A Walnut Wood Home Bar Top was designed by Lauren Tolles of Maison Birmingham for an English Manor in Birmingham, Michigan.
About the Designer: At a young age Lauren developed a passion for all things design, and went on to pursue a career in both architecture and interior design. By establishing Maison Birmingham, Lauren is able to fully engage both of these interests as she utilizes her technical expertise as an architect to take her innovative designs to the next level, making each space truly unique.
Designer Tip: “By embracing the original architectural character of this English Manor we were able to create a new functional kitchen that feels like it has always been there.” – Lauren Tolles of Maison Birmingham
Countertops: 1-1/2″ thick Edge Grain Walnut with Sapwood sealed with Durata® Waterproof Permanent Finish in Satin Sheen. Click here to learn more about this top.
A Zebrawood Kitchen Bar Top designed by Roberta Wilson of Design Matters is the highlight of our Custom Wood Countertops blog this week; featuring the industry’s most talented and innovative designers throughout the United States and abroad.
Roberta Wilson of Design Matters
About the Designer: Roberta Wilson is Passionate about design! She loves all things design and particularly enjoys working on projects of varying styles. Having spent her childhood in rural Montana, she has an intense appreciation for the outdoors and loves to incorporate items with inherent natural beauty and interest into her designs feeling that they provide a sense of peace and comfort to interior spaces that can oftentimes be lacking.
Designer Tip: Changing materials and/or adding a rug or paint color can help to visually define a space and provide indication and direction as to the functionality of an area.
Other Advice: “Don’t be afraid of a little color!”
To see more spaces designed by Roberta and the team at Design Matters, follow them on Instagram @designmatters.design. Visit the Countertop Image Library on our website to see more designs featuring Zebrawood Kitchen Bar Tops.
A Two Tier Kitchen Island takes center stage in this farmhouse style space designed by Classic Kitchens of Virginia.
Two Tier Kitchen Island designed by Classic Kitchens of Virginia
Two Tier Kitchen Island Wood Countertops
The upper level of the kitchen island is a raised bar, composed of a three inch thick flat grain Walnut with Sapwood bar top. The character found in the wooden ceiling beams was complemented by distressing the bar top to level #4, which was then enhanced with a hand rubbed black glaze. Adding further character, the bar top features a Medium Roman Ogee edge profile.
Random Mix Butcher Block featuring a Cherry field and Walnut Border
The kitchen island features a lower level with a Random Mix End Grain Butcher Block with a Cherry field and a three inch Walnut Border. A custom edge profile was created by reversing the Chamfer with a step on the bottom edge.
Custom Walnut Wood Backsplash Connects the Upper and Lower Levels of the Island
A custom flat grain Walnut with sapwood backsplash was designed to connect the two tiers of the island. The design features a matching outlet cover. The backsplash was also distressed to level #4 and enhanced with a hand rubbed black glaze to match the upper level Walnut bar top.
The custom wood countertops and backsplash on the two tier kitchen island were the perfect addition to match the wooden ceiling beams and the wood fireplace mantel.
Congratulations to Archipelago Hawaii for winning “Best Of Design” on Houzz®, the leading platform for home renovation and design. The Best of Houzz 2019 Tuscan style home design featured a Grothouse Wood Bar Top.
Photographer: Augie Salbosa
Best of Houzz 2019
Houzz provides people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world.
Best of Houzz winners were chosen by the more than 40 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.1 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals. The Best Of Houzz badge is awarded annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community.
Grothouse Wood Bar Top
A custom Grothouse wood bar top was crafted for the Tuscan style home located in Hawaii. This bar says “Aloha” with its arced bar top for seating and Hawaiian flower design. A decorative edge profile on the bar top adds flair, which is carried out in the cabinetry. The warm wood bar top creates the perfect place for entertaining guests.
Breakfast bar tops are a brilliant way to add extra living space into the kitchen. They are the little perch where you start, and often finish, the day. Most designers choose a solid wood countertop for breakfast bars. Unlike stone and metal, wood is a naturally warm surface that is perfect for sipping morning coffee or enjoying ice cream.
Despite its name, a breakfast bar isn’t just a spot for morning coffee and a bowl of oatmeal. This handy feature, which can be as simple or ornate as your kitchen is, fulfills multiple roles: a cocktail party buffet, a kids’ homework station, extra dinner party seating and more.
Most breakfast bars are designed to sit higher than the kitchen countertops, but they have been designed to align with kitchen countertops as well as even sitting below them.
Designs with Breakfast Bar Tops
Walnut Breakfast Bar Top
The cooking and eating zones on this kitchen island designed by Todd Wiley of Tru Kitchens have been ingeniously divided up, thanks to different worktop materials. It’s a simple trick that makes it instantly feel less like a workaday kitchen and more like a multi-functional space. For the breakfast bar, a Walnut countertop was designed to fit perfectly around the other countertop material.
