Rustic kitchen cabinets are a beautiful choice that can add charm, warmth and flair to your home. Rustic cabinets use natural elements, warm colors and weathered textures to create a stylish country-style finish.
If you want a stunning rustic kitchen, choosing the right cabinetry can make all the difference in your decor. You can pick rustic white cabinets to achieve a modern look, while stained or distressed wood may be perfect for a traditional farmhouse design.
For inspiration, here are some examples of rustic kitchen cabinets that will transform your space. Whether you’re renovating your kitchen or just searching a future makeover, these rustic cabinet ideas will inspire you to feature a little country-style charm in your design.
Rustic Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
Classy White Rustic Design Kitchen with Black Island and Marble Tops
At a glance, these kitchen cabinets look ornate and upscale but some custom elements add a sweet rustic influence that warms the room. Glass in the upper cabinet doors has been painted to look like old, handwritten letters while a gorgeous countertop complements the colors throughout the space.
Dark Wood Cabinetry
Dark wood cabinets are smooth and sophisticated, but they can sometimes overwhelm a space. If you’re worried about going too dark, look for wood cabinets in a medium tone. These medium wood cabinets have darker grain patterns which make them feel elegant and elevated, while the lighter primary hues ensure they don’t dominate the kitchen. The caramel paint color in the adjacent dining room brings additional warmth into the space.
Rustic Kitchen with Light Wood Cabinets
There’s a common design misconception that the same wood should be used throughout a room, but many designers encourage the use of mixed woods to add a layered look to a space. The trick to making the materials feel cohesive is to stick with woods with the same tones. This home came with honey-toned wood floors, and the warm undertones in the ash cabinets play off of them beautifully.
Create A Welcoming Environment with The Right Kitchen Design
With their hard floors, stone countertops, and stainless-steel appliances, kitchens can sometimes seem cold and unwelcoming. Bringing textiles into the space is an easy way to make your kitchen feel more inviting. This kitchen is softened by additions like a long runner rug and a breakfast nook with an upholstered seat and plenty of pillows. The cheerful blue color on the rustic cabinets completes the look.
Modern Rustic Kitchen
If you and your partner have different design sensibilities, it can be difficult to find a style that works for both of you. With a little creativity, you can blend two disparate styles into a unique space that is perfectly suited to your shared lifestyle. In this kitchen, the slanted ceiling adorned with shiplap and beams has a rustic vibe. Meanwhile, the marble-topped kitchen island is very modern. With their visible wood grain and smooth modern finish, the cabinets tie the two styles together.
Modern Rustic Wood Drawers For Cabinets
As a modern rustic kitchen, this beautiful design features a sleek counter, drawers and old-fashion light fixtures for a blended upscale touch. Lower cabinets can be difficult to get into. You have to do a lot of bending over and rummaging around. Using drawers instead makes it easier to access your items. These are especially useful in a kitchen with open shelving, as they give you a lot more storage than traditional cabinet designs.
Light Blue Cabinetry with Cute Kitchen Decor
Many people incorporate a pop of color into their kitchen with a tile backsplash but leave the cabinets a more neutral color. In this fresh take on a rustic farmhouse kitchen, the cabinets are painted a bold robin’s egg blue. It takes the blue in the backsplash and builds upon it, resulting in a vibrant spin.
White Rustic Cabinets with Glass-Front Doors
This farmhouse-style design features plenty of natural light thanks to copious amounts of windows. While this means less upper cabinet space, you can compensate by adding rustic built-in cabinets with glass doors that you can see through. You’ll get more storage without sacrificing that bright, airy quality of natural light.
Scandinavian Farmhouse Kitchen
While most farmhouse kitchens are big and sprawling, you can get the rustic look in a smaller space with the right cabinetry and fixtures. Slim, low-impact Scandinavian-style cabinets take on that farmhouse look when paired with the right elements. Here, they play against the subway tile, butcher block, and an apron sink. Display vintage farmhouse items on the open-shelving to complete the look.
Grey and Blue Open Concept Rustic Kitchen
Many people opt to style their open-concept kitchens in a more modern way, but you can bring in natural elements as well. The lines on these cabinets are sleek and futuristic, but the wood stain has a rustic feel. Industrial-style stools with the same stain add to the overall look.
Focus on Natural Elements To Create A Textured Style
A simple way to bring a rustic flair to your decor is to mix natural elements together. The cabinets here are made out of one type of wood. The hardwood floor, kitchen island cabinets, and exposed beam ceiling are all made of other types of woods. One wall is made of exposed natural stone, while the top of the island is a gleaming quartz slab. Many colors and textures gives this room a very natural feel.
