Maple or cherry for kitchen cabinets?
sillysimms
15 years ago
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bluekitobsessed
15 years agoma-bookreader
15 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (7)ok this is creepy...... I've been struggling with cabinet finishes cream with blue/gray island or stained with blue/gray island. Our kitchen is open to our family room that will have a corner stone fireplace and cabinetry for the tv. Just this morning we FINALLY decided to do stain with painted island. About an hour ago DH tells me to ask the cab guy is he has any cherry to look at and he wants to glaze it. I was thinking a chocolate glaze would look good. Our house will be a tad on the rustic side with log siding exterior. How did you get in my head?? :) have you decided on the island color yet? and are you going to glaze it? I'm a bit jealous you've signed off on so much, I'm so overwhelmed right now. but it'll get there. What type of floor did you decide for the kitchen / family room area?...See MoreCherry cabinets and maple trim
Comments (2)Cherry and maple good together beautifully, almost as if they were designed to. Maple will age a bit as well. I built a bookcase out of birch ply with maple face frames, fluting, doors, crowns, etc. I was looking back at pictures I took when completed (in the room where it still stands) and was surprised at how it had aged. The maple has a beautiful deep color, when completed, it was much more of a light honey color. I attribute this to the coat of linseed oil I applied to the entire project, before shooting it with nitro lacquer....See MoreHelp me choose a cabinet color / Maple with glaze or Cherry
Comments (9)The kitchen you want from the catalog is on page 19 or 20? Page 19 has a kitchen with maple cabinets with a glaze and page twenty has cherry cabinets. I personally think that the glazed cabinets are beautiful and you have to be happy with your kitchen, you are the one that lives there and will be using it everyday. You don't want to regret your decision because you are pleasing everyone but yourself. What color countertops are you doing? I think the floors are kind of light with the glazed cabinetry but it depends on your countertop choice....See MoreMaple vs. Cherry Cabinets
Comments (27)DH has been a professional woodworker for 35+ years and I do some wood turning for fun, so I see a lot of wood. We get our wood by the tree. Cherry will have more color variation between trees, some more red toned and some with more gray tones, though all will be in the same color range. It will also have more color variation within the wood, sometimes (though not always) with small darker flecks. It darkens quite a bit between freshly finished wood and wood that has had longer term exposure to UV. DH puts pieces in the sun to darken some before sale, but they will continue to develop deeper color over time. As others have said, it is a softer wood, so a bit more prone to dents if you bump it with something hard and being less dense will move a bit more with changes in humidity IME. Cherry is a very "flat" wood in the way it naturally reacts with light, consistently without much reflection of light from within the wood. Maple (as someone above suggested, be sure to get sugar maple AKA rock maple as opposed to one of the softer maples) will be blonder in color, so the finish used will effect its final color more. Since you have decided on the cabinetmaker and finish already, I would ask them if any older cabinets with your chosen finish can be viewed in person. Some finishes add more color, and some will yellow more over time, but IME the maple wood itself changes very little after the wood is dry. IME maple grain can vary some as can the figure (tiger maple, birdseye maple and flame maple can all occur in any of the maple species) so there may be some interesting grain or subtle reaction with light in some of your wood even if it is basically straight-grained and without figure. IME real wood visually can't be mistaken for anything else. Veneer is real wood, however, and used well is beautiful, so I don't understand your reference to maple looking like veneer. In addition to the particular qualities of the wood, look at how the color of the woods integrate with other colors in your home. IMO maple is a bit more neutral and cherry a bit more distinct in that there are some colors which it doesn't look great with such as tan-grays or pink....See Moreci_lantro
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