Ah, kitchens are one of our favorite parts of a house. Why? Well first it's because there's food there! Second, it tends to be where the family gathers if your home is laid out correctly. It's where Mom tends to be a lot and like it or not, Mom tends to be the focal point of most homes!
Now that doesn't mean that Mom's exclusive place is in the kitchen. Far from it. But generally that is her "headquarters".
So how do we do a Log Cabin Style makeover on a kitchen?
First of all, working on kitchens tends to be a place where you can spend a lot of money. But first we will start with some of the less expensive things that you can change that will start to create that Log Cabin Style Feel in the heart of your home.
The Basics
As with many other parts of your home, the quickest and least expensive way to begin to create a Log Cabin Style Feel in your kitchen is to begin with your decor. A great place to start is a set of outdoor themed curtains and a complimentary valance at the window. It can make a real difference in the feel of your kitchen setting.
Next, think about the other decor items in your kitchen. We don't always have a lot of unused wall space in a kitchen that doesn't have cabinets on it. But if you do, that might be a great place for a painting or art print of some stunning outdoor scenery.
What kinds of things do you have on your fridge if any? Magnets, pictures of your dream getaway cabin in the woods somewhere, a favorite fishing trip with your family and friends?
While admittedly there aren't as many decorating opportunities in the kitchen as elsewhere in your home, a kitchen does have a few options that are unique to it.
Consider your dishes. Could you find a nice set of plates, saucers and bowls with a woodsy theme to them to exchange for your current plain-jane set?
Also consider that sometimes kitchens combine functionality with decoration by hanging a series of utensils or pots and pans in an open area as a functional display rather than storing them in an enclosed cabinet. If that's the case, does your display look cabin style or like something from a space ship that doesn't really seem to fit the cabin picture.
Consider the space on top of your cabinets if there is one. This is one location that we have seen used to really bring the cabin feel into a kitchen. We've seen artificial pine bows or autumn leaves used as a background for carved wooden animals, bear style cookie jars, metal sculptures of animals, some deer antlers, or many other cabin themed decorations.
Then the last area that we have seen uniquely decorated would be the back splash area above your counter tops and below the upper cabinets. A few outdoor themed pot holders hung on a rack or some other simple decor fits well there.
Oh yes, do you have a bar in your kitchen? How about a nice outdoor themed light fixture hanging above it?
Existing Kitchen Makeover
Before we dive all of the way into a complete kitchen overhaul, let's think about what we could do on a tight budget to change the look of a conventional kitchen to a real Log Cabin Style Kitchen.
One of the first and most simple things you can do to your cabinets is to change the handles, pulls and hinges to something that looks more log cabin style. There are several handle and pull designs that are very nature oriented. Some of them have leaves or even animals cast into their design. These can tend to be much more expensive than standard hardware but you will have to decide if you are willing to pay for that neat design that you just can't live without.
Many times though, just a simple color change in your hardware can make a huge difference in the feel of your cabinets. As of this writing, some of our favorite colors for Log Cabin Style Kitchen hardware are oil rubbed bronze, copper, brushed nickel or black.
Normally you can find these pieces for a couple of dollars each, meaning that you could make this upgrade happen for a relatively small cash outlay. Plus the only expertise that it requires is your ability to safely operate a screwdriver!
The Cabinets Themselves
When it comes to a log cabin style look for your cabinets, natural rustic wood is always the best in our humble opinion. (well, not sure about the humble part) The current trend in cabinet finishes tends to be toward painted finishes. Here is where this subject becomes really subjective. In a real log cabin kitchen, you can get away with a wide variety of cabinet styles, because the logs themselves create the ambiance. However, when you are trying to convert a conventional kitchen to a Log Cabin Style Kitchen, be careful. Painted cabinets, no matter how rustic looking, tend to move you towards the Farm House Style rather than the Log Cabin Style. While this is not a major thing if you are aware of it and prefer that look just be aware that it needs to be a part of the thought process.
Now, with all of that being said, if your existing cabinets have a nice looking natural wood style finish and you like them, then just update them with some new hardware and other accessories. They will look great in their new surroundings.
