Wood and stone in one kitchen: where each belongs
Wood and stone in one kitchen are not two textures placed side by side. They do different work. Stone takes water, the knife and the hot pan. Wood softens what you see from the doorway. What follows is where we put each of them, and why.
Where the stone goes and where the wood goes
The split follows the load, not taste. Stone or ceramic goes where the kitchen works: the countertop, the area around the sink and the hob, the wall behind them. Wood moves higher and to the sides: wall cabinets, a niche, the end of an island, a glass cabinet. Against water and a knife wood loses, while at eye level stone is cold — hence the division.
Stone on the countertop and on the wall
We work with quartz, ceramic and HPL. The sink cut-out in stone and ceramic is made by the stone workshop to our drawing; HPL we cut ourselves, in our own workshop.
We fit the sink under the worktop. The line of the surface stays unbroken, crumbs sweep straight into the bowl, and there are no side joints for water and dirt to collect in. An undermount fit is possible from 12 millimetres of thickness — that is the lower limit, we do not go thinner. In thin ceramic, 6 to 12 millimetres, reinforcement under the cut-out is compulsory.
In quartz, acrylic stone and ceramic the bowl can be made of the same material as the worktop. Then there is no joint at all. The price of that is known in advance: a damaged bowl is replaced together with the worktop, because it is one piece, and the lead time is longer.
The same stone often continues onto the wall behind the hob and the sink. It is not only about the pattern: a single panel has no tile joints to scrub.
Wood on the fronts
Wood on the fronts means veneer: oak, ash, walnut, wenge, zebrano. The texture is real, so two identical fronts do not happen — the species draws the pattern itself.
The colour range of veneer is limited by the species and the tinting — where an exact shade is needed, we paint MDF. In its own properties veneer is more dependable than a painted surface, and that is a separate matter from colour.
Veneer does not take direct sun. On a south wall that is worth keeping in mind when you choose the shade.
Solid wood only in the dry zone
We use solid wood where there is no water: a dining table, a bar surface, a shelf. In Helen’s kitchen a solid-wood table of this kind meets the island — it is a surface people sit at, not one you cut and wash on. Solid wood needs regular care, and it does not forgive water.
How much wood is the right amount
In a small room a kitchen entirely in veneer reads as one large cupboard. In our projects wood works differently: one wooden plane against a calm colour. Moonika’s oak niche, Andrei’s veneered upper row above dark matt fronts, the ribs of Helen’s island. The wood is visible — and it stays an accent rather than a background.
Come to the showroom
Stone and veneer are not chosen from a photograph: a stone slab has its own pattern, veneer has the direction of the grain and a shade that shifts in the light of the room. In the showroom we lay the samples side by side and choose the combination for your kitchen.