Wooden Cutting Boards - Functional Yet Decorative

Published January 2020
Updated July 2022

We’ve all either used or seen wooden cutting boards, if not in our own kitchen then someone else’s. Often, they remain tucked away, stored out of view until it’s time to do some slicing and dicing. 

These kitchen tools come in a variety of shapes, sizes and wood grains. Sometimes you need to look twice to know it's a cutting board!

Do you have one that you’re proud to display? 

There are several ways you can turn your cutting board into an art piece, or at the least a decorative addition to your kitchen. This article will cover a variety of different ways to show you how to turn a cutting board into something fit for the wall, rather than taking up space in your cabinet.  

Freehand Painting your Wooden Cutting Board

If you’ve got the talent, flaunt it! Choose a surface to display (probably the surface side you won't use for cutting), and paint a pattern or picture that is bright or maybe something that means something to your family? 

Then give it a coat of mineral oil, to keep its long lasting usage. 

Woodburning

If you’re confident in your wood burning abilities, this is a great option. After selecting a pattern and burning it onto your cutting board, hang it up in your kitchen to be displayed to your family & company. 

Stenciling

If you’re not too comfortable with freehand, a stencil works wonders to compensate. Tape down your stencil and go to town. Depending on what you use as media for the pattern, you’ll want to put a clear coat over the stenciled surface after the paint dries. You won’t want all of that work to be washed off. 

Engraving

Engraving, or etching, into a cutting board will produce a beautiful design that will complement any kitchen. When done correctly, wood engraving is a great way to personalize and stylize a cutting board.

 

Stick with your Home’s Theme

When trying to decide what type of pattern to use, or picture to paint, take some stock into what you’ve already got going on in your home. Does your home have a current theme running throughout? Do you tend to enjoy a more rustic look to your home’s decorations? Or do you like more contemporary art and decorative pieces throughout your home? 

Selecting your Cutting Board

Maybe your existing board is already all beaten up on both sides? Perfect! There’s your test piece! Older boards prove great for practice. If you’re going to create a decorative piece from a cutting board, it’s a good idea to practice on the old, and pick up a new one to do the final design.

 

A new cutting board will be free of flaws and gives you the opportunity to select one side for cutting, and the other for the decoration, right from the get-go.

Like this Pizza pie board on our website:

 

The black walnut wood chopping board, shown at the top of the page, would be the perfect choice to use for brighter and more colorful designs. Perhaps for painted or stenciled ideas.

If the background stain is darker than your design would allow for, try out our chop-block board. Being a lighter stain, this would be great for engraving & wood burning but is still tinted enough to make the colors pop.

    

We’ve also got a bread and cheese board that can be used for the darker designs, due to its lack of tint in the finish.

 

Be creative, have fun, and hang it on the wall for your friends to see. Maybe, they’ll want you to personalize one for them?

 

Tell us how you decorated your board? What wood grains work best and the designs you like best for your use?

 

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