Can There Ever Be "Too Much" Wood?

[Julie Moriarty]

I've been working on a kitchen remodel for my neighbor for the past few months. His brother, who is a realtor, says he will never be able to sell the house because there's too much wood. What do you think?

Standing at new kitchen bar (tigerwood on the left, maple veneer plywood on back wall)


Panning to the right


Turning 180, pecky Bolivian walnut face frames on bar cabinet face frames. Drywalled wall will have horizontally run zebrawood


To the immediate left of the above picture - Window frame on right is bloodwood. There will be two (2) bi-fold windows replacing the insulboard. Tigerwood paneling on the left. Awning windows will be framed in bloodwood.


Looking from other side of the kitchen bar - Tigerwood under bar. Zebrawood will be on left wall but not over patio door. Bar top will likely be live edge Norfolk Island pine.


Too much wood? Not enough? Just right?

[glenn bradley]

I'd have to see pictures. From the written word it sounds like a lot of different materials in a small space. While exciting to woodworkers this can be an onslaught to the unenthusiastic eye. There is also the matter of personal taste. I do get tired of people who say things like "you'll never get your money out of it" or "you're killing your curb appeal" as if the only reason we bought a home was to sell it. I buy a home to make it my own. If that means "Tigerwood paneling on the left. Awning windows will be framed in bloodwood" then that is what I will have. Some people watch too much HGTV and think resale value is the driving force behind what we do to our homes.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm all for the wood look, but the realtor is partially correct. They will recommend "brightening" it up by painting the wood before they list it. Makes me sick to think about it. Oh the miles of beautiful old period correct oak and SYP trim that i've thrown away because it was painted into oblivion for similar reasons.

That being said, it's the current owners house, who cares what the next will want.

[Robert Engel]

Some people like the look of wood, but it can be overwhelming from an aesthetic standpoint.

Its all about trends and styles, this is where the realtor is coming from. Way back, certain styles of homes like craftsman had ton's of wood panelling and built up mouldings. Our house was built in the early 60's all the base and doors were beautifully stained tight grain fir with heart pine floors. The entire kitchen and all the doors were fir veneered.

Now its all replaced with "modern" painted trim, 6 panel solid doors, and the floor is covered over with engineered flooring. My hickory kitchen is getting refaced and painted.

Painted kitchen cabinets used to be a sign of a cheap kitchen, not anymore!!

But to your question, he probably would have been better off with painted cabs.

[Bryan Lisowski]

Simple answer is yes.

[Jared Sankovich]

No.. (as long as 95% of it is painted white)

[Jim Becker]

No.. (as long as 95% of it is painted white)

You win the Internet today.

[Alan Lightstone]

No.. (as long as 95% of it is painted white)

Sigh..... Drives me crazy. Thanks HGTV.

Now changing to grey. All those white kitchens are going to look so 2000s...

[Jared Sankovich]

Sigh..... Drives me crazy. Thanks HGTV.

Now changing to grey. All those white kitchens are going to look so 2000s...

Depending on the style, yes.

The trend towards bright bronze or gold hardware has me shaking my head.

[Alex Zeller]

My house is timber framed. When I was building it I could have bought the SIPs (structural insulated panels) with tongue and groove pine vs sheet rock but all the pictures I saw the beams just seemed to fade away. The jointery work on the beams just blended into all the wood. I remember seeing one house where the own paid big bucks to have his made from 100 year old hand hewn beams and then used pine everywhere to the point it would make you cry. Yes, you can have too much wood. But it's subjective and each owner is different.

[Alan Gage]

My house is timber framed. When I was building it I could have bought the SIPs (structural insulated panels) with tongue and groove pine vs sheet rock but all the pictures I saw the beams just seemed to fade away. The jointery work on the beams just blended into all the wood. I remember seeing one house where the own paid big bucks to have his made from 100 year old hand hewn beams and then used pine everywhere to the point it would make you cry. Yes, you can have too much wood. But it's subjective and each owner is different.

This resonates with me and I agree. I built my wood shop last year with an exposed natural wood 8x10 structural ridge supported by 8x8 posts and all the walls are lined with a dozen different species of hardwoods. For the ceiling I used v-groove knotty pine but painted it white because I was afraid it would compete with the rest of the wood and that my big beams would just disappear. The white ceiling makes a nice contrast and brightens the shop.

A few weeks ago I pulled some old veneered wood paneling off a wall and again used v-groove knotty pine painted white. Most people thought I was nuts for painting the pine but I knew that in the next week rustic hardwood floors were going down and that there was going to be a lot of oak and walnut trim and furniture. I felt the knotty pine would stand out like a sore thumb and look terrible. But painted white I think it keeps the natural wood from being too overwhelming and keeps the room looking bright. And while it might be painted white the texture of the wall still says "wood".

Like you I see pictures of houses or cabins that are wall to wall and floor to ceiling natural wood and most of the time I find it too much. My eye can't find anything to rest or focus on.

Alan

[Mel Fulks]

I’d get another realtor. People sometimes act like dogs in checking out houses . A dog always thinks a used dog house “smells bad”.
One of the biggest mistakes realtors make is trying to keep a lazy brother in law working. Who was it that had a room covered in real gold
leaf ? Maybe Russian Czar. I dare say no traveling salesman told him to get rid of it.....but I’m sure they WANTED to.

[Jim Becker]

"Too Much" is very much a subjective thing. But how it's designed and done matter, soo. All wood can become "too busy" if care isn't taken to balance the "busy" with "not busy". If one uses highly figured panels in the doors, straight, rift-sawn material for rails and styles balance the "busy" with the "not busy", for example. So yes..."too much" can be a factor if there's no balancing influence from a design/style perspective.

That said, in real estate it can be one of those things that makes a home attractive to a 'special buyer" but not attractive to many others. Trust me, as an owner of a very unique home, it does decrease the buyer pool as well as not reflect easily for appraisal since it makes comparable sales harder to identify.

[Lee Schierer]

Basically, people that are woodworkers have no problem with seeing lots of wood. However, the "style" on the home improvement shows is no wood or paint the wood so it doesn't look like wood. For example, if you put up wood, it has to be " Ship Lap" even though half of the people don't even know how ship lap actually made. I watch a show just last night where they painted cherry cabinets white and removed a bunch of them to be replaced with colored painted cabinets, because wood isn't "modern".

[John TenEyck]

If the owner is happy that's all that matters. I've never thought about resale value when I decided to do something inside or outside my home. Kitchens and baths are the most remodeled rooms in a house. Whatever you do now will be gone in 25 years or less regardless.

John