But, if your existing cabinets are truly ugly, have a very outdated color or finish on them, or are already painted and you want a completely new look but don't have $10k for a brand new set, here are a couple of things that you can do.
Refinishing Your Cabinets
So just a little warning here. Yes it is possible to strip the old finish off of your cabinets and refinish them. Possible, Yes...Recommended? Definitely not!
Every person that we have ever spoken to who has attempted this process has told us that they were hating their decision by the time they were halfway through their first cabinet. It is a messy, tedious and difficult process and even when you are "done" the results are less than spectacular.
The problem lies in the fact that when trying to stain wood, any defect in the wood, any bit of left over glue or any bit of left over old finish, causes the stain to be blotchy and not look right. The reality is that even with the very best paint stripper, it is almost impossible to get all of the old finish off.
So with all of that being said, can I give my cabinets a facelift without having to completely replace them? Yes. Here's how we have gone about it in the past.
First of all we highly recommend painting them instead of trying to restain them. You could repaint the entire set including the doors and drawer fronts and it will look really nice.
But our favorite cabinet overhauls have involved painting the boxes and face frames and then purchasing new hardwood doors and drawer fronts. Stain and clear coat them to achieve your desired look and then add new handles, pulls and hinges to trim them out. This process gives you a very nice, fresh and Log Cabin Style Look to your old kitchen without having a huge cash outlay.
New cabinet doors have cost us somewhere around $30 each on average in the past just to give you a starting point for your guesstimates. Don't try to purchase doors from your local mega box store. Search for a real cabinet shop and ask them where they get their doors. Some of them build their own, but many of them purchase theirs from a shop the specializes in doors and drawer fronts. Either way would be a great source. You may choose to have them apply the stains and finishes for you or DIY it!
A couple of words on paint choices here. For the very best advice, go to a specialty paint store and ask for their recommendations specifically for cabinets. Our experience says to stay away from both oils and latex's. You want something preferably that is water based and an acrylic so that it gets hard instead of remaining soft like a latex. Oils work, but take a long time to dry. Again consult a paint expert and follow their suggestions.
If you choose a cabin style color for your boxes, (even white works well), and add some beautiful doors and drawer fronts of maybe rustic hickory, rustic maple or knotty alder and then finish them with either just a clear coat or with a nice stain and then clear, you will end up with a very nice looking, low-buck Log Cabin Style Kitchen overhaul!
Brand New Cabinets
After years in the building and remodeling business, we are going to share some pieces of advice here that may not seem fair at first, but this is based on years of experience in working both in and with cabinet shops and watching DIY homeowners try to install their own kitchens and having been asked to install new cabinets that the DIY guys gave up on. We have worked as professional cabinet installers for cabinet shops as well as built and installed many kitchens on our own. We have even helped out a homeowner friend who thought it would be a good idea to buy a used set of cabinets out of one kitchen and try to install them in another kitchen with a completely different layout. A word to the wise, don't ever try that unless you are a highly skilled carpenter with a huge amount of patience and creativity!
We tell you all of that in the hopes that you will actually listen to this advice and avoid some heartbreak and maybe even marriage problems!
The reality is that cabinets are actually quite simple in their physical makeup. However the problem lies in combining sometimes as many as two dozen boxes and all of their associated parts into a beautiful cohesive kitchen when you don't truly have a clear understanding of the thinking processes of the person who actually designed the cabinets. If you choose to add to that the complexity of the modular generic units recommended by the mega box stores, you may be setting yourself up for a fall.
Here are some thoughts.
Many DIY oriented home owners think that they would like to save some money by taking on the challenge of installing their kitchen cabinets themselves.
There is nothing wrong with that mindset, at least in the beginning. Now we are not trying to discourage the DIY minded person here. What we do highly recommend though is that you don't tackle a kitchen install unless you have some really strong finish carpentry skills, you are a really good problem solver and you are willing to ask questions.
The first thought of most DIY enthusiasts is that I will run down to my favorite mega box store and pick out my own cabinets from them and install them myself. That will save me a bunch of the labor cost because I don't have to pay for the install and, after all, everyone knows that mass produced things are always less expensive than custom built ones, right?
