Interior Craft
Planning a Timber Kitchen That Lasts
By Elena Brooks · January 28, 2026
Timbers, layouts and finishes that survive real family life — a checklist for your first meeting.
A kitchen is a machine for daily life — and timber is the kindest material to build it from. Warm under hand, forgiving of knocks, repairable forever.
Decide worktop timbers first (oak and walnut survive hot pans best), plan drawers around what you actually own, and choose finishes you will wipe without thinking. Spend on hinges and runners; save on open shelving, which costs little and gives much.
Bring this checklist to your first design meeting.
Above all, design for the cook you are, not the cook you imagine on holidays. The best kitchens make Tuesday dinner a pleasure.