Modern White Kitchen Cabinets with Beautiful Wood Island
While you may want your cabinets to make a statement, sometimes they need to blend in so other elements get a chance to stand out. The dark wood beams and island are the standout features here. The clean lines, white paint, and dark drawer pulls are still rustic, but in a very understated way.
Textured Rustic Wood Kitchen Cabinets
One of the easiest ways to achieve a rustic look is by distressing your furniture, including your kitchen cabinets. Natural materials like wood distress very well. Coordinate your island with your cabinetry for continuity and flow. This room brings in the same natural textured wood all the way to the ceiling.
Clean, Fresh and Rustic
Even a small kitchen can incorporate rustic touches and these sage green cabinets have a farm-fresh appeal. The rugged metal drawer pulls add additional appeal, while cute touches like fresh herbs and a checkered dishtowel further emphasize the look.
New Modern Cabinets with Apron Sink and Nice Window
The strong wood grain patterns in these cabinets are undeniably rustic, but modern elements like black metal powder-coated drawer pulls bring this look squarely into the modern era. As a side note, apron sinks have a charming farmhouse feel. This one is made of black granite instead of the traditional white enameled porcelain, which helps the room feel more contemporary.
Rustic Industrial Kitchen
There are ways to make your old-fashioned rustic kitchen feel sleek and fresh. This kitchen juxtaposes rough-hewn wooden cabinets against a tin stove hood and metallic backsplash. The balance between natural and homemade elements feels edgy and modern.
Sage Green Rustic Kitchen Cabinets
Many people gravitate towards white kitchen cabinets. White can make a room seem bigger, and these sage green cabinets have a similar lightness to them. They don’t feel too dark and imposing, but also don’t look dirty as easily as white cabinets sometimes can, and pair well with butcher block countertops.
Distressed White Cabinets
Brick is an excellent material to use in a rustic kitchen. It’s a sturdy and durable building element that also has a unique style. However, brick can make a room feel heavy. You can offset that effect by bringing in white cabinets to brighten the space. Distressed white wooden cabinets are the perfect balance to rough brick.
Beadboard Lends Vintage Appeal To Glass Door Cabinets
Many farmhouse-style kitchens feature beadboard walls. Beadboard is just narrow wood planks lined up vertically along a wall. The planks are then separated by a little ridge or indent that is known as a bead. These cabinets feature beadboard in the back that coordinates nicely with the backsplash.
All Rustic Wood
You can achieve a rustic style by using the same building material in several different elements of the room. Stained wood plank cabinets coordinate beautifully with a wood floor and breakfast bar. The important thing to note is that there are slight differences in each kind of wood: that keeps the space from being too coordinated.
Wooden Cabinets with Built-In Appliances
Many people opt for rustic kitchens because they enjoy cooking for their families. This example includes a double oven built right into the cabinets. Planning out your appliances can help elevate the practical, functional feel while keeping the design beautiful.
Elegant Rustic Cabinets
Older farmhouse style homes often feature impressive built-in shelving. Use vintage shelving like this as inspiration. The intricate detailing on these cabinets is upscale, but the distressed paint makes the kitchen feel less picture-perfect and more lived-in.
Fresh Twist on Farmhouse-Style
One of the best things about rustic-style cabinets is the details. The decorative corbels give them a fun and frilly vibe. Painting them in a citrus green shade makes these cabinets feel light and bright, even with all their details.
Rustic Italian-Style Kitchen
Some people think about rustic styles and envision American farmhouse decor, but this kitchen design is reminiscent of the Italian countryside. These intricate, detailed wooden cabinets look grand against the natural stone backsplash.
Open Wood Shelving
It’s easy for rustic decor to feel a little heavy, especially when you use darker building materials. One way to lighten things up is to incorporate open shelving. This kitchen uses brick and dark wood, but the open shelving gives it an airy quality. You can also use open shelving to showcase vintage items for additional decorative impact.
Upscale Look
If you have an alcove adjacent to the kitchen, you can always construct built-ins for additional storage space. The glass-front doors allow you to display nice barware and crystal. The distressed chalk paint makes this custom space feel more relaxed.
Cute Decorative Colors
Bringing in a vintage hutch is a great way to get stylish storage space in your kitchen. To further play up your cabinets, paint them a bold color like this dusty turquoise shade.
Custom Cabinets Designed For Ease of Use
Rustic kitchens are all about functionality. The cabinets in this space are designed to make cooking easy. A pull-out drawer containing oils and spices is easily accessible for anyone using the stove built into the island.