Sounds good on the surface, but in our experience, that isn't the way it works in reality. Without trying to sound too harsh, in one sentence, the cabinets that you can buy at the mega box stores are, in general, more expensive and of lower quality than those produced and installed by a reputable cabinet shop.
The ones that most stores stock on the shelves might actually be cheaper at first glance, but in reality they are truly CHEAPER! As in poorly made out of lower quality materials.
If your discerning DIY eye happens to catch that and you decide to check out some of the nicer brands that they have set up in their beautiful kitchen displays, the first thing that you will find out is that they are way more expensive than the ones on the shelf. And as someone with lots of experience in this field, we will tell you that they are often still lacking in the quality of materials and workmanship.
Another important thing to understand when viewing the beautiful kitchen displays, is that they were installed by an experienced professional who is familiar with each manufacturer's assembly techniques, not by the average DIY homeowner. One more thing that concerns us is that if you go into a store where these displays have been set up for several years, and look closely you will be able to see how the wear and tear of daily use is not kind to these units.
Wow, all of that sounds very negative and maybe it is, but we want you to be happy with your kitchen for years to come. Again, with all of that being said, you can still go that route if you choose. It's just that now you can go into it with an educated eye instead of blindly.
So What Do We Actually Recommend?
First of all, use a custom cabinet shop and be willing to shop around. The price on your kitchen can vary significantly from shop to shop.
Generally speaking, in our experience, custom built cabinets tend to be less expensive than the nice ones available in the mega box stores, and the build quality and materials tend to be better too.
Also be aware that each individual shop is going to have their own designer take the measurements of your own individual space and, with your input, will design a set of cabinets that fits your needs. Remember that different designers are going to see your space from a different perspective and will probably come up with slightly different options. It might be that one designer will come up with a particularly creative solution that the others didn't think of. Hence, another reason to shop around and get bids from several shops.
One of the absolute biggest plus's to custom built cabinets is that they are actually built specifically for your kitchen. That means that they fit perfectly instead of being assembled from several standard size generic units. If you have a space that is 33 3/8" wide, they will build you a cabinet that exactly fits in that space instead of trying to make a 32" one fit with a spacer. Those are the kinds of things that don't show up in the nice neat professional displays at the store.
It is also possible that you may be able to find a shop who will allow you to install their cabinets in your own kitchen yourself for a modest savings in price if the DIY bug is still a motivating factor.
Quality Of Build
Here are some factors to consider when choosing which shop to use. Most customers never even know to consider these questions, but they are characteristics that have to do specifically with the quality of the finished product that you receive.
Generally there are two different build styles for modern cabinets, face-frame or european style.
Face-frame is basically the method where the cabinet box is built and then a "face-frame" is built out of wood and attached to the front of that box to serve as a decorative framework to hang the doors on and attach the drawer hardware to. This leaves a decorative space between doors and drawer fronts that in our opinion, is a very attractive element of a traditional wooden cabinet.
European style cabinets are essentially different in that they have the same basic box as a face-frame cabinet but without the face-frame. The front edges of the box sides are covered with a nice wood veneer and then the doors and drawers are mounted to the sides of the box itself, This necessitates slightly bigger doors and drawer fronts because there can be no space between them.
The argument can be made that you actually get slightly larger drawers and door openings this way. It gives you a slightly different overall look where the doors and drawers are all set much more closely together so that you lose the visible reveal of the face-frame normally seen between them on the more traditional style.
So which is better? Ah, that is the $64k question. It is really a matter of personal preference. However, from our obviously biased opinion, for a true Log Cabin Style Kitchen, the more traditional look of a face-frame style cabinet fits the bill better. A european style cabinet, to us, feels a little more modern or...city, or maybe...european??? Do you see what we are trying to say here? Plus in the years of experience that we have in working with both styles, we feel that the face-frame style gives you a slightly stronger cabinet as a foundation.
With all of that being said, either one works fine.
As far as other considerations in the quality of materials that are used, here are some of our thoughts.
