Wenge or Wenge is a tree with the most beautiful, valuable wood, growing in Africa. Its color range is very diverse - from brownish-gold to black-brown with a purple tint. A wenge kitchen set will be the best purchase for almost any interior style.
Elite furniture, doors, parquet flooring and small architectural and structural forms are made from wenge wood.
Why are kitchens in wenge color so popular?
The popularity of wenge kitchen finishes is due to the following factors:
- variety of colors;
- color decorates the room, giving it solidity;
- the ability to choose decor to suit any interior style;
- the color is easy to combine with many others.
Kitchen furniture in the color of African wood is available in different price categories: the material used is a natural product, a cheaper imitation, and less often a harmonious combination of both materials.
Noble wenge is simply an ideal option for decorating kitchen spaces
Kitchen doors, floors, baseboards, and picture frames are often decorated in various shades of wenge. This color scheme is acceptable in the form of separate fragments on wallpaper, bedspreads, curtains, and other textiles and decor.
In what styles are the wonderful qualities of wenge revealed to the maximum?
There are a lot of options for interesting kitchen design projects using one of the wenge shades and you can easily choose to suit your taste
The classic, decorated in dark wenge, is relevant at all times. In this color scheme there are wallpapers with elegant, complex patterns, voluminous curtains, floors, and doors. The set is also made in a wenge shade, but reddish or golden, while the ceiling and walls are made even lighter. The decor is present in the form of paintings on the walls, a large multi-arm chandelier, and individual carved elements.
The rich wenge color looks somewhat aristocratic and is well suited for classic kitchen design, the main thing is to choose the right decorative items
The popular corner kitchen model “silk wenge”, the lower cabinets of which are dark and the upper ones are light, is ideal for an interior in the Art Nouveau style. All the lines here are smooth, graceful; if there is a bar counter, it is designed in the form of a semicircle; the chairs also have an intricate shape.
The Wenge kitchen in the Art Nouveau style combines practicality and functionality, special attention is paid not to accessories and decor, but to the textures of materials
An excellent option for wenge cuisine is African style. Since this tree grows specifically in Africa, its color is quite appropriate. In this interior, rough shapes, natural materials, and dynamism in everything are preferred. There is not too much decor here, but it is large, clear, and bright - these are believable or real African masks, ornaments on the kitchen apron, wooden figurines.
Wenge kitchen in African style is very bright and dynamic with decor in the form of original fakes and souvenirs
Minimalistic design is also often decorated with wenge furniture, despite its complex texture. The color goes well with any pure tones, without requiring additional decorations - here they are used to decorate floors, doors, furniture of the dining room and work area.
For a kitchen in a minimalist style, only simplicity, high quality and the absence of decorative elements are important
Advice. The upper cabinets of the set are made lighter than the lower ones - otherwise the interior will turn out “heavy” and will create a depressing impression.
Advantages, disadvantages of shades
Kitchens in wenge color photo are incredibly diverse - this is their main advantage. There are golden yellow, burgundy, milky coffee, black with veins, all shades of brown, even options with a purple tint. A room with a dark wenge set does not need any additional decoration - it itself gives the room an aristocratic appearance, ennobling it.
The easiest way to add accent brightness to a kitchen space, most of which is occupied by wenge-colored furniture, is to use bar stools or mini-chairs
Black-brown, purple-black color options should be used with caution: a bulky dark set overly conceals the space in a cramped, dimly lit room, although it looks chic and stylish in a more spacious one filled with light.
Wenge color is recommended to be used in doses and in combination with light tones from the white-beige group
For small kitchens, the most suitable furniture is made in light brown, golden-red tones.
For small rooms, it is better not to use only wenge for furniture; it is better to prefer combinations with light shades
Tip: in one interior it is allowed to use several shades of wenge at the same time, but no more than three at once.
Floor, ceiling and doors
The ceiling surface should not be very active. Suitable variations would be tension matte systems in snow-white or creamy colors. They can have several levels or be perfectly smooth. The tone for the walls is chosen depending on the goal that you want to achieve as a result. For contrast, cool snow-white or grayish colors are used, and for a soft, homely interior, light brown or milky colors are used. The floor can be made of any material, including parquet, laminate, tiles, porcelain stoneware, self-leveling system. Black floors just don't work. Although they are practical, in combination with wenge they will make the design gloomy.
