Monday, March 25, 2013

Using Oak Wood for your Kitchen Cabinets to Enjoy Beauty and Durability

If you are designing a new home or simply remodeling your kitchen, go for oak wood cabinets. Oak kitchens bring with them a variety of benefits, and since the kitchen is an important area of the house, you should always go for the best choice available.

Why Go for Oak?
As mentioned above, using oak in your kitchen is a great choice for so many reasons. To begin with, it is a relatively low cost material. However, that doesn’t bring its quality down one bit. That is why if you want to improve your kitchen in a budget, oak is the best material to use, especially if you are living in North America or Europe. 

The second is equally important. Oak is known for its durability. It is hardwood and gives you several years of carefree kitchen use. In addition, oak adds value to your house. Along with being a strong material, oak is aesthetically pleasing as well and it will add to the overall beauty of your house. 

While oak gives you a traditional image in your mind, modern-day home improvement experts clearly state that the appeal of this wood is not restricted by time or location. 

Types of Oak Cabinets
You can get full access cabinets and framed oak cabinets for your kitchen. The first option is good if you want to add space to your kitchen. Full access cabinets have larger racks, allowing you to store as many kitchen items as you like. 

Framed ones are the most commonly used and they give that traditional look due to the frame on the doors. However, this doesn’t mean that you cannot change the look of your kitchen cabinets, but more on this below.

Painting your Oak Cabinets
Oak wood ware usually comes in brown and yellowish colors and if you want to paint them, it is advised that you use colors that do not contrast with the natural finish of the wood. This means using warmer shades. However, you can always experiment to find colors that fit the overall design of your house. 

Off-white walls greatly augment an oak-based kitchen. In addition, pink-inflected white paints also compliment oak cabinets. Red is another color option, and you can use terra cotta shades for warmer oak colors or even darker corals if the kitchen is floored with darker oak. 

These options are not exclusive and you can always experiment with shades in blues, greens, yellows, and browns. 

How to Clean Oak?
Since the kitchen can be a wet and messy place, you will need to keep your oak cabinets or flooring clean all the time to prevent any significant damage. To start off, wipe the interior and exterior of the cabinets regularly. If you cannot reach small areas, use a vacuum hose attachment. 

You can even use a wet cloth to clean your cabinets and if any stain refuses to go, use some dish soap as well. If you are using soap, rub the oak one more time to remove residue from the soap and let the cabinets dry on their own. 

You can also clean the oak kitchen with oil soap twice or thrice a year in the same way as described above. Doing all this will help you sustain the life of your kitchen cabinets and flooring.

 About the Author
The author is a home décor and kitchenware experts who specializes in designing oak kitchens.

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