Plywood or Melamine? While melamine is actually particle board with a colored plastic layer on each side, we honestly haven't seen anything that would deter us from going that route versus plywood. Generally speaking, melamine is easier to clean which is a big factor for most people.
Much more important to us is the thickness of material that is used in the walls, floors and shelves of the boxes themselves. Traditionally, cabinets have been constructed from 3/4" material, be it either plywood or melamine. In recent years there has been a move to use 5/8" material or even 1/2" in some cases. This has been done mostly to save money in the manufacturing process as well as weight which is really only a factor in the manufacturing and installation processes.
We have seen many shops who have converted over entirely to using 5/8" material and seem to be producing a decent product with good durability. 1/2" material is always a red flag to us that the finished quality has been sacrificed on the altar of cost. We would personally avoid anything made from 1/2" plywood or melamine, either one.
The biggest place that you will notice a difference between 3/4 and 5/8 material is in your shelves and the floors of your cabinets. 5/8 material will begin to sag and deform under much less weight than 3/4. Think about that pile of plates, saucers and bowls that all tend to end up on the same shelf in your kitchen. There is actually a considerable amount of weight there. The thicker material just inherently adds more strength throughout your entire kitchen. For you the homeowner and end user of the kitchen, the slightly higher cost, (less than $100 probably) leaves you with a significantly better product in the long run.
If you can't find a shop in your area that still uses 3/4 material, it's not the end of the world, 5/8 will work just fine. It's just a personal preference of ours that we like to recommend.
A final word on melamine here. Be aware that it comes in at least 3 different colors, white, tan and a wood grain pattern. Most shops only use one color and don't offer the alternatives. Just be aware if that matters to you.
Probably the last area of materials quality to be concerned with is hardware, specifically hinges and drawer slides. Most custom shops will be using good quality hardware to protect their reputation. Hardware is one of the weak points on the mega box store generic cabinets, They have a very real tendency to use less expensive hardware that tends to not function well and to wear out quickly.
If you have the option choose the better grade of hardware that most shops use as their standard.
When it comes to the even higher levels of hardware options, (this is a personal preference point here), our advice is that there is no real reason to opt for the high end and more expensive soft close door hinges and fancy drawer slides that are sometimes offered except in certain cases where a drawer will be planned to carry a lot of extra weight. Then spend the money. The new soft close slides and hinges, or having full extension slides on all of your drawers, are mostly an expensive "doo-dad" for those with a lot of extra cash to dispose of. They are cool yes, and somewhat functional, yes. But worth the money...??? That's up to you!
Guess there is one more thing we should mention here. There are literally catalogs full of every imaginable accessory to go with your cabinets. Things like lazy susan's for the corner cabinets, appliance garages for your countertops, spice racks for the inside of your doors, utensil organizers, cookie sheet racks, slide-out cookbook holders, tip-outs for under your sink, dish soap and sponge holders, under cabinet lighting, etc, etc, etc! There is stuff that you have never even imagined was available before.
Some of these are very useful additions and some of them sound really good, but in practice don't work out quite as well as originally envisioned. All of them add significant extra cost to your final bill. If you are on a tighter budget, be conservative now and you can always order them later to have installed when you have some loose cash laying around!
Log Cabin Style Cabinet Doors
This is an area where you will have to make some very personal decisions as to style and color combinations. There are a few styles of doors that are definitely more cabin-ish than others, and there are other factors that come into play. Mostly budget, availability and functionality.
The simplest and least expensive alternative is to use slab type doors that are simply cut out of a sheet of veneered sheet goods and have some router designs applied to the edges and maybe some design in the middle. They are simple, functional and inexpensive.
After that you get into any number of designs that are cut out, shaped and assembled by hand. These take you up the price ladder depending on how labor and machinery intensive they are.
We are going to focus on raised panel doors here because they are the most common and traditional style of doors installed on cabinets. There are many other options available if you want to do some internet searches and if you can find someone willing to build them for you.