Combination with other colors
To create a contrasting interior, a combination of wenge and snow-white tones will be an ideal option.
Wenge kitchen is originally combined with many shades:
- creamy white;
- vanilla;
- brick red;
- apricot;
- pale pink;
- ginger;
- dahlia yellow;
- fuchsia;
- olive green;
- bronze;
- quartz;
- lime;
- light carrot;
- mint;
- ocher;
- pastel turquoise;
- pearl.
Advice. The combination of brown with other dark tones is permissible only in very spacious rooms. Light accents with this design are required.
Wenge kitchen with beige
Dark wenge tones combined with beige and light sand shades create an incredibly cozy and pleasant atmosphere in the kitchen
Wenge kitchen goes well with beige color. The dark set is placed on a light background, the interior is as calm as possible, so you need to add a few bright accents. Sometimes the fronts of the cabinets, as well as the floors, are decorated with mosaics in brown and beige tones - the design is usually a simple geometry.
Wenge kitchen with white
Almost black wenge on matte surfaces and snow-white, cold gloss - a luxurious combination for modern kitchen design
White and wenge of any shade are an ideal combination for classic interiors, while it is recommended to make the upper cabinets light. The dining area in classic interiors is also made almost completely white. Another example is a kitchen with a white countertop and wenge facades. It is advisable to place it on a light background.
White and brown kitchen design looks contrasting, especially if you choose a rich wood tone
Wenge kitchen with green
Wenge kitchen looks luxurious in combination with green color, for example with muted pistachio and olive tones
The combination with various shades of greenery reminds nature - brown earth with green vegetation. The facades of the set here are decorated in green, and the floors, doorways, and countertops will be black and brown, coffee-colored. A “green corner” is also created in the dining area - it is decorated with photo wallpapers made in appropriate colors.
Green shades can be used not only for furniture, but also for wall decoration
Which curtains to choose?
The kitchen interior can exist without curtains - especially since the trends of recent years actively call for abandoning textiles on windows wherever possible. Open openings are especially good in small spaces - they visually expand the room and fill it with air.
Another option for a kitchen without curtains is when the corner set is located under the window. Especially if there is a sink or dining table (bar counter) opposite the doors.
If you still need curtains in the kitchen, they are chosen not to match the wenge color, but to match the style of the interior: beige, dusty pink, gray will decorate restrained classic interiors.
Scarlet, fuchsia, blue, lilac will add dynamics to modern spaces.
Types of curtains are selected according to the size of the kitchen: in large ones, curtains with floor-to-ceiling tulle are acceptable; in tiny ones, it is better to choose compact Roman, roller, or cafe curtains.
Main features of the material
Wenge is an expensive noble and quite rare wood species
Natural wenge wood has unique properties:
- high density, oiliness;
- strength, resistance to deformation;
- the material is not capable of rotting, molding, or being exposed to fungus;
- wood does not deteriorate due to frequent exposure to moisture or detergents;
- the finished product is very durable.
All of the above applies only to real wenge.
There are several varieties of this wood, so the sets come in a wide variety of shades from golden yellow to chocolate
The wood of this unique African plant is very difficult to obtain and difficult to process, which is why a product made partially or completely from such material is very expensive. Cheaper options offered by furniture stores are made from chipboard, MDF, cheaper wood (ash, linden, cherry, maple, etc.), sometimes decorated with veneer of a given species or imitation film.
Some interesting facts
Are you familiar with names such as rosewood (Congolese or African), rosewood, mibotou, bokonté or awong? All these are listings of the names of one type of wood - wenge.
Wenge is a type of wood native to the jungles of West Africa that has unique properties. Among them, manufacturers and designers note:
- high resistance to biological (pests, fungal formations) influences, mechanical damage;
- resistance to abrasion, pressure;
- unique texture and structure of wood;
- long service life with unchanged quality characteristics.
