For many traditional, old world and Tuscan kitchen designs, a wooden kitchen hood can be the perfect finishing touch. Wooden hoods can be simple or ornate and are available in a wide range of styles and colors.
Kitchen Hoods
Every kitchen stove must be ventilated properly to pass national building codes. An exhaust hood is located over the stove, extending a minimum of three inches past the stove on either side. While in contemporary kitchens, it's in vogue to simply use a stainless hood with no cover this design can clash with many more traditional kitchen designs. For this reason, a wooden kitchen hood may be the answer.
Wooden Kitchen Hood Styles
A wooden hood is the cover the gets placed on top of a metal exhaust hood, covering it and disguising it. There are several ways this can be done.
Cabinet Style
Most cabinet manufacturers can construct a hood cover to match your kitchen cabinets. This includes details such as soffits, wood carving and stain and allows the hood to blend into the rest of the kitchen design seamlessly. This is a great choice for specialty cabinet lines, ornate cabinet lines or kitchens that already have a lot going on and need a hood cover that won't add to the mix.
Fake Stone Style
While carved stone hoods are certainly available, they are also very heavy and expensive. If you think your kitchen design would be complemented by a stone hood, but using real stone isn't feasible, a wooden hood faux painted to look like stone can be the answer. Choose from a number of faux finish techniques to give your hood the appearance of limestone, granite or a rough-hewn stone.
Two-Tone Kitchen Design
Two-tone kitchen designs are great for large kitchens which use an island in the design. Two coordinating cabinet colors and two coordinating granite colors, one on the main cabinetry and one on the island, can give a kitchen extra depth and interest. To complete the design, use a wooden kitchen hood painting in the color of the island cabinets. The color break in the main cabinets will enliven the space, while still coordinating with the rest of the kitchen design.
Simple Design
A clean, simple wooden hood painted in a coordinating color to the kitchen design is always a classic choice for neutral kitchen designs. The stainless vent gets hidden, and the hood doesn't compete with the rest of the kitchen for attention.
Decorative Design
There's no reason a wooden hood has to be painted in a solid color. Why not paint or stencil on some decorative images to match the rest of the kitchen décor? Ivy, grape vines, rolling hills or a mural can be a fantastic addition to many kitchens.
Designing a Wooden Kitchen Hood
With so many choices available for use in the kitchen, you may wonder which is the correct direction to go. To help narrow down the options, considering the following design points of the kitchen:
Overarching Theme
Does the kitchen have a theme? How many design elements are already included in it? Should the hood be a part of theme, or should it take a back seat?
Cabinet Style
Do your kitchen cabinets have a specific style that would translate well into a hood? Some designs work well with hoods, offering curved supports and elegant detail, while others don't add anything to the design, making a more custom option the way to go.
Kitchen Colors
If your cabinets and design elements of the kitchen are very dark, you may want to choose a lighter hood to break up and lighten the space. This can be done by painting it a wall color or island color, or by using a faux painting technique.
A wooden kitchen hood can be a design element that works for a number of reasons. Including one can be the finishing touch your kitchen has been needing.
