DESIGN ELEMENTS: WOOD KITCHENS

We were honored recently to find the kitchen, above, from a Big Sky, Montana, home designed by JLF Architects founder emeritus Paul Bertelli selected by Architectural Digest as a “from the archives” favorite example of “striking wood kitchens.” In the article, AD praises wood’s aesthetic flexibility, dubbing the style “the ultimate classic” for kitchen design, providing “a textured backdrop for the rest of your kitchen material palette.”

Incorporating salvaged wood in our mountain legacy home designs – both to impart a regional sense of place and history and to warm and soften more contemporary lines and materials – has been a JLF signature since that first Montana cabin built with timber reclaimed from the remnants of 80-year-old buildings on the site more than four decades ago, as we describe in the introduction to our book Foundations: Houses by JLF Architects. The now oft-copied approach has resulted in buildings that appear “as if they had always been there, enduring and timeless” – the very quality that inspired AD to reprise the kitchen image from their original 2013 feature on the Big Sky home. The rugged and refined culinary space makes multiple use of character-rich wood – from ceiling, beams, walls and floor to cabinetry, shelving and island – complementing the weathered material with marble countertops and backsplash, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Wolf stove and Waterworks sink for the ideal rustic-luxe result.

PC: Lucy Call

As proven by many of JLF’s legacy home designs, not all wooden kitchens need to be rustic. For a modern home we designed in Park City, Utah, the idea of trees standing against a blue-sky backdrop provided the inspiration for the dramatic custom-built cabinetry, above. To achieve the unique wood-meets-cobalt effect, we created a proprietary process with our design-build team at Big-D Signature, slicing walnut to mimic natural tree forms and melding the wood with translucent blue panels to create a “forest of walnut trees.” The design enhances the connection with the surrounding forest on view through wraparound windows, creating the sense of the kitchen as a treehouse aerie.

PC: Audrey Hall

The kitchen of this Jackson Hole house plays a contemporary cabinet design in creamy washed oak against the rustic, reclaimed timber ceiling. Wild sage growing in the surrounding landscape inspired the color choice for backsplash tile and window-seat cushion, earning the kitchen notice in a Living Etc. article on “Sage Green Room Ideas That Ooze Serenity, Sophistication, and Style.” Jackson Hole interior designer Tayloe Piggott sourced the verdant velvet fabric for the kitchen visitor’s bench, handy for keeping the cook company while taking in Teton mountain views. Meanwhile, the cabinets’ light tone suggests the dry meadow grasses that also grow wild in the surrounding landscape.

Working with Big-D Signature and WRJ Design to create a Jackson home with views that take in nearly the entire length of the Teton Mountain Range, we again used lighter wood to meet the homeowner’s desire for a light-filled, efficient kitchen. The expanse of windows invites daylight and premier views, and the blond, wire-brushed oak cabinets further brighten the room. To encourage a feeling of intimacy for the family gathering space, we intentionally lowered the ceiling from the soaring vaulted volumes of the adjacent living and dining areas. Salvaged oak for the floors and reclaimed barnwood for the ceiling reflect the Wyoming setting, while the custom range hood and steel ceiling beams provide additional contemporary notes.

PC: Audrey Hall

White painted kitchen cabinetry created a desired farmhouse look, above, in this JLF/Big-D Signature design-build Wyoming house. The kitchen also incorporates heritage materials such as reclaimed barnwood and antique hand-hewn timbers. Again, the choice was made to define the area with a lowered ceiling, this time rendered in smooth white to help define the space within the home’s open plan. Sleek Carrara marble for the backsplash, a quartzite island top, and state-of-the-art stainless-steel appliances add a luxurious tone to the historical rusticity of the warm brown posts and beams and the gray salvaged-barnwood island.