Wenge wood is a valuable and expensive material used for the manufacture of luxury furniture, carpentry, parquet (other types of flooring), guitar fingerboards, knife handles, and billiard cues. Wood harvesters know that the best quality is obtained from raw materials extracted in one batch in one place. The color wenge has long and successfully conquered the inhabitants of Europe and America; recently, this valuable building material has begun to conquer the vast expanses of Russia. The color range of wood varies from brown-golden to deep black. This variety helps you choose the appropriate color, which, when combined with others, allows you to create unique interiors.
However, it is worth noting that such a kitchen set will have a price above average, because these types of kitchens are classified as premium class furniture. A bit expensive? Then use an alternative option, when the facades are made of less valuable species, which are covered with wenge veneer, and the most budget-friendly solution is kitchen units made from medium-density fiberboard (MDF), the cladding of which exactly repeats the texture and color palette of this wood .
Kitchen set in wenge color
Simple smooth or even glossy facades without any decoration will look organic in wenge color thanks to the structure of this wood shade
Color combinations for wenge kitchens of different designs are very different. This could be a modest, minimalist kitchenette in a corner design, a luxurious milk-chocolate kitchenette, intended for a spacious combined loft-style room, or a U-shaped set, the place of which is in a modern interior, decorated with original skins with photo printing.
When choosing a wenge set, it is better not to overload the kitchen with textiles, do not use heavy curtains; roller blinds or light, airy fabrics are perfect
Kitchen apron in wenge color
The kitchen apron can also be made in wenge color if the furniture is made in contrasting colors
The kitchen apron, as well as a small part of the wall, is sometimes decorated with wenge wood veneer, plastic that imitates color, texture, and if we are talking about a luxury interior, then even with natural wenge wood, which is practically impervious to moisture and grease. The apron is also made of colored glass, ceramics, and decorated with all kinds of designs in a suitable style.
The bright and textured design of the kitchen apron contributes to the variety of kitchen design
Advice. The apron is usually combined in color with the countertop, walls, decor, etc.
Facade design
The design of kitchen furniture facades is the first thing that attracts attention. It should be harmonious, and the colors used should be combined with each other
- Solid. Such facades, as the name suggests, are made of solid fabric. They can be made in any color design. Such facades are easy to maintain.
- Frame. This is the name for facades that are made of several materials. The frame is made from one, and its filling is made from the other. For example, a wooden frame with glass. They also come in a variety of colors and do not require special care.
- Paneled. They are made of a frame, panels and any inserts, for example, glass, stained glass. Such facades require careful cleaning due to the abundance of small parts.
Wenge color is suitable for facades made of various materials.
Imitation of wenge wood, made from solid oak, linden, ash, looks beautiful, but requires large financial costs and is not very practical in everyday life. Natural wood is afraid of water and steam, which are certainly present in any kitchen.
MDF facades are more practical. They have a lower cost compared to wooden ones. Such facades can be painted in any color, covered with PVC film, lined with veneer or plastic. Kitchen sets made from this material provide complete freedom in choosing color combinations and allow you to implement the most daring design solutions. The disadvantage of furniture made from MDF is its instability to scratches and the fear of ultraviolet light.
Plastic facades are resistant to mechanical damage and can also be painted in any color or combine several tones.
Kitchen wenge and bleached oak, real photos
Often the top of the wenge set is covered with facades in bleached oak color
A wenge-colored kitchen looks beautiful with individual details made of bleached oak. The most popular option is when the bottom of the kitchen is wenge, the top is white gloss in the photo it looks impressive. Both materials can be either real or a high-quality imitation.
Supplementing wenge furniture with elements made of light wood, such as oak, will look advantageous
Decorative coating options
Due to the increased prices for solid wood, it is mainly used for the production of kitchen furniture that belongs to the luxury category of products. And besides, veneer, which is made from African wood, is widely in demand by leading furniture manufacturers.
Veneered coating is an excellent decorative analogue of natural wenge, while combining a whole list of advantages of this material.
Polymer film coatings of this shade are an inexpensive imitation of excellent wood, while these versions perfectly reflect the luxurious palette of shades of the original, and are characterized by good water resistance parameters.