This half-wall could easily have languished as wasted space. However, Kitchenscapes saw an opportunity and put it to work with a simple Walnut All Heartwood counter, fun blue tile and bar stools that creates the perfect spot for coffee or cocktails.
Cherry with Sapwood Breakfast Bar Top
This large Cherry with Sapwood breakfast bar top designed by Kubik Builders provides plenty of room for sitting and gathering out of the main food prep space on the opposite side of the kitchen island.
Want to see more designs featuring breakfast bar tops? Visit the Grothouse Countertop Image Library by clicking here.
Stained Wood Kitchen Bar Tops come in many different shapes and sizes at Grothouse. With over 40 stock stains and glazes available and the ability to custom stain match, there are no design limitations. A color lab is used to custom stain any wood surface to match the sample provided. Matches are within a delta E of 0.5 or less.
Any wood surface crafted in Flat Grain or Edge Grain construction style can include a stain application. Our propriety Durata® waterproof and permanent finish is required for all stained wood countertops.
Designs with Stained Wood Kitchen Bar Tops
Because there are no design limitations, stained wood kitchen bar tops can be custom crafted to fit it any style space.
Stained White Oak Kitchen Bar Top designed by Tobias Design
Tobias Design chose Jericho Stock Stain (# 04915) for this edge grain White Oak wood kitchen bar top. This bar top makes for the perfect seating area for six guests at the end of the kitchen island. The countertop features a simple 1/8 inch Roundover edge profile to tie in the contemporary style of the kitchen. Finished in Durata® Waterproof Permanent Finish in Satin sheen.
Stained Cherry Kitchen Bar Top designed by Coastal Cabinet Works
Gordon Blau of Coastal Cabinet Works designed an edge grain Cherry wood countertop stained with T-Rex Stock Stain (#04333) for a bar in this kitchen. The stain application matches the bar top with the kitchen cabinetry. Finished with Durata® Waterproof Permanent finish in Satin sheen.
Stained Walnut Kitchen Bar Top designed by Tobias Design
Tobias Design selected The Favorite Stock Stain (# 03012) for this Walnut wood kitchen bar top. Crafted in an L-shape to fit this kitchen island, the bar top features a 1/8″ Roundover edge profile. It is finished with Durata® Waterproof Permanent Finish in Satin sheen.
Custom Commercial Wood Bar Top at Lucky Dorr | Mike Rivera
Matthias Merges opened Lucky Dorr at the park at Wrigley in July; a bar and restaurant focused on the craft beer experience. Paying tribute to baseball’s history, Lucky Dorr was named after iconic Wrigley Field groundskeeper, Bobby Dorr, who worked for the Cubs from 1919 to 1957.
Commercial wood bar tops by Grothouse provide professional clients with the highest quality wood surfaces that meet their objective of a stunning warm design with an efficient use of space for servers.
The bar features a drink rail to protect the rear of the bar from spills and provide a suitable space to set glasses and other materials.
The bar top features super plus distressing and a black glaze stain. Sealed in our exclusive Durata® waterproof and permanent finish, this bar top is a protective, maintenance- free surface. This commercial grade finish has been used for years in commercial bars, restaurants and country clubs throughout the United States.
Grothouse also crafted a wood backsplash to match the bar top.
Lucky Dorr
See the commercial wood bar top in person by visiting Lucky Dorr! The bar sits on Wrigley Field’s new plaza and offers fans plenty of outdoor seating and exclusive collaborative beers from an impressive group of Chicago’s best brewers. Their 20 taps will remain open during baseball’s offseason.
The menu consists of historic ballpark staples with a new twist, including an oversize German‐style pretzel served with beer cheese, homemade mustard and ranch dressing, as well as delicious salty snacks designed for beer pairing.
Learn more about Grothouse custom crafted commercial wood bar tops by visiting our website. Check out the Image Library to see how other designers used a custom commercial wood bar top in their commercial spaces.
Reclaimed wood kitchen bar tops are artisan crafted to retain the salvaged wood’s visible knots, cracks and nicks, creating a truly unique design rich in textural details.
Reclaimed Wood Beams for Bar Tops
Reclaimed countertops are crafted from antique barn wood floor boards, beams and siding. Heavily distressed reclaimed wood tops are normally crafted from floor boards and siding. Reclaimed wood beams may have nail holes and insect scarring, but the aged character is less apparent than counters made from barn siding or flooring.
Designs with Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Bar Tops
Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Bar Top designed by Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio
Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Bar Top designed by J.S. Brown & Co.
