Rustic Kitchen Cabinets

Are you bored of the same old kitchen cabinets? Well, then it's time to give a facelift and a new 'avatar' (look). A great way to give an excruciatingly sophisticated and urbane kitchen is to have a rustic decor. Cabinets with a rustic appearance, simply put, refers to country style cabinets. These have a rugged and rural feel. Even if the other appliances and things are up to the mark and modern, these can impart a drastically varied look to your kitchen. Such cabinets are normally made of wood, which is 'the' material, which precisely gives that rustic and folk look to the cabinets.

Basically, this style has evolved from a long tradition of cabinetry and wood work, which includes Scandinavian, French Provincial, early American colonial, Rustic and a few other schools or styles of kitchen design.

Cabinetry Styles

A cabinet can be a built-in or can be free standing. Best examples of built-in designs are the ones in modern kitchens. The latter are available as off-the-shelf items, and are portable. Cabinets also belong in the style, where they can be hung on the wall or can be in a few cases suspended from the ceiling. Another way of differentiation of the cabinets is that they can either have a face frame or would not have a frame at all. The ones which are frameless are also called European style.

Cabinets - The Rustic Way

Rustic cabinets are fundamentally made on the basis of what is rural and which will give the feel that we are getting connected with our roots. This style has grown in popularity in the last decade or so. And what makes your cabinets rustic are primarily the knots of wood. The more extreme the color variation is, in the wood, it is even better. What makes them the best bet, is the fact that they are sturdy and durable. They give you a lot of scope to have carved wood knots and ornamental wooden knots and other rustic cabinet hardware, a la Victorian style. They look their best, with soft colored walls, antique style lighting and wooden antiques. But all said and done, these type of kitchen cabinets need to be simple. For the best result, they can be hand carved as well, using oak wood, maple, cherry, pine, hickory, walnut and other types of wood. There is nothing like good old wood for authentic rustic wood. Pine and hickory cabinets are perhaps the most popular choices.

But if you want to have a cabinet with a rustic look and yet you want it to look contemporary, aluminum, stainless steel and decorative laminates will do the trick. Here is a brief checklist of what all one has to keep in mind for having fabulous and striking cabinets, whether you already have them or have to start from scratch.

Tips For Rustic Style Cabinets

• Giving a make over to your existing cabinets is what you can do, if you are not too keen on spending a lot. That will be a part of your kitchen remodeling. What you can do is replace the old doors, drawer fronts and moldings. These will make the cabinets have the much coveted rustic look.
• Another thing you can perhaps do is to paint or stain them.
• If you are starting all over, the most convenient choice would be to buy custom-made cabinets. No hassle, no tussle. Just give the specifications and you are sorted out. The only drawback is that this will be more time-consuming than just changing the moldings or drawer fronts. But you would get the perfect set up, fitting your kitchen along with its measurements.
• If you want to flaunt your cutlery, china or ceramics and the likes, having glass paneled doors for your kitchen cabinets is the most appropriate choice.
• While choosing shades, hose warm shades like orange, reds, browns and so on. Thinking of the countryside contour will give you further clues about what type of colors to choose.
• Remember the golden rule that is, 'simplicity portraying a less likely modern style, will define the rustic look'. It is all about the 'countryside' effect, people!
• But along with being classy and stylish, rustic cabinets can be really effective in portraying that old-fashioned and cozy ambiance.
• Alder, cherry, hickory, (one of the strongest wood types) and some other hardwoods are best for rustic cabinets. Innovation and being completely in sync with the rural or country style, gives the desired effect.

So, is it time for you to go back to the 'good ol country side' and give your kitchen a sepia tone? Then, go for it!