The Ikea butcherblock comes in two thicknesses: I used the thinner one to replace a tabletop. The thicker one is on another table - the thicker one has larger blocks making up the slab, and for a Victorian kitchen I would say more suitable. The smaller blocks on the thinner slab would look too modern I supect. YMMV. I also think you'd definitely need a matte "scrubbed" type of finish for a Victorian.

I like the quality, and have been happily making bread, rolling pastry, whatever on them. I used Salad Bowl Finish to oil them (4 coats to begin) and am happy with the result.

I don't know about how to butt them to each other, but I'm planning to find out, because we're going to use them in the galley of our boat, replacing the yucky damaged formica that's there currently.

There are some really excellent tutorial type articles over at Ikeafans.com - search under "butcherblock", including some great photographs of the different types in actual kitchens.;

They come in ~25 and ~39 depths- here's a link directly to them instead of having to go through all of the rigmarole to get to the options.

I think wood always looks fairly traditional, and most counters fit either (metal and soapstone being the most notable exceptions), so you probably don't want my opinion there!

We do have them, I don't love them at all- too much maintenance and patina. But they were really cheap and easy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea BB

Thanks for both perspectives. This would be a temporary fix to a kitchen with red brick formica and metal trim. We probably won't redo the kitchen for some time, so I'm thinking in the short run, maybe a mix of metal and wood would look better. I'd probably do metal on the wet counters and wood on the others. There are no cabinet doors so I have to get those as well and I figured I'd just go with painted white.

Thanks for the link and the ideas :) I'll do more research!

i purchased a piece of Ikea butcher block to act as a temporary counter until the soapstone ones were instaled We then decided that it went well with the kitchen cabs that we would reuse it in the pantry. The picture in the link below and the one immediately before it show both uses

It has been 2 and half years and it has been fine

At $29.00 it was a bargain

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hey igloochic
I used both thicknesses in my kitchen. It will be 4 years this Aug. and they are holding up just fine. I prefer the thicker one. this space I made a few inched lower that the rest of my counters and it is a great work surface.

here is the thinner one: sorry - I forget how to resize pics ;(

Pickles_ca... can I ask how you treat/seal your IKEA butcher block? We used it in a mudroom (with a sink) and it looks awful. I've oiled it with the IKEA oil (mineral oil I think?) quite regularly, but it still looks awful (and has warped around the sink itself where it occasionally gets wet). I've been terribly disappointed in it but I'd be thrilled it if looked like yours! (I think I have the thinner one but I'd have to go measure to be sure...)

I used the pure tung oil from Lee Valley. I put it on the butcher block (about 5 coats) and the soapstone (2 coats).

I have not put anything else on the butcher block - and I have touched up the soapstone - about 3 times in 4 years.

The picture is of butcher block 'new' - it is certainly broken in now. If you want a more recent picture - I can get you one.

Ah, maybe I should try that (wonder if I have to sand it down to get rid of the IKEA oil residue?) I have the Lee Valley Tung Oil (bought it for the custom wood table and countertops in the kitchen, but never tried it on the IKEA bb). In addition to the warping around the sink, the IKEA wood has developed a fair amount of "dingy" gray tones that seem to be IN the wood ... it brightens during re-oiling, but the gray returns as the oil dries/is absorbed. Do you get that effect? It was beautiful when first installed and initially oiled, but it's been downhill since then. It does get a lot of abuse, being a mudroom sink where boots and flowerpots and dog toys get rinsed out. But still... it's only three years old and I'd rip it out tomorrow if I had the time/money/patience to redo that area!

Do you have IKEA kitchen cabs? If so, how did you lower the area with the BB counter? Just wondering as it might be something I am interested in doing. Thanks! Your BB looks lovely. I have an area that would be perfect for a similar type work area.

Bumping because I'm interested in IKEA and the possibilities too.

It's nice to see the pics of both the thin and thick, and in general our kitchen will look somewhat like that, so thanks :) I'm adding simple doors and painting it all white and I do like the look of those counters quite a bit. Are they birch? Beech? Not Oak I'm guessing due to the light tone...

I am in the process of installing an Ikea kitchen and chose to go with the American Cherry butcher block from Lumber Liquidators. It's a little more expensive (I think $249 for 8' and $329 for 12'), but I preferred the warmer wood tone.

That said, I plan to use Waterlox to finish the surface. I don't intend to use the counters for cutting, so I wanted a more durable and protective finish. I will be using 3-4 coats of original Waterlox sealer/finish (semi-gloss) followed by 2 coats of the satin finish to get a more matte look. I am currently using Waterlox to refinish some banisters in the house and find it very forgiving and easy to use.

Hope that's helpful. Try searching the ikeafans website for more information from people who have installed butcher block.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikeafans

Regarding the heights of my countertops. We are all fairly tall so I raised all of my other counters a bit - just made the IKEA legs longer and covered the toekick with my own trim that I had painted to match the cabinets. I have some more pics if you click on 'my page'. You can see the toe kicks and crown molding that we added and a few other tweaks.

for the butcherblock area I think we just had the legs adjusted to as short as they could go. This resulted in a appr. a 4" difference in height. it is perfect for chopping veggies and would be excellent for rolling dough - but I don't do much of that.

I think they were the beech ones - I used to know all this stuff and now I can't remember.....

Here is a close up after 3 1/2 years of pretty much daily usage:

jenswrens has a beautiful IKEA BB counter with an undermounted farm apron sink. She used Waterlox, and they are really beautiful.

We are doing IKEA BB for our island/peninsula and are having a friend rout a decorative edge for us-- and we will use waterlox with the marine finish, as we will have a prep sink there as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Waterlox info

Have found this interesting information as I am considering putting it on perimeter and not sink area... Hmmm, anyone heard of staining the wood to a blackish, grayish color?

Pics of my butcher block (they are the same as Ikea, I just bought them from a wholesaler instead) They are in an 1894 house, I don't think they look too modern.

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I have used them a couple of times. IMPORTANT to use TUNG OIL - pure tung oil, not "tung oil finish" - there is a big difference, you cannot get the real thing at H. Depot. Real Tung Oil is food safe.

The other critical thing to remember - the last thing you want to do at the time of installing, but it really is important.. OIL the UNDERSIDE of the countertop and any cut edges (e.g. around the sink) in any area where it would be exposed to water (above dishwasher, near sinks, etc).

I found it to be a great warm easy to live with surface in the kitchen. And remember; for the folks who were saying theirs was scratched/dirty whatever.. the great advantage of using wood is that you can just sand it down or scrub it with steel wool.. and re-oil and you can start over :)