Kitchens: Ikea wooden work surface. Do you have one and would you buy one again?

[ChicPea]

Thinking of putting one in a kitchenette which won't be used for cooking, more likely for making teas and coffees, etc., and wondered how practical or disasterous it would be.

Your comments gratefully awaited.

we've got a wooden surface and it looks lovely. although stains very easily. make sure its oiled correctly before using (we got our installation guy to do it) and should be oiled very 6 months. but worse comes to worse, if a stain cant be removed, you could always sand it down a little them stain it.

would do it again, but take more care with it.

WE have one in the house we bought. Its fine - its a little marked, but you can only tell if you look closely.

I personally think they always end up looking ratty. However, if you do decide on one, make sure you oil it properly (per their instrutions) before you even let it see a second of use. And make sure you re oil it regularly. If you go for one of their tops I would recommend one of the laminate tops with stainless edges.

I think people can be a little precious about these things and if I had a wooden surface I would use it as a massive chopping board so it looked used.

It's not just an issue of looking worn like a chopping board. The problem is that the ikea tops are not a solid plank, but thin strips of wood and if you don't seal it properly it warps and splits.

Had one for 4 years and basically quite happy with it. Ditto about the oiling (not as much faff as it sounds).

Thank you all so much for your input. Shall now have a think and see if there is an alternative.