Light Up Your Cooking Area with Cheerful Colors
A lemon yellow wall and wood floors with a warm reddish-brown stain contrast nicely against the cool colors. The distressed cool blue-gray tones of the cabinets look ornate in comparison.
Mixing Old and New Cabinets
Mixing old and new elements can be a simple way to create a rustic look with minimal effort. The cabinets are new construction, but the base of this island is a vintage wood piece that’s been repurposed. That ingenuity and contrast give this room a modern country spin.
Match Wood Tones To Brick
This rustic log cabin has a warm feel thanks to color-matching. The red bricks behind the stove tie into the rest of the room, thanks to the reddish-brown stain on the ceiling, floors and cabinets. The ultimate result is an ultra-cozy cooking space.
Finishes Emphasize The Elements
Selecting the right finishes can help you achieve the right vibe, even in new construction. The stone backsplash here is natural with a rough texture, while the dark wood stain and visible grain give the cabinets a country feel.
Distressed White Built-In Cabinets
Older country kitchens often featured cabinets built right into the walls. These vintage built-ins have a little bit of everything. Glass doors up top allow you to conveniently see what you have stored. Double doors allow you to fully open cabinets and view what’s inside. And the drawers provide a place to store silverware table linens. The distressed white paint adds to the aesthetic.
Gorgeous Rustic Kitchen with Simple Decor
This kitchen is new construction, but some design elements make it feel more rustic and old-fashioned. The brick backsplash and wood ceiling set a cool farmhouse vibe. The cabinets on the island are in a different color than the cabinets that line the rest of the space, giving a more eclectic feel.
White Cabinets with Brick Wall
One way to make your kitchen cabinets feel more rustic is to add decorative elements to them. This design has what looks like vintage table legs framing the stove and flared drawer pulls that add an interesting element.
Rustic Decor on a Large Scale
Many people like to have large kitchens for entertaining, but they can feel sterile or commercial. A copper oven hood and natural stone walls add needed warmth, as does distressed wooden cabinets and a stylish island.
Rustic Lower Cabinets with Open Shelving on Top
If you like a lot of natural light in the kitchen, do away with the upper cabinets. You can replace them with open shelving and use those shelves to showcase cute plates and items. Then build large, sturdy lower cabinets to give you extra storage space.
Modern Cabinets with Rustic Decor
These cabinets are sleek and modern, but when paired with an exposed brick wall, they feel more rustic. That effect is played up by the decorative handles and the crisscrossed wood on the glass doors.
Baskets Add Storage Space To The Kitchen Island
If your kitchen island has an open bottom with no cabinets, you can use wicker baskets with handles to store needed cooking tools. This adds a sweet rustic touch to a contemporary design.
Antique Furniture and Decorations Adds Rustic Charm
Instead of a built-in kitchen island, this space features a vintage farmhouse-style table in the middle. That, along with the glass-door upper cabinets give this light airy room a rustic feel.
Come Together At A Combined Kitchen Island-Table Combo
Rustic kitchens are often set up so that people can spend time together while preparing food. This example features a handmade wood island that also serves as a dining room table for a truly communal dining experience.
Custom Wood Cabinets in Country Style Home
This space highlights custom wood made from stained wood planks. The clean lines of the doors contrast with the rough-hewn stone of the hearth.
Vintage Furniture Lends Rustic Flair
This beautiful design features an unusual setup. Instead of traditional lower cabinets, vintage rolling carts feature wooden crates for storage. These movable counters make for a customizable space that can be set up in countless ways, without losing its rustic appeal.
Lighted Upper Cabinets Have Old School Charm
Tall building cabinets can lend old-fashioned charm to a modern kitchen. The upper parts are glassed in and have lights inside. This makes things easy to find and helps keep the area from feeling too dark.
Use Wood To Create A Rustic Feel
Open shelving made from unfinished wood and metal brackets has a charming, old-fashioned feel. They contrast well against lower cabinets painted a medium gray. Bringing plants onto the shelving helps emphasize the natural, farmhouse feel.
Rustic Farmhouse Style Kitchen with White Wood Cabinets
This charming kitchen takes several different farmhouse features and cobbles them together. Subway tile rises halfway up the wall, only to meet up with classic beadboard. The open shelving features sweet decorative corbels, and instead of a lower cabinet, you’ll find a ruffled curtain runs underneath the sink. The overall effect is rustic farmhouse chic.
