of rustic to this luxe Carrara marble and gray kitchen and rough things up a bit. This interesting butcher block lends a sense of history that is an instant conversation starter.

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Pick up on a reclaimed-wood ceiling with other accents. This homeowner used reclaimed wood overhead and down the side of this island.




Bring it in with open shelves. Note the thickness of these shelves, which stand out and connect to the boards in the adjacent room’s ceiling. The wood came from an old mill in upstate New York.


Have a carpenter craft custom cabinets from it. In this New Jersey Shore house, architect Richard Bubnowski had these reclaimed-oak cabinets finished with a whitewash stain and a DuraVar clear finish for protection.

“From the mineral stains around each nail hole to the beautiful colorings from oxidation over a hundred years of weathering, reclaimed wood can’t be replicated in a manufactured process,” Milbourn says. If this look appeals to you, think about investing in reclaimed wood for your next kitchen project.

More:
Bring in Warmth and Character With Reclaimed Wood
What to Know About Adding a Reclaimed-Wood Wall

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