With raised panel doors, we recommend that in a Log Cabin Style setting, you choose to use a simple square top and square bottom style of door. There are any number of other alternative patterns that become more and more fancy and decorative. These work well in almost any setting, but remember, we are trying to create a set of cabinets here that bring the Log Cabin Style Feel into the kitchen all by themselves. The fancier that you get with your door designs, the more you move away from a rustic feel and into a more formal feel. Exactly the opposite of what we are trying to accomplish here. Our suggestion here is to let the natural beauty of the wood do the talking instead of the styling of the cabinet doors.
One style of door to avoid like the plague is one that seems simple and beautiful at first glance, but over a very short amount of time has a nasty tendency to self-destruct! This style is made by gluing up a series of boards side by side with the grain running vertically and then to glue on top and bottom stringers with the grain running horizontally. It makes a truly beautiful and simple door. But Beware! You are about to learn about one of the powerful destructive forces of nature over the next couple of weeks!
You will be somewhere else in the house and hear a loud pop, almost like a gun shot. Later on you will find that one of your doors has popped one or more of its glue joints and now your edges don't line up any more. This happens because of the natural expanding and contracting forces that occur within the wood itself from moisture absorption and temperature differences. Those forces are stronger than your glue joints! We have seen a worst offender case where the difference in the width of the center boards and the length of the top or bottom rail had changed by as much as a quarter of an inch! And...it is impossible to fix, because in a few months, with the changing of the seasons, the wood will move back in the other direction.
Raised panel doors avoid this natural phenomena by allowing the center panel of the door to float in the groove where it is installed rather than being glued solidly in place.
Again, our recommendation for beauty, functionality and price goes to the square top, raised panel doors.
Log Cabin Style Colors And Finishes
Okay, let's take a few minutes here to talk about finding the right colors and finishes to enhance the rustic, woodsy feel of your Log Cabin Style Kitchen Cabinets.
As we mentioned above, you will want to move away from an antique farm house feel with mostly painted cabinets and closer to a cabin style feel, where you choose to accentuate the colors and patterns of the natural wood.
Almost any generally natural colored wood works okay in a real log cabin. But again if you want your cabinets to be one of the major contributors to your Log Cabin Style Ambiance in a conventional home, you need to focus on the wood that you choose and emphasizing its natural beauty.
To do this, look for woods that have a strong grain pattern, lots of color variations, knots, insect damage, etc. As the tree matures and heals itself it naturally creates these variations in color and grain pattern. Some people especially in conventional homes go to great lengths to hide these variations. We believe that the quickest way to adding a Log Cabin Style Feel to your kitchen is to accentuate them rather than hide them.
Ask your cabinet shop to purposely choose wood with lots of character in it. Most shops will be familiar with rustic style woods to use.
As we have mentioned before, the main ones that get used for this purpose in our area are rustic hickory, rustic maple, knotty alder and to some degree knotty pine. There is another one that we have used and really like on a personal level but other people have a love it or hate it opinion of, that is something called wormy maple. It has very interesting grain and color patterns caused by worm damage to the tree. Do a google images search for it to see what we mean.
There may be some others available and commonly used in your area. Just ask your cabinet shop to tell you about your options.
When it comes time to finish your wood, simply applying a satin clear coat is an easy and very attractive way to go. Most of the time, this is the way we choose to go. However one thing to consider is that, over time, wood naturally begins to turn yellow or even orange. Some people like this, but if you wish to prevent it or at least disguise it to some degree, have your wood stained before the clear is applied.
A word about stains here. Almost any color will look good in a Log Cabin Style Setting because most stains are natural colored. Just be aware that stain tends to hide the natural variations in the wood that we have just been talking about. The darker the stain the more it hides the colors. Lighter stains tend to do so to a lesser degree. Have some samples made up before making your final decision.
Rustic Style Trim
This is one area that many people overlook as a way to add a more rustic feel to their cabinets. In most cabinet installations, there are several pieces of wood trim added to give them a finished look. We like to use anywhere from a 2-4 inch crown molding around the top edges of our upper cabinets. there are also sometimes vertical pieces of trim along the walls to hide any gaps between the cabinet and the wall. Also, if you choose to use a laminate surface for your counter tops such as Formica, the edge of that is usually trimmed with either more laminate or a wood piece called self edge.
