The samples and your pics are gorgeous! I love the color choices for your kitchen. Kempas starts out as light as the lighter color on your sample from the three samples I have here and darkens up to the darker sample and sometimes even darker on other samples. Kempas is much harder than Cherry hardwoods. Kempas is about 1710 in hardness while I think American Cherry hardwood is about 950 in hardness so they are not the same wood. I never heard of Cherry Kempas. I only heard of Golden Kempas and Natural Kempas.

Please show pics of your installed floor. Why don't you put the sample outside in direct sunlight for two days at the highest peak of the sun each day for 4 hours and let us know if the lighter side catches up with the darker side or is it a Cherry stain that is on the Kempas wood?

Just my two cents. I am off to my seminar and hope I am not late but I just had to reply before I left in case there is sun today outside. The test works best in the summer months.

jules1906, why don't you post the pics and your original post on the decorating forum where you may get more replies.

Thanks for your feedback, Lynn. I may do that when I get a chance. We are having someone come take a look at it. Thanks again!

I believe that Kempas is the name of an exotic species of hardwood. In other woods it isn't cherry. The "cherry" part is probably referring to the color. However, I know almost nothing about flooring. There are a couple of guys on this site who can tell you everything you'd ever want to know. (JerryT, floorguy, Aussiewoodman) If you repost asking for flooring experts, they might surface and answer your questions. They are full of helpful insights.

Hi Jules. That sure looks like Kempas to me. It is not cherry.

I feel that the Kempas will look wonderful in your kitchen. I feel you are better off with Kempas floors that lean more toward the cherry color than cherry hardwood floors despite the beauty of American Cherry if you have a lot of floor traffic being that Kempas is a harder wood.

If I did not have to have a hard floor, I may have went with the American Cherry floors since to me that beauty is unmatched but the 950 Janka Rating is not good for me with 4 small dogs and home office client traffic.

I love Kempas hardwood floors so I feel you made a great choice.

I keep going back and forth between the Brazilian Cherry, Kempas, Pradoo and Santos Mahogany engineered hardwood floors since I find all of these exotic woods gorgeous.

It is just that I really seem to like the BR-111 line due to the sawn cut and the looks of its grain and they do not offer Kempas.

So I would have to go with Bella Kempas engineered hardwood floors or Hartco Valenza Collection which both have a thicker plywood base and are 1/4" wider but cost more also. I like that the Kempas only has a medium degree of color change and not a dramatic color change difference and I like that it is about the same price as Brazilian Cherry while the Pradoo and the Santos Mahogany cost more despite their beautiful grain and coloring.

Jules1906, is this Kempas solid wood sample from KempasUSA.com that has a "Red Kempas" as well as a Golden Kempas and a Natural Kempas? I am considering Kempas also, so I would love to know.

lynn2006, I'm sorry, I gave up on this post because I didn't realize others had been responding. I was confused about the color. It is actually Kempas "natural". Despite what I read on the other post (we're stuck with it now!) I actually love the floor now that it is installed and we have had it for a week. Yes, it did have some places where it cracked when it was installed, but the installers came back and replaced the planks. According to the manufacturer's website where it came from, its origin is Indonesia (L&L Flooring). The photo on the website does not to it justice. We did the whole first floor in Kempas and I love the warmth that it gives our home.

Jules1906, do you have any pictures of the Kempas flooring in your home since despite some bad things about it, I loved it when I see pictures on the websites and someone on this site sent me pictures of her home that had solid hardwood floors in Kempas installed a few years ago in one of her bedrooms upstairs. If you could do it again, would you buy the Kempas or go with Brazilian Cherry? How has the floor been in terms of scratches? I like that it only has a medium degree of color change. How long did it take to get the Kempas wood after you ordered it? You can always email the pictures if you do not want to post them online. We would love to see the beautiful floor. The floor they show on the Hartco Valenza Site is such a beautiful color.