Monica Miller, CMKBD, CR of J.S. Brown & Co. designed this Reclaimed Oak wood kitchen bar top for this white, modern farmhouse kitchen. This bar top is simple and functional in design. It is finished with Durata® Waterproof Permanent Finish in Satin sheen.
Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Bar Top designed by Studio Snaidero D.C. Metro
Shawna Dillon of Studio Snaidero D.C. Metro designed this award-winning Reclaimed Chestnut wood kitchen bar top. A salute to clean and modern style, the bar top celebrates the beauty of the salvaged Reclaimed oak wood. Finished with Grothouse Original Oil™, this top can be sanded and oiled to look like new.
Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Island Bar Top designed by Coastal Cabinet Works
Phoebe Steinhoff-Smith of Coastal Cabinet Works cleverly designed this Reclaimed Chestnut countertop to function as the island top as well as a bar top. It is protected by Durata® Waterproof Permanent Finish in Satin sheen. The beauty of the reclaimed wood takes center stage of this kitchen.
Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Island Bar Top designed by Landmark Cabinetry
Landmark Cabinetry also designed a Reclaimed Oak kitchen island top to include a section for bar seating. This top is sealed with Durata® Waterproof Permanent Finish in Matte sheen for a natural, rustic appearance.
Visit the Grothouse Countertop Image Library to see more designs featuring reclaimed wood kitchen bar tops. To learn more about the reclaimed wood used for crafting tops, click here. Be sure to follow @grothouseinc on Instagram for daily design inspiration!
A home bar constitutes a major feature of any room. What truly sets a bar area apart is the countertop in which guests enjoy a drink or two and in which you can prepare drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Here are a few unique and innovative designs to inspire custom crafted wood bar top ideas that will make your home bar area and entertainment space stand out.
Bar Top Ideas: Synthesis™ Bar Rail
Bar Top Idea: Synthesis™ Bar Rail
Stuart Kitchens designed this home bar area featuring a custom wood bar top with Synthesis™ Chicago Bar Rail. Synthesis™ Bar Rail is an integrated Chicago Bar Rail carved from the solid wood that creates the countertop surface. The result is a singular piece of bar, with a grain matched surface that eliminates seams at the molding. This innovation also eliminates the need for unsightly mounting fasteners underneath the bar.
Bar Top Ideas: Upside Down Edge Profile
Bar Top Idea: Upside Down Edge Profile
Glyn Tindall Construction Co. designed this custom Brazilian Cherry wood bar top for an entertainment space in a basement. The distinctive appearance of the bar top is due to the unique idea of using an upside down Medium Roman Ogee edge profile on the bottom edges.
Bar Top Ideas: Super Distressing
Bar Top Idea: Super Distressing
Wood-Mode Inc. designed this wet bar to feature a Sapele Mahogany top with Super Distressing. The distressing creates a charming, inimitable appeal.
Bar Top Ideas: Anvil™ Metal Finish
Bar Top Idea: Anvil™ Metal Finish
For House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year 2016, Matthew Quinn designed a custom White Oak bar top to be gilded in Anvil™ Argentum Metal Finish. The finish was applied in such a way that shows the White Oak wood grain.
Our Custom Wood Countertops Blog features the industry’s most talented and innovative designers throughout the United States and abroad. This featured kitchen includes a Reclaimed Chestnut Bar Top designed by Alicia Saso, AKBD, of Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio.
Alicia Saso, AKBD, of Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio
About the Designer: Alicia Saso, AKBD, graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture. For the past eight years, Alicia has specialized in residential kitchen and bath design. “I believe that the most important part of the design process is at the beginning. That is when you form a relationship with your client and learn what is most important to them. Once that is established, everything else falls into place. My goal is to design a space that not only meets my client’s vision but exceeds it.” Click here to read Alicia’s full bio.
About Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio: Founded by Gail Drury, CMKBD in 1987, Drury Design’s Client Focused Design™ approach integrates design recommendations, materials selection and construction management into one seamless customer design, project management, and build experience.
Reclaimed Chestnut Bar Top designed by Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio
Additional Comments and Advice: The client loved the uniqueness of the Grothouse top since every piece made out of reclaimed wood is individually unique. This anchored the rustic design of the kitchen.
Design by Drury Design Kitchen and Bath StudioReclaimed Chestnut Wood Bar Top for Kitchen Island SeatingKitchen design featuring a Reclaimed Chestnut Kitchen Island Bar TopDesign by Alicia Saso of Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio
See this design and more by Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio on their website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. More designs featuring a Reclaimed Chestnut Bar Top can be viewed on the Grothouse Countertop Image Library. Like our page on Facebook to stay up to date with Grothouse news and announcements.