Crown Mold
With crown mold, the bigger the better as far as we are concerned, at least up to a point. If you can fit 4" molding, it is about perfect for most applications. 6" is almost always too big and tends to overpower the cabinets. But with whatever size you choose, here is a big secret, pick out the pieces of raw molding that most people would throw away! Look for big knots, even ones where a huge piece of the wood is missing, leaving a hole. Even natural cracks and other defects if strategically placed are stunningly beautiful in their rustic natural state.
Small Vertical Trim Pieces
This is usually about an inch wide and 1/4" thick. Except for the bigger is better clause, the same rules apply as with crown molding. The more natural character, the better.
Self Edge For Laminate Or Tile Tops
Usually this is a wood or particle board strip applied to the edge of the counter top and normally it gets covered with matching or contrasting laminate as a trim strip. Sometimes a small bevel is cut with a router between it and the top itself revealing a narrow strip of the wood. It makes a very attractive accent. However, the most rustic and Cabin Style look that we have found is to follow the guidelines with our other rustic trim pieces and look for pieces with lots of natural character to them. A word of caution here though, avoid big open knots as they tend to catch and snag on your clothing as well as being difficult to clean.
This will leave you with a really nice and extremely attractive edge to trim out your laminate or tile top. Plus it is actually easier to install and finish than a laminate edge.
Counter Tops, The Crowning Glory Or The Big Let Down!
Literally your counter tops can be the crowning glory or the biggest let down of your entire Log Cabin Style Kitchen! Why do we say that?
Because unfortunately, in our opinion, many people choose to go with a very neutral choice of counter top finishes and top off their beautiful kitchen with...a whole lot of...nothing!
They do this, when for the very same amount of money, they could have chosen another color or pattern that is simply stunning.
The choice is yours of course, but our plea is, please choose something that will make your kitchen stunning instead of drab! If you make the right color and pattern choice, your counter tops actually become a conversation piece when you have guests over instead of an after thought.
What Are Your Options?
Really you have about five different basic options as we see it. Actually we just thought of a sixth one that has gained in popularity lately. Those would be, Laminate such as Formica, Composite Solid Surface such as Corian, Tile, Stone such as granite or marble, Hardwood, and Poured and stained Concrete.
Personally our top two choices are #1 Granite in a strong natural color pattern, and #2 Laminate in a color and pattern that looks like actual granite.
Here are the different options and their pros and cons.
Laminate
Usually your least expensive and most common option. Yet, a properly installed laminate counter top is an excellent choice. It can be beautiful and is extremely durable within reasonable limits. It is also relatively easily replaced if you tire of your color choice or damage it too severely. There are literally hundreds of colors to choose from and this is where we have a bone to pick with so many homeowners. There is very little difference in price between your color options except that some of the nicer, granite look and texture styles do cost somewhat more. Although they are still in the lowest cost category of any of the other options.
Our beef is that with all of those color options we have seen too many people choose the most drab, nondescript piece of laminate to top off their brand new kitchen, all in the name of picking a "neutral color" that will go with anything. Blah! (Oops, editorial comment there!)
Why not choose a color and pattern that stands out and in our case, magnifies the Log Cabin Style Feel of your kitchen instead of detracts from it?
Take for an example, the last two remakes of our own kitchen. 20 years ago we chose a dark green marble pattern for our counter tops. It never failed to get a ton of oohs and aahs from our guests, unless they couldn't stand green! When we redid it a couple of years ago, using the lessons learned from that experience, we chose a dark brown and gold natural granite pattern. This time the effect was even more stunning because we had upgraded the cabinets from white painted boxes to natural rustic maple and walnut boxes. It is gorgeous and attracts even more compliments than the first iteration.
On these stone look laminate patterns, what makes them so magically real looking is that they are actually a giant photograph of a real piece of granite or marble. With today's technology, that image can be reproduced right into the surface of a piece of high tech plastic. It is an amazing look for not a lot of money.
