Waterlox is EXTREMELY orange. If you use any oil-based product at all, the wood will be much darker and much more orange than it is unfinished. I too actually prefer the color of unfinished white oak and unfinished maple better than their finished colors. But you cannot maintain the natural color and look with typical finishes. You would need a water-clear, water-based finish. Get some scraps of both woods (or at least same species) and test the colors of any finish you're considering. For floors, I think Bona makes some durable, completely clear finishes. For the cabinets...I don't know. I'm in the same boat, wanting a clear (not amber, yellow, or orange) finish for some oak cabinets I have stripped and chemically aged. Yet, for kitchen cabinets, you need a durable, protective, highly cleanable finish. I have not personally found any of the clear, water-based polys to be durable enough for kitchen cabinets. There are specialty products used by professional finishers (like Faux Effects/Aqua) that are supposed to be extremely durable, but I have not tried any yet. For the kitchen cabinets, I would consider finding a finish professional to spray on a durable water-clear lacquer. I have done lots of wood finishing and normally would do it all myself, but water-based products that are fairly durable don't apply nicely with brushes or rollers. I do have a HVLP sprayer, but I don't want to deal with any overspray in my home or even my garage.

I'm resurrecting this thread...have a slightly different question in addition to all of the issues already discussed. I'm going to order from Conestoga I think. I'm replacing white thermofoil doors which are 20 years old and haven't really faded, but there are a few where a candle or the toaster got too close and caused some minor melting....Most people think they look nice, but in my mind they are still "cheap". The uppers are 42" I'm going to stick with white and just buy doors to match the existing boxes which are fine. Also, I have granite and it's hard to find someone willing to remove it to install complete cabinets. My question is....will a mapleframe/mdf center FEEL like a real wood door? Will it feel different than my thermofoil? I'm talking in terms of both surface and the weight in your hand as you open and close it. Will the outside edges and the panel raise etc be sharper than thermofoil? If I get mdf center will I still have the defined edges I am looking for. If you've had thermofoil you will know what I am asking. I'm toying with getting 5 peice mdf...but don't want to lose the wood look or feel... I think the mdf center is my best bet. My husband is what I like to call..anal...pretty sure he will be bothered by cracks, but he doesn't want the fake plastic look either. Pretty sure all wood is not a good choice for me, too bad because I love wood... The style I am leaning toward is https://www.cabinetjoint.com/cabinet-door/monarch-square/  but I am also toying with shaker style. Wondering if the shaker trend is headed out....Also considering doing a grey island by applying end panels. Guess I could start a new thread for those questions.

thank you guys..actually i realized that the granite we liked is not Bianco Antico but a very similar granite called Delicatus. I love it! But no matter how many searches I do online, I dont see it paired with antique brown cabinets. I have seen it with almost every other stained cabinet there is but not the stain we are choosing. DH does not want to go darker or lighter on the cabinet stain and thinks Delicatus will go just fine. Our designer is trying to push a more golden granite on us and thinks that I should stick to all warm tones...although she is the expert I somehow feel that Delicatus just might work. It has so many colors in it that I think it will compliment the brown cabinets pretty nicely. But then is the question of the flooring..Dark brown cabinets, Delicatus granite, and nutmeg stained oak floors scraped lightly. Do you think there are too many different colors going on there?

Showplace is decent mid grade quality. I have a personal bias against cutesy names spelled with K when they mean C or have e's on the end. The only thing that would make me grind my teeth worse is calling themselves Olde Kustome Kabintry. If your work is good, you don't need marketing silliness. There is a whole world out there beyond just the two brands that you mention. Don't be in a hurry to get your project done until you've done more research. I'd want to know why your KM warped personally. Did you keep the humidity controlled in your home through the use of AC in the summer and a humidifier in the winter? Did you have kitchen ventilation to remove the cooking moisture from the home? Or, at least open a window? All cabinet lines require that basic level of home care for the warranty to be in effect. What size doors were warped? Oversized doors tend to be more prone to that than those less than 24" wide and 42" tall. Do you have any pictures of what you're talking about? KM does have a lifetime warranty, and I never had any issues with them doing a warranty replacement.