I honestly think cherry shaker will be as dated in 10-15 years as arched oak is today. I do love modern design in general, and have slab cabinets, so I guess I'm just available as an enabler if you need it.

I think changing from an enamel finish to a wood finish takes the cabinets from a modern idea into a livable modern.

Well, slab has been popular since they invented cabinet doors. Shaker has only been around for a couple hundred years. What really makes the difference is the hardware. Modern hardware, like in the picture, looks modern. Change the hardware and you'll change the look. What is the style of the building? Is it old fashioned? What is the style of your decor? Will you be there for the life of the kitchen?

I agree with cocontom, the wood gives it a less modern look. Im not a modern lover at all (Im getting shaker, myself) but those look really great and not overly modern.

The building is a modern colonial townhouse. New construction. I'll probably be there 5-7 years. May rent it out at that point.

Also, my furniture will have the "Ikea" look. Not overly modern, but more contemporary than traditional. I like the look of modern with some traditional touches.

Also, some details about the appliances and counters:

Bluestar 30" RNB Range
GE Monogram dishwasher and counter-depth SxS fridge
Gabriel black granite counters (black with quite a bit of fleck)

I'm going to disagree...

I think shaker style will be more "timeless" than slab and can be either modern or more traditional...depending on the other elements (finish, hardware, plumbing fixtures, countertop, etc.).

To me slab says one of two things: very modern or very inexpensive. Which it is depends on the material and finishes. I can't really tell from your pic which one it is since I don't know if (1) that's real wood or an inexpensive veneer and (2) I can't see their construction and how they function.

This is not to say that shaker can't also be less than desirable, but I think it at least looks better even if it's an inexpensive cabinet.

It will be a solid cherry cabinet.

Made by Quality Cabinets.

Construction details for your cabinets. Unless you specify otherwise, you'll probably get the "basics".

Ask if you can at least upgrade to "full-extension" glides...it's not listed as an upgrade nor is it listed as a standard, so it may not be available at all. If you get what I think you're getting, it'll be 3/4 extension.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quality Cabinets & Woodstar Series Construction

I'll ask! What exactly does that add?

It says it's an option on that page:

5/8" solid wood drawers with full extension, undermount drawer guides and soft-closing option.

You're right! I missed it.

Full-extension glides allow your drawers to open completely...i.e., the drawer box pulls out & clears the cabinet so you have full access to the drawer's contents w/o having to reach inside and under the cabinet/countertop.

3/4 extension means that only 3/4 of the drawer will pull completely out from the cabinet.

Here's an example of full-extension:

Notice the entire depth of the drawer has been pulled clear of the cabinet.

Another example:

In this case, if it were 3/4 extension, the back of the drawer up to & including the small horizontal section would still be inside the cabinet.

With those two choices, you can't go wrong. Do what feels right with your space and decorating tastes. NO matter what you do, your kitchen will be dated in 5 years, certainly in 10. Every beautiful kitchen you see on these wonderful pages will be dated in 10 years. Just as every kitchen built 10 years ago is dated now. It's just a fact of life in our wealthy trend-based society. But dated is not the same as old and ugly. The bigger resale question is does the kitchen function? Can the buyer see themselves living with it? Typically, the plainer the surface, the less offensive it is to buyers.

p.s. I'm a big fan of using standard sizes (even with custom builds), so that doors are easy to change 5-10 years later when my tastes and current fashion changes. And it will.

I love slab doors when the wood is particularly beautiful and are bookmatched to highlight the wonderful graining. Are there "grades" of the wood (ie: select, premium) that the company offers? I've seen this in some companies. Have you seen a sample of a cherry slab door from this company? It may pay to order one if not. Good luck!

I have not seen cherry on these doors, but the ones in the pic are a darker maple and the grain looks gorgeous, exotic almost. They're just an awkward shade for my floors which are darker than the ones in the pic.

Our slab door cabs are grain matched cherry veneer:

They are contemporary, but with warmth (or "organic" as someone recently put it). It's a look I'd always been drawn to, so it was the right choice for us.

Still loving that BS Cat_Mom!

Us, too! Thanks buehl!

Ahh Catmom- I

I agree with the comment above that the hardware can completely change the look and feel of the cabinets. Also, if the kitchen is small, I think the shaker style will make it seem too cluttered. You should try to see the a cabinet sample with a flooring sample. Here's what I have. In this case, I wanted the cabinets to look modern.

[IMG]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/skf9124/bath8.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/skf9124/kit5.gif[/IMG]

Sorry for the posting error...

I Lovin' bignicks kitchen, too (design-wise and size--so big!).

How tall are your upper cabinet doors? Our cabinet maker said that cherry slab doors could warp if they were very tall. We have 9 1/2 foot ceilings with the cabinets up to the crown molding. We went with a Shaker style which he said would be more stable.
I do have slab doors on the buffets in other rooms. They are much smaller doors.

I like the looks of both shaker and slab cabinets. Our previous cabinets were slab so when we replaced them, we went with shaker. For slab, I would prefer plywood veneer to solid doors because of the dimensional stability of plywood. For solid wood, I would prefer to do shaker - it is a style that was designed to allow for the changes that happen in wood dimensions.