Large-Scale Cabinets Fill A Large Room
This rustic Tuscany-inspired kitchen features a massive island. It’s so large, everything in the room is scaled up by necessity, including the distressed white cabinets.
Create A Modern Rustic Kitchen with Oak Cabinets
This style features heavy dark wood cabinets and walls. Sleek black quartz countertops update the look so it is daringly modern.
Bringing The Outdoors Inside
With a stunning view of grassy fields in the background, the glass-front upper cabinets feature a painted grass motif, providing the space with a rustic charm.
Brighten Up A Small Kitchen Space
If you live in an older house, you may have bulky kitchen cabinets. Paint them a bright white so they can bring more natural light into the home. You can also line the tops with chicken coop wire to amp up the farmhouse style.
Eclectic Farmhouse Style
This kitchen comes with a variety of vintage pieces that come together for a timeless rustic look. Real wood lower cabinets feature a large apron sink, and contrasting upper cabinets feature a plate display rack. Even the decor is charming and vintage.
Emphasize Rustic Details with Cute Decor
These white wood cabinets could come across as very modern, but they’ve been dressed up with gold drawer pulls and offset by red-checked curtains. Details like these bring an old-fashioned feel.
Make A Statement with Black Pulls
These wooden cabinets are painted a fresh sage green, but the black cast iron hardware grounds them for a rustic feel.
Combine Different Textures For A Rustic Look
The muted color palette of dark wood and white paint offers an interesting mix of textures for a rustic aesthetic. Some cabinets have narrow planks, while others feature paned glass. The island features unique molding. These conflicting textures add a lot of interest.
Use Rustic Decorative Finishes in New Kitchen
This renovated space comes with modern amenities like a built-in mini-fridge and rustic wood that wraps around the island for a nicely camouflaged finish. Even a brand-new kitchen can be dressed up to feel more low-key.
Mix Upper and Lower Cabinets
An easy way to achieve a rustic vibe is to install upper and lower cabinets in different colors. This tactic avoids making the room feel overly coordinated. The wood beadboard in the upper cabinet brings up the wood from the lower parts nicely.
Classic Design with Modern Stainless Appliances
With modern wood cabinets and granite countertops, this rustic kitchen highlights natural elements in a sleek and updated way.
Beautiful Farmhouse Kitchen with White Cabinets
Even modern prefabricated kitchen cabinets can get a rustic makeover. The backside of this peninsula is wrapped in wood panels and accented with decorative corbels.
Minimalist Design
This kitchen looks at rustic style with fresh eyes. The apron sink is wrapped with stainless steel instead of enameled cast iron. The lower cabinets have been painted a neutral gray-green, while the upper have been replaced by low-profile open shelves.
Accent Architectural Details
The unconventional shape of this kitchen could make it look like an afterthought, but wrapping the island in wood to match the ceiling and feature wall gives it elegant rustic ease.
Classic Farmhouse Cabinets
These white painted cabinets with wooden countertops have a charming farmhouse feel. The 3D ceramic wall tiles and airy Roman shades round out the classic style.
Luxurious Kitchen With A View
Many rustic kitchens bring in elements of nature, and these cabinets are sleek and understated so as not to compete with the view. The wood-wrapped support beam running across the room brings in a subtle natural element.
Rustic Wood Grounds A Modern Kitchen
The kitchen cabinets in this room feature a dark wood stain that matches the wood-wrapped extended island. This contrasts beautifully with the sleek stainless steel appliances and modern gray tile backsplash.
Freshen Up Vintage Blue Wood Cabinets
These vintage wooden cabinets have been given new life with cornflower blue paint. The burnished metal drawer pulls bring out the warmth in the wooden countertops.
Rustic Decorations Complement Contemporary Kitchen Design
This new construction comes with a modern look and clever finishes for a rustic appeal. Molding on the island and a flared wood stove hood bring farmhouse fun.
Luxury Kitchen with Modern Cabinets and Wood Accents
This large kitchen space comes with matching wood in the pantry, island, and main area. The high-end wooden cabinets and drawer pulls pair nicely with the functional and decorative pieces throughout.
Distressed Chalk Paint Kitchen
Chalk paint is a great way to give wooden cabinets some rustic flair. This earthy greenish-gray tone has plenty of texture to it. Frosting the glass on the upper pieces also adds some vintage charm.
Rustic Black Cabinets Provide Contrast
This kitchen is wrapped in natural wood from floor to ceiling. Natural wood cabinets wouldn’t stand out in this space. Matte black paint and hardware elevate this space into something rustic yet elegant.