How to Choose Wooden Worktop Surfaces to Suit Your Lighting: A Nutshell Guide

Not every kitchen is the same; some are light, bright and open-plan, whilst others are narrow and enjoy a lower proportion of natural light. Certainly, if every kitchen was the same, it would make the job of fitting our wooden worktop surfaces a little easier, but the lives of the team behind our bespoke worktops cutting service would be quite boring – they love a challenge!

When deciding upon which solid wood worktops will suit your kitchen, it is very important to ensure that the worktops complement the level of illumination that is naturally available– as well as the design theme you are looking to achieve.

As kitchens have become the main hub of most modern homes, making them an airy and relaxing place to reside is increasingly important.

In this guide, we have some tips to share on choosing the right worktop for your kitchen, whether or not you are lucky enough to have a light and bright home.

In lighter kitchens…

If you are fortunate enough to have a kitchen with plenty of natural light, then you really have the pick of our solid wood worktops.

Consider pairing a dark worktop with lightly coloured cabinets to balance the overall design. Wenge worktops and black American walnut worktops are beautifully luxurious, but may appear to absorb the natural light if your kitchen is on the dark side, so we’d recommend showcasing the worktop’s lustre in an airy design (if possible)

In darker kitchens…

For those kitchens not blessed with enough windows to provide swathes of natural light, we recommend considering timber species that are brightly coloured, which will reflect as much of the available natural light as possible in order to brighten your space. First choices should be our maple worktops, Prime Oak worktops and also our ash worktops. All three of these species will add a bright centrepiece to your kitchen; we recommend also combining them with oak cabinets painted in light whites or cool pastels (such as duck-egg blue or minty green) to further accentuate available light.

We also suggest considering matching solid wood upstands that will extend the aesthetic of the worktops beyond horizontal boundaries, whilst covering expansion gaps between the worktop and adjacent wall.

Consider the impact of artificial lighting…

Although choosing a worktop to complement your natural light will make a big impact, you may need to think about additional artificial lighting.

If you have wall-mounted cabinets, consider under-mounted lighting to brighten your worktops. Most commonly, LED lighting is used in new kitchens – it is low powered but bright, and is available in a range of colours.

To recreate natural light, we recommend looking for lighting that outputs a colour temperature (measured in degrees Kelvin) somewhere in-between the “cool” and “warm” spectrums. Typically, the higher the colour temperature quoted, the more blue the light will appear (8000K and above). Equally, the lower the temperature (below 5000K), lighting will give a more yellow hue. An ideal colour temperature for recreating natural light would be between 6300K and 7200K.

If you have any questions regarding the type of worktop that would best suit your kitchen, please do not hesitate to contact us; or, alternatively, take advantage of our online sample service.