What to put with Quarter Sawn White Oak?
My cabinet maker is busily making cabinets as I type, so things are moving along nicely. He hasn't gotten to the kitchen cabinets yet, which is why I haven't posted any follow ups to my "excited" post. I've chosen quarter sawn white oak for the stained wood in my kitchen/family/dining area which is all quite open. Because the wood is pretty expensive, I've incorporated a lot of painted cabinetry in the room as well. I think the painted cabinets will be good, also, because all the flooring will be stained wood, and it will help balance it all.
My trim and ceilings are in the creamy white family, my floors will be a medium/dark stain, and my island, media center, stairs, and dining room built-ins will be quarter sawn white oak.
My questions surround finishing the stained cabinets and choosing a paint color for the painted ones.
Should the stained cabinets be lighter than the floors?
What would be a good paint color for the painted cabinets (kitchen perimiter-including vent hood, kitchen desk, mud room, and utility room)? My house is definitely leaning towards a craftsman feeling, and I don't think that white or cream cabinets would work for me. I just can't seem to think of any alternatives. Any thoughts are welcome! I love opinions! This is part of my downstairs layout; the family room is to the right, and the dining room is below the kitchen.
This is the inspiration photo for my quarter sawn white oak cabinets.
Comments (12)
annachosaknj6b
12 years agosingingmicki
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Replace honey oak doors w/white oak quarter sawn?
Comments (7)I bought quarter sawn red oak cabinets for my previous kitchen and although the doors were quartersawn, the interior faces of the cabinets were regular red oak veneer. That's the way they were manufactured. Since the doors were full overlay, the parts of the cabinets that were not quartersawn were never really visible and I had "furniture" sides so those were also quartersawn. However, red oak and white oak are different species, with the white oak tending more towards browner tones. If I were you I would buy a sample door and see how the color match goes with your current boxes. Or you can buy an unfinished door and see if you can play with stain to match the color. You might be able to find a stain close to your current cabinets in tone that will be good with the honey oak. ....See MoreKitchen Cabinets - Combining Rift Sawn and Quarter Sawn White Oak
Comments (57)Wow, those tiles will be stunning! Yes, great minds think alike lol. It’s nice we found each other, Houzz can be a lonely place when you aren’t doing a white shaker with marble look counters. There is absolutely nothing wrong with white and marble and when done right it’s beautiful- but it would be so so wrong with my house and my existing furniture and decor. My house is a 70s contemporary and since it has lots of natural stone, medium brown woodwork and exposed beams, the Mission style works very well with it. Having said that, I also thought a slavish reproduction of Mission/Arts and Crafts wouldn’t fit, but incorporating some of those elements was my goal. My parents were both antique collectors and a lot was passed down to me, so my decor is a lot of Mission but with some Empire, Eastlake walnut, and a few 60s-70s pieces thrown in the mix, in homage to my “contemporary of its time” house. My eclectic/eccentric style, for lack of a better term, isn’t something I see much in the modern HGTV world, but I often find inspiration in real estate photos from England, where I used to live, where being eccentric eclectic is a more accepted way of life :)...See Morequarter sawn white oak kitchen cabinets ...... how to judge quality?
Comments (5)End panels look like laminate. Fine, if they are getting field applied decorative panels. Integrated decorative end panels are far preferred. These look unfinished. That by itself is also another big red flag. They haven’t been sanded enough. And do not have enough mils of whatever ENS is. And I’m familiar with a whole lot of finish coatings, and I never heard of that. But the biggest red flag was right there at the first. . ”he buys the doors from a factory”. You never end up with matching woods from boxes to doors to faceframes. Because none of it comes from anywhere close in geography. OK, I looked up ENS. It is not a cabinet coating. Its an exterior coating that looks similar to Thompson’s water seal. Totally unsuitable for hardwearing need to be stain resistant indoor cabinets. It doesn’t DO much of anything. Exterior ptofucts with mildewcides or fungicides should not be used indoors. Nor should they be adjacent to food prep surfaces....See MoreContractor used red oak plain sawn to match original quarter sawn
Comments (10)Did they put a stain on the new section to try to make it match the old section? And did they refinish the wood floors in the old section at the same time, or just finish the new flooring? I am far from an expert in flooring, but it almost looks the there is a difference in stain or type of finish rather than a difference that is based on how the the boards are sawn. When we bought our house 5 years ago, it came with 60 year old red oak in our living and dining rooms that looks very similar in color to your old section. In two separate renovations since then, we replaced the floor in two adjacent rooms to match. In both cases, there is far less color difference than you see in yours. In the first case of our family room, it was a dead on match and you would never be able to tell at first glance from the color that the family room and living room were installed 60 years apart. In the second case, our new kitchen floor ended up being just a hair lighter than the existing floor, but it’s a pretty subtle difference that might be exaggerated by a bit of an optical illusion due to chance — the doorway where the kitchen and dining room meet ended up with the new section having a couple of the lightest boards butt up against a a couple of the darkest boards from the old section. In your case, I’d be tempted to get a second opinion from a flooring contractor to see if there is anything that could be done stain or finish-wise to better make the woods match, or if it is really a difference in the character of the wood, or the way the boards were sawn. EDIT: Added photos to give you a sense of how close the matches in our house are. First photo is living room/family room, other two are the kitchen....See Morechicagoans
12 years agopowertoolpatriot
12 years agobigjim24
12 years ago
Circus Peanut
12 years agosingingmicki
12 years agosadie709
12 years agoremodelfla
12 years agoI have natural QS oak with a clear coat stain... LOVE!
Here's a drawer front uninstalled where you can really see the flecking:From Drop Box
Here's some installed with floors that closely match in color. We have a more contemporary thing going on:From Drop Box
It's really really hard to capture the graining and luster with a cell phone camera. Truly a beautiful wood and I just adore it in it's natural state.louisianapurchase
12 years agosingingmicki
12 years ago
singingmickiOriginal Author