11 Cabin kitchen ideas for a rustic mountain retreat

There’s something enchanting about a rustic cabin in the woods on the slope of a mountain. A cabin gives you the chance to be out in the vastness of nature and appreciate a slower pace of life. If you’re planning on building a small (or large) cabin far from town, check out these cabin kitchen ideas for inspiration.

What Is Cabin Kitchen Design?

You’ll notice that most of these cabin kitchen ideas have one thing in common: natural wood. Even if a house in the mountain isn’t made in a traditional log cabin style, many people like to bring that aesthetic inside the house. You’ll see lots of exposed beams, interior wood paneling, barn wood accents, and warm wood cabinets.

Today, it’s also fairly affordable to build a small log cabin yourself from a blueprint or kit. And when we say small, we mean it. Some one-bedroom cabins can be as small as 500 square feet. In this situation, the design needs to make the best use of the little kitchen space that’s available. You’ll also see creative ways to use cabinets and shelving to fit in a small space in these rustic kitchen ideas.

1. Aged wood accents

It’s one thing to use natural wood in your rustic kitchen. It’s another to use reclaimed barn wood, which embodies the log cabin feeling. If you can’t find a source for real wood from a barn, plenty of companies make wood that has been treated to look as if it came off a 70-year-old barn beaten by the elements.

2. Making the most of a tiny space

This tiny kitchen fits in a narrow passageway and includes some basic DIY open shelving. When you only use a mountain bungalow once in a while, you don’t need much. Here, the designers opted to use light wood for everything but the floor.

3. Warm and inviting look

Dark wood covers the floor, kitchen cabinets, and ceiling in this moody rustic home. With the stone fireplace, it’s the perfect place to warm up during the winter.

4. Modern cabin kitchen with copper accents

The kitchen cabinets in this log cabin use a dark raw tone finish which contributes to the rugged look of the room. Classic copper pots also bring to mind times long ago. The dark colors in the design make the copper pots and appliance accents stand out even more. Source: Angelica Henry Design

5. Kitchen tucked away in A-frame cabin

The kitchen in this A-frame log cabin fits nicely between the exposed beams. The cooktop fits in one section and cabinets fit in another. There are also multiple shelves and hooks to make the most of the space.

6. Modern log cabin kitchen

Not all log cabin kitchens are traditional. Some log cabins, like this one, call for a more modern kitchen design. At the same time, the kitchen’s design incorporates plenty of wood to tie everything together.

7. Wood and stone

Now, here’s a traditional mountain home kitchen. The cabinets are made from knotty pine and match the ceiling and exposed log beams. Along with the natural wood, the stone masonry of the island also brings the outdoors into the interior design.

8. The knotty pine look

Here’s another example of a log cabin kitchen that uses knotty pine. This design is slightly more modern since there aren’t any raw log beams. The white countertop also brings a spacious feeling to the room.

9. Tiny cabin kitchen with creative storage

In a tiny home, every nook and cranny counts. Notice how this kitchen uses shelving above the stove on the far side and also close to the ceiling. All decked out in wood, it’s a cozy spot for enjoying the outdoors.

10. Ultra-modern cabin kitchen

At the other end of the spectrum is this ultra-modern mountain retreat. Here, the kitchen’s really not the focus, the view is. The main beam supporting the ceiling mixes light and dark wood and is almost reminiscent of a tree trunk. You’ll also notice that the wood ceiling isn’t knotty pine but a smooth wood with consistent grain, which is more modern.

11. Simple cabin in the woods

One of the best ideas for rustic kitchen design is to keep things simple. There’s nothing fancy going on in this room, but it’s still just as inviting for a forest retreat. Everything from the wood paneling to the floors and cabinets are kept simple so the outdoors can be fully appreciated.