Real shaker furniture usually uses slab for smaller surfaces such as the smaller drawer fronts and the 5-piece construction for the larger drawers and the doors where it is useful to allow for the wood in the door and drawer fronts contracting and expanding with the weather. I prefer that style of shaker rather than one that uses 5-piece drawer fronts for even the smallest drawers. To me, using 5-piece fronts on small drawers looks cluttered.

These are natural cherry shaker cabinets with slab drawer fronts for any drawer less than 8".

Close-up of shaker drawers with slab drawer fronts for the smaller drawers:

Well, I just found out that the slab cabinets that are available to me might actually be veneer, so that would put the dimensional stability issue to rest.

While slab is too modern for me, I don't think it will look dated. Haven't such cabinets been around since at least the '50s? I'd pick the slab over shaker, particularly given your tastes.

OK, I confirmed that the slab cabinets available to me are in fact veneer.

shaker door was invented for one reason: CHEAP!
I know that is a very popular style, but in the end the concept still the same.
Shaker is the way to close a space with less material.
A sturdy frame with a tiny filler material... no matter how good is the door.. if I have a choice I always suggest solid door.

my 2 euro cents :-)

I used to have slab cabs beautiful brazillian cherry in
my old house. I am a traditional girl at heart but I
enjoyed this beautiful kitchen. I think if you love slab
go for it. It is a style that lasts.
With either cabinet you choice you have you can always
update the kitchen for a future sale with hardware and
minor changes.
Here are some great pics of slab cabs.

DeanNota

Dreammodernkitchenend

Huffordfurnituregroup

Designby DavidL
{{gwi:1881333}}

Risingkitchen

Thomasville

Archiexpo

TecaCherry

One thing I love about those slab maple cabs in my first pic is that the grain has a "cloudy" look to it. It's very cool looking. Probably won't get that effect with cherry? Is that something unique to maple?

Top for the last question.

Top. Anyone?

No, cherry will not have the same grain as maple, just as oak will not have the same grain as cherry and walnut will not have the same grain as oak, etc.

What makes that "cloudy" effect? Is it the way they stain it, or the grain itself?

mkiv, perhaps the reason you aren't getting an answer is that we don't know what you are seeing as a cloudy effect. The picture resolution doesn't show the grain clearly.

Maple is a very light wood with a very fine grain that isn't very much darker than the rest of the wood. So I think what you are seeing is that when it is stained as dark as in that picture the grain is very muted. Also I've been told that it is difficult to get maple to take a dark stain evenly so that may be what you are calling cloudy.

Cherry starts out darker than maple. It's grain has more contrast to the background and there is more color variation in it. That provides the interest that I love in cherry. It contrasts the simple lines of slab or shaker cabinet styles. Perhaps you prefer a less prominent grain that blends with the simple lines instead of contrasting them.

My cabinets above are natural cherry and I think catmom's are also natural cherry. Hers are veneer which is better for slab and mine are solid. They did a really good job on hers of using the plywood with cherry veneer well - if you look at a drawer stack, it is all cut in sequence from a piece so that the grain matches from drawer to drawer. You can also see that grain match on the pantries to either side of the microwave. It shows a care for craftmanship in building the cabinets.

We went with shaker partly because in the natural cherry there is a depth to the grain that I don't see in the veneer - it is like one is seeing the effect of several layers of wood cells. But that goes away once the cherry is stained to get darker colors. The grain in cherry will be muted somewhat by going to a darker stain but probably not as much as the grain in maple.

BTW, I don't agree with giacomo about the origin of the shaker style. It was created in a time when plywood didn't exist to be functional. It was done to be practical - which in the sense of an economical approach might be called "cheap" but it wasn't to minimize the amount of material. The extra labor cost somewhat balances any material savings. Shakers were all about having things simple and functional. They used a 5 piece construction for wood doors to make a door that tolerated the expansion and contraction of wood better than a slab. The wood panel in the 5 piece frame can expand or contract a bit within the bounds of the frame because it is held in the slot but not glued. Now that there is plywood, that an economical way to make dimensionally stable slab doors as an alternative to 5-piece.

The panels on our doors are thinner because of the 5 piece construction, but they aren't "tiny". They are very sturdy.

In the book of measured drawings of Shaker furniture (as in furniture made by Shakers rather than "Shaker" style furniture) that I got for my woodworker husband, all the drawers have slab fronts. Only the large doors are 5 piece. It kind of grates on me when people call something "shaker" with 5 piece for even small drawers.

Here is a link that might be useful: comparison of wood grains

cloud is partially correct about our cabs--they are veneer; grain matched (very well) from door to door and drawer to drawer, but aren't natural cherry. Rather, they have a very light stain (Harvest Gold) in a "watered down" version (1/4 cut--basically 25% stain, 75% mineral spirits I believe). It added a hint of color at the start, and kind of directed or controlled the final coloration/ambering process, without obscuring the grain in any way.

She is right about the depth of grain you get with solid wood vs. veneer. We have a couple solid oak doors in our home (the front door and the louver door on our utility room), the rest are oak veneer. The veneered doors are very nice, but there is no comparison between them and the solid doors.

Unfortunately, for slab doors, at least for cabinets, you need to use veneers, or you will need to have battens (stabilizing bars) on the insides of the doors to prevent warping.

I will try to get close-up pics of this "cloudy" effect that I am referring to.

I got specs on the slab doors:

"3/4" solid maple frame with a solid flat drawer front. A face veneer with particleboard core. Edges are veneered edge banded.

Any thoughts? How dimensionally stable is particleboard?