If I may interject -

I just ordered Hazelnut... I also liked Cashew, but it didn't have as much "pop"

Sesame looked simply *dingy* to me! To its credit, sesame looked a lot better in the glazed finish, but we ordered a regular finish.

Hi Charlikin,
I saw your post earlier but didn't have time to check my samples. Tomorrow is another busy day of appointments, but I will try to reply with some advice.

From memory, I don't think Medallion has anything that's close to KM's toffee. The hazelnut color is more yellowy than the toffee.

The hazelnut burnished might help give more of the browner tone but the glaze will increase the cost. The harvest bronze (also a glazed finish) doesn't look like toffee either, but it is a gorgeous color.

I might even have some photos to send to you. If you can email me...I can try to send you some photos that I have. If I have enough time, I will post them here too, for others to see.

Kompy

Hi Kompy - just emailed you.

Harvest bronze looks gorgeous on the site, but it looks like it might be kind of dark. I've seen a kitchen in hazelnut, and that was a little dark for me also. That's why I was thinking chestnut or sesame might be good... (I have a tiny kitchen, so I'm afraid to go too dark with the cabinets.)

Thank you for your help!

Neverdunn - that's interesting that you think sesame looks dingy. It looks kind of dingy on the Medallion website, but I was hoping it was just bad photography. ;-)

Hazelnut *is* gorgeous! I saw it when I was checking my contractor's references - one of them had the most beautiful kitchen, and yes, she had Medallion Hazelnut cabinets! She had some sort of very dark blue (almost black) Silestone countertops, and slate backsplash. It was gorgeous - crazy gorgeous.

Enjoy your new cabinets!!! Please post pictures once they're in!

I have a small cashew on maple display (a merchandising center)...so I will try to take a picture of it next to a KM maple toffee door sample. At least then you can see them side by side...even if in a photo. The cashew is really pretty, a very bright, clear maple...almost natural, but not so...um..natural. It's not as dark as the toffee...less brown tones. I'll also take a picture of a maple chestnut door. It has red tones.

Sorry if I'm rambling...tired...need bed.

And thanks for the happy birthday! You too! Mine was June 5th...and my DH was June 4th. :-)

Charlikan -

I think the Sesame looks grayish - not as cheerful as cashew and Hazelnut. I wouldn't recommend anything that picks up that gray.. Imagine an untoasted sesame bagel and the color of the seeds is sort of like sesame....

I will definitsly post pics when we're ready to install... It'll probably be at least 6-8 wks away...

Neverdunn, you're right about staying away from grayish. There are some colors that just come across as dull - it's so hard to tell from catalog pictures what something really looks like. Sigh.

Hey, komp, you're the second Gemini couple I've met recently! Cat_mom and her husband are also both Gemini's. I met them in person at the NYC get-together a couple of weeks ago, and I asked him how two Gemini's ever managed to decide on anything for their kitchen - being one Gemini is hard enough! He said it wasn't easy. ;-)

Oh, so now I get it. It's my Gemini rising that has been getting in the way of my making kitchen decisions I will stick with!LOL! Well, not to hijack here, but happy belated birthday to the Geminis out there. .. Charlikin, Kompy, Cat Mom and her hubbie and all the rest of the twins crew!

Hey, marthavila, belated happy birthday to you too!

Yes, that Gemini gene is killer. I keep a little notebook with me to write down kitchen & bathroom ideas - there's a section with a heading on every page: Cabinets, Countertops, Sink, Faucet, Bathroom Sink, etc. Tons of notes - things I've seen, questions to ask, things I've learned here... (The only page that isn't massively scribbled on is the bathtub page - I wrote Toto 1525, and that's all there is. I love that page. :-))

Anyway, I have a section later on for miscellaneous journal-type notes, and one page is headed "Have I Decided *Anything*??!" - LOL.

