Teak Furniture - You Can Bring It Into The Kitchen

In many kitchen décor plans today, people try to bring the outside indoors, with a garden motif. There will be flowers on the wallpaper, images of birds and plants decorating the linens, and china. They may even bring a few real plants inside. Why not take it a little further and bring more of the outdoors inside.

When you think of nice outdoor and garden furniture, teak furniture often comes to mind, which is both beautiful and resilient. While this sturdy furniture style is generally used to spruce up a backyard and make a great seating arrangement, why shouldn't you be able to bring it inside and let it have the same effect on one of your indoor rooms? We're obviously not the first ones to ask this question as more and more kitchens are starting to have it.

In addition to being beautiful, teak furniture can put up with what your family will put it through. Teak is a hardy wood that can handle dings, bumps, hits and all the abuse growing children are going to put pieces of furniture through. With that said, there are a few things you need to keep in mind as you consider it for your space.

First, the color of your teak furniture will change over time. How it will change will depend on where it is sitting. If it gets a large amount of sun where it is sitting, you will notice the wood start to turn a silver-gray over the years. This is the natural aging of teak, but does not mean it's getting weak, just maturing in appearance. If your teak wood will be out of the sunlight, in the kitchen, it will darken. Teak wood can go from orange-brown shades to deep brown when kept inside. These color changes are things you need to take into consideration as they mean your teak furniture that matched when you first got it could clash with the rest of your kitchen after a year or so.

When it comes to maintenance, you are about to fall in love with teak furniture all over again. It doesn't really need a lot. Wipe it clean as you would any other kitchen table and then once or twice a year you may want to give it a good cleaning, but that's it. That good cleaning can consist of some warm soapy water and a scrub brush to get any grime and dirt off of the table. You don't have to oil teak, unless you want to, as it is an oil rich wood already, and will be fine if left alone.

It's possible that as your teak furniture ages you may see a few cracks. Don't panic. We all know cracks in other woods usually mean they are weakening, but teak is not like other woods. Think of them as character marks in the wood as it ages, but take solace in knowing they are not weakening the overall performance.