At Papilio, our designers and cabinet makers love using real wood veneers to create bespoke kitchens for our clients.
Interestingly, it’s a general misconception that solid wood kitchens are made these days. Most, if not all, luxury kitchens that are created to clients’ specifications are finished with either natural or engineered veneers. Solid wood kitchens do not perform as well and will not last because wood morphs with time and use, changes its character, expands, and contracts, and that just won’t do for a luxury kitchen!
Natural Veneers
Natural veneers are simply a thin slice of solid timber. They are much less expensive to produce, yet natural wood veneers are rather ingenious. Cut from wood such as oak, teak or walnut, it takes skill and a good eye for detail to take the most beautiful cuts from the natural wood. Not unlike a Michelin star chef selecting only the best cuts, the cabinet maker is challenged to match and fit the natural veneer to ensure that the material’s features triumph.
The grain, burrs, and imperfections on real wood veneers can make bespoke kitchens entirely unique because no veneer is the same. Colour, notches, and knots all contribute to a finished cabinet’s overall look to create as true a finish as possible.
Engineered Veneers
For a more versatile and less temperamental finish and look, man-made or engineered veneers are a great option. Often more costly, as they are fabricated, engineered veneers can offer a fantastic and long-lasting finish. The materials used vary hugely and are often very durable and highly functional. One of our favourite engineered veneer companies is ALPI, which create “the wood that does more”. ALPI are a world leader in the production of decorative surfaces, and they were the first company to create a composite veneer in the early 1960s. The beauty in their veneers is that every ALPI product is made with poplar or lime wood from certified and sustainable forests.
Our Richlite Kitchen project in a large country manor house is an excellent example of mixed materials, including solid oak, veneers and Richlite.
The bespoke kitchen features an island with drawer fronts made from select cuts of solid oak and veneer end panels. Our bespoke kitchen design team chose timbers and veneers with intentional flaws that look like cracks. They filled them with resin to enhance the natural beauty of the wood. Usually, timber with such ‘faults’ is often discarded. And because we are conscious of the environment and try to eliminate as much waste as we can, along with the client, we embraced the natural and beautiful flaws and turned them into a statement feature.
In the Clifton Kitchen project in Bristol, Somerset, our design team used constructional veneers for the drawer fronts and cupboards in oak which offered a stunning orange-wood hue. Our bespoke kitchen designer chose a 3mm thick constructional veneer, which was much more durable than a traditional veneer. This decision allowed us to add texture to the veneer by ‘racking out’ the grain. Our handmade kitchens designer also used walnut veneers, which created an indulgently darker tone to the overall finish. Our team book-matched the veneers repeatedly to create a ‘flame’ effect, resulting in a stunning finish.
So, when the word veneer comes up, remember that so much more can be achieved in creating designer kitchens. We love veneers and get rather excited when we can achieve stunning results for our clients.