Well. Just got done with a 5 hour marathon appointment. My clients live out of state, so I cleared the whole day for them. So, I am now eating lunch at my desk.

AND guess what? My camera battery died...not lost its charge. I have to get a new battery.

I will bring my personal camera in to work tomorrow and post the pix tomorrow!

Sorry!

But I looked at the samples.

Hazelnut: way more yellowy
Cashew: A little better match to the Toffee by KM, but still looks like natural maple with a slight stain.
Chestnut: I think you will think it's too dark and too reddish.

the best match was the Hazelnut burnished.

watch for me to post pix tomorrow!
Komps

Five-hour appt - that must have been killer. I'm glad you finally got to eat!! (Hope it's a big sale!)

A couple more questions: how do hazelnut and cashew compare to wheat? In the pics, wheat looks like a slightly darker yellower version of natural - is it lighter than cashew, or just yellower?

Do you agree with neverdunn's assessment of sesame as being too dull and gray?

And finally, what would be the upcharge on hazelnut burnished?

Thanks again, kompy!!!

Hi Charlikin,
Was a great appt. I've been working with this great family from another state away. I carry a line that they wanted and it's worked out well.

Cashew is close to natural, but not so 'bare' looking, if that makes sense. It's a nice color.

Cashew is definitely more yellowy/pink than sesame.

Wheat is closer to natural.

And I agree with neverdunn....the sesame is gray and dull. I'm not a huge fan of it, standard or burnished.

Burnished or Frosted (glazed) finishes in Medallion are 18% for Designer Series and 14% for Designer Gold series.

Finally, here are the pictures that I promised to post. They are clickable thumbnails.

The last two are against my Medallion Alder display in Hazelnut Burnished. You can see what a difference the hazelnut is on the maple compared to the alder. Maple is very yellow, alder not so much.

It was hard to get photos without a lot of glare and not using a flash. The best ones were the ones that I layed out on the floor and took from above.

Hope this helps!!!
KOMP

Oh, one more thing. The Maple Chestnut Frost seemed to match the best, weirdly enough. I wouldn't order a whole kitchen, though, without seeing a full doorsample of it. You can always order a quick ship doorsample from your dealer. Each piece of wood can stain and look widely different from each other!!!! I would never order a kitchen off a chip unless is was paint or a really consistent finish/wood combo.

Kompy

Ps. Just curious why your dealer doesn't have any doors to show you?

Kompy, I am speechless. This is WONDERFUL!!! I can't believe you put all of this together!!! THANK YOU so much!!!

You're right, Hazelnut Burnished (or even Frost) is probably the closest to Toffee. And Hazelnut without the burnish is beautiful too - possibly a little orangey? Chestnut is probably too dark for me. But one of these others...

Obviously I've got to see them in person. But you've given me a great starting place!!! I've copy/pasted all the full-size images into a word doc with your descriptions so I can study them in detail.

Thanks again! You're the best. :-)

Good advice about ordering the door.

My dealer carries Medallion, Hanssem and Omega/Dynasty. They don't seem to have a complete set of doors or color chips - they say the contractors keep "borrowing" them and not returning them. They do have really good prices, and my contractor recommends them. (And they're the closest Medallion dealer I can get to without a car - I think there's only one more anywhere near me, and they're quite a bit harder to get to.)

This dealer doesn't carry Kraftmaid, and since I really liked the Toffee color I'd seen at HD, I wanted to be able to compare Toffee to the Medallion colors. I remembered that you sold both. :-)

Thank you, Kompy! You've gone above and beyond the call of duty, and I really appreciate it!!!

Kompy, I wanted to thank you again for your help, and for your time in photographing and posting all of those cabinet doors! You made me realize that if the color I want comes in Kraftmaid and not in Medallion, then why don't I just buy KM cabinets? (This would only be obvious to other people, not to me! LOL!)

You have been very generous with your time and advice, with me and with others, and I know we all appreciate it greatly!

You're welcome, charlikin!