The beauty of hardwood adds warmth and ambiance to any kitchen and can coordinate with almost any type of decor. As a surface for a kitchen cart or kitchen island, wood is a sturdy working area that is smooth enough for rolling dough, yet has enough traction to keep cutting boards in place while you chop and slice. Wood counter tops also do not show fingerprints and do not need buffing or polishing to look their best.

The popularity of wood counter tops for kitchen islands and kitchen carts has led to an explosion in the number of styles now available on the market. Manufacturers are always introducing new styles of wood counter top kitchen islands and wood counter top kitchen carts to add to their collections. While this gives you the benefit of a variety of choices, it can also make the shopping process feel overwhelming when you get started.

Using our Buyers' Guide to Wood Counter Top Kitchen Islands and Kitchen Carts will simplify the shopping process and make selecting the perfect style for your home a breeze. Just follow the easy steps in the guide and you will have your wood counter top kitchen island or kitchen cart selected in no time.

Step 1: Choose Your Style

The style of your kitchen island or kitchen cart relates to its overall shape and design. While no two islands or carts are alike, manufacturers typically produce wood counter top islands and carts that fall into specific categories.

The first style consideration is whether you want a piece with wheels or without wheels. To decide between the two, ask yourself how often you will actually need to move your new wood top kitchen furnishing. Answer the following questions to help you decide:

• Do you have enough room to work at the piece and store it in the same place, or will you need to move it into a more open area or out of another room when it's time for use?
• Will you ever want to use the piece for serving by physically moving it tableside?
• Will you ever need to shift the piece to access cords for kitchen appliances?
• Do you want to be able to move the piece out of the way to clean your floors?

If it seems that you will benefit the most from having wheels to move your working surface frequently, your best bet is likely a standard cart as these are the easiest to transport from one spot to another or to move to the table side for serving.

In situations where you will only want to move the piece to access cords or clean your floors, microwave carts and rolling kitchen islands are ideal solutions.

For home chefs who will not need to move their wood top work surface, wood counter top kitchen table island styles and classic kitchen island styles are best. The kitchen table island style is preferable for spaces where the piece may be needed to double as seating or for where ample storage space is not necessary. Classic wood top kitchen islands offer the most storage, making them preferable for some home kitchens.

Step 2: Choose Your Wood Type and Finish

Once you have selected a specific style of wood counter top kitchen island or kitchen cart to focus upon, you're ready to start thinking about the counter top itself.

Type

The first consideration you'll need to make when comparing cart and island styles is what type of wood you prefer for your counter top. There are two factors that will contribute to your decision: the look and the durability. The visibility of the piece, the frequency with which you will use it as an actual working surface and the types of tasks you'll be completing at it all play vital roles in determining whether the look or the durability of the wood is of the highest priority for you.

In terms of look, you will have your choice of the light brown, "natural" look of maple and birch, the golden color of white oak, the red-gold warmth of red oak, the deep brown of walnut and the rich red of cherry. You may decide to select the wood color to match your other cabinets or your flooring.

When considering durability, the hardness of the wood separates the choices available for counter tops. Wood hardness is represented by a universal scale called the Janka Scale. A wood's position on the Janka scale relates to its strength. Rock maple wood is the highest rated hardwood on the Janka scale among those used for counter tops on kitchen islands and kitchen carts, making it the hardest. Birch is the second most durable, followed by white oak, red oak and walnut. American cherry wood has the lowest Janka rating among those commonly used for kitchen furnishings. While it is the softest of the woods, cherry is typically durable enough to stand up to most common uses in kitchens.

Finish

After selecting the wood type, you'll need to decide what sort of finish or protective coating you prefer over the wood. Once the wood counter tops for kitchen furnishings are complete, manufacturers apply this coating to the wood to keep it conditioned and resistant to cracking and splitting.

The finish of your wood counter top kitchen island or kitchen cart determines what maintenance is necessary for the piece. If you select a natural oil finish, you will need to reapply the finish by waxing or oiling it once every four weeks. Varnish or Varnique finishes are permanent surfaces that never need replacing.

Selecting a natural oil finish does provide you with some benefits in exchange for having to perform regular maintenance. Since the oil finish is able to be replaced at will, you can easily perform home repairs on your wood counter top kitchen island or kitchen cart if it becomes scratched or scraped. For carts that will be frequently transported from room to room, this is particularly useful, as they can easily become scraped while in motion. Varnique finish wood counter tops will require professional assistance if they become scratched.

You can also perform basic knife work on a natural oil finish counter top made from a durable wood. Varnique surfaces require a cutting board at all times. In terms of appearance, the natural oil finish has a traditional, matte look, while the Varnique has a semi-gloss look that some homeowners prefer.

Step 3: Choose Your Base

Of the major features of your wood top kitchen island or kitchen cart, the base is best picked last, as the counter top is typically of greater import to most homeowners. Manufacturers offer many different types of bases in carts and islands, including solid wood in natural finishes. Some pieces coordinate the base finish with the color of the wood counter top, while others combine more than one wood for a dramatic, two-tone style.

Painted bases are also produced by some manufacturers. The colors can include black, white or a variety of other shades to coordinate with the palette in your kitchen space. Often, only one base color is shown in the images of wood top kitchen counters and kitchen carts, but their product descriptions will generally list all of the available color options for your convenience.

A final option found in many wood counter top kitchen carts and in some kitchen islands is stainless steel. Stainless steel's smooth metal surface is easy to clean and formed by combinations of iron, carbon, chromium and other metals called alloys. In commercial settings, stainless steel is often required by local health and safety codes, as it is resistant to bacteria and other microbes. Carts and islands with stainless steel bases often have a more modern appearance than those made entirely from wood.

Step 4: Choose Your Storage and Options

The last step to selecting your wood counter top kitchen island or kitchen cart is determining what storage options and features are the best for you. We recommend that you make a list of the things that you absolutely don't want to do without as well as a second list of features that would be useful, but are not mandatory for the island or cart to be useful to you.

Among the many options and features that you'll find among wood counter top kitchen islands and kitchen carts are:

• Drop Leafs raise and lower thanks to hinges and quickly expand your workspace as needed
• Cutting boards and rollout work surfaces are smaller working areas that either pull out from beneath the working surface or slide out on a metal track.
• Folding mechanisms are found only on cart styles and allow them to collapse for out-of-the-way storage.
• Shelves are found in most islands and carts and include single, double and even triple styles.
• Drawers keep small items contained and close to your working surface.
• Utensil Racks are metal bars or hooks meant for hanging spoons, measuring cups and other items.
• Knife Racks are slotted spaces within some islands and carts into which you fit your cutlery blades.
• Condiment Racks are small side compartments that are great for holding spices or keeping ingredients out of the way but within quick reach while you work.
• Towel Bars are metal or wood rods that extend from the front or sides of a rack or cart and are intended for holding a folded towel.
• Wine Racks are engineered for holding wine bottles that are laying down in order to keep their corks moist.
• Wire and Wicker Baskets often remove completely from the cart or island so that you can transport their contents or place them on your work surface during food preparation.
• Hinged doors cover cabinets and swing open and closed to hide your stored items out of sight