One of the things that we most enjoy is the versatility of laminate. It can be laid in almost any shape that you can imagine and create out of the particle board used for its base. It can be rectangular, round, star shaped or almost any other shape you can dream up.
Granite Or Other Stone
Granite has become the top of the line choice in counter tops in the last decade or two and probably will remain that way for a while. It's benefits are that it is strong, durable heat resistant, easy to clean, beautiful, and unlike many other stone products, very stain resistant.
It's drawbacks are that it is heavy and hard to work with without very specialized tools. Therefore it's not very DIY friendly, although you could do the actual installation if you chose to. However most professionals will prefer to do their own installs so that they can get them perfect.
As for other stone types, there are reasons that they have not maintained their popularity as well as granite. Marble for instant in easy to stain, therefore not the greatest choice in a kitchen. Others have their own set of similar drawbacks.
But for a perfectly rustic, natural looking counter top for your Log Cabin Style Kitchen, if you have the budget for it, granite is almost impossible to beat!
Tile
Tile used to be quite popular because of its durability and heat resistance. It is still an excellent option from an aesthetic viewpoint, if you are willing to deal with its drawbacks that have taken it out of favor with most homeowners. Those are that the grout joints make it difficult to clean and the joints if not kept sealed properly, can be stained easily. The other drawback to tile is that because of its multi-piece construction, it may be difficult to find a level spot to set a plate where it doesn't rock a little bit.
The pros of tile also include that it is very DIY friendly and the range of colors and styles are almost endless. If you choose to go with tile, remember to use styles that look like natural stone, keep the colors in the natural ranges and by all means, keep the grout sealed.
Hardwood
While we have seen some really attractive hardwood counter tops, there are several things that we can imagine that would be drawbacks or cons to using it. These would include low resistance to heat damage, stains, dings and abrasions. Remember too that wood has a nasty tendency to expand and contract with the weather which can wreak havoc with its ultimate appearance and usefulness. If anything we would restrict its use to non-kitchen areas for these reasons. If you do choose to use it, we highly recommend hiring someone with considerable experience in installing it correctly.
Composite Solid Surface
This type of top was extremely popular about 20 years ago and is still a viable option. Although in our opinion, it doesn't work particularly well for our purposes here because, by it's very nature, it is not a natural substance but a plastic. If you find a particular color that you like, it may still fit into your plans. It's just not among our top recommendations for this scenario.
Poured And Stained Concrete
While most of us don't immediately envision concrete as a decorative and user friendly surface for our kitchen counter top, it is fast developing a segment of loyal followers. It is strong, durable, heat resistant, and if properly sealed and maintained, very stain resistant.
Least you think we are talking about plain old gray concrete here, think again! You can stain it almost any imaginable color. Do a google images search for concrete countertops. You will be amazed at the wide variety of colors and textures as well as visible aggregates that can be incorporated into it.
While this is touted as a DIY friendly process, after everything we have read and watched on it, you might not want to dive right in on your own kitchen. Consider hiring someone with some experience here. You might tackle a smaller project such as a vanity if you want to get your hands dirty.
Either way, it should be a style that fits very well in a Log Cabin Style Kitchen.
After all of this discussion about the only other possible options that we can think of would include stainless steel and some of the new resin finishes. With resin, we are still not sure how it holds up under high heat situations. You will have to do your own leg work here, sorry.
Back Splashes
This is probably the last area of creating a Log Cabin Style Kitchen. Back splashes are generally made from either laminate, tile, composite or some kind of metal, although there are several other choices available.
Most of the same pros and cons exist here as with a similar counter top material.
Smoothness is not nearly as important as on a counter top. That is why tile makes such an excellent back splash material. It is durable and makes a great compliment to any of the counter top surfaces that we described earlier. Just remember to keep it sealed.
We actually use it on most of our back splashes. However, any of these options work very well.
Conclusion
Need we really say more?
We have probably beat this drum to death, but the key to creating a Log Cabin Style Kitchen experience, whether remodeling or starting fresh, is to emphasize the natural grains and colors of the wood, look for lots of variety in your wood and use natural stone styles and colors in your counter tops and back splashes. In a nutshell, that probably sums it up quite well!