cherry aging example w FR sample door vs kitchen cabs

12 years ago

Sometimes the question comes up of how cherry ages. Since we just got the sample door for our new family room cabinets, here is a picture showing the color of the new cherry versus our 5 year old kitchen cabinet cherry. Both are natural finish. Most of the darkening in our kitchen cabinets happened in the first couple of months.

Our kitchen cabinets are shaker. We wanted the family room cabinets to be different but harmonize. The house is MCM but our style is more transitional softened modern. So we went with a very simple raised panel mitered corner door for the FR cabinets which will house our entertainment system, grand kids toys and some kitchen overflow.

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Comments (3)

deedles
12 years ago
thanks for posting this... I was just looking at cabinets today and trying to figure out how it would darken over time. Your cabinets are beautiful and I really like the drawer pulls, too. Are you happy with the color that they've become? Also, are they in direct sunlight or is this just the regular amount of light in a kitchen type deal?
leela4
12 years ago
cloud_swift- That's a great reminder of how much cherry does darken. I remember when our cherry cabinets were delivered (ours are also natural) I was really worried that there wasn't enough contrast with our floor, which is unstained maple. But the cabinets began to darken almost right away. I love your kitchen, BTW.
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Cloud Swift
Original Author
12 years ago
deedles, we are very happy with them - enough to use cherry again for the entertainment system. We started looking at cherry because we liked the warmth of cherry after it changes. Our GC had a sample door that was aged. We used that when choosing other finishes in our kitchen.

The kitchen window is west facing so some bits of the cabinetry may get some direct sun. However, because we are in a hot summer climate, we have 4' eaves and plenty of trees for shade so we don't get much direct sun. I don't think it would make much difference because the cherry ages pretty quickly. I've never noticed a color difference between the more sheltered parts of my kitchen (e.g. toekick facings) and the more exposed parts.

Most of the color change happens pretty quickly - in the first couple of months not years.

The drawer pulls and handles are Schaub. We like the looks and they are very comfortable to use. When I was looking at this picture after posting, it occurred to me that we haven't chosen handles for the family room cabinets yet.

Leela, thank you.

We knew that cherry does that, but it is still a little alarming to see the new cabinets when they are so much lighter than you expect. Our new floors are unstained maple too.

cherry aging example w FR sample door vs kitchen cabs

Comments (3)

deedles

leela4

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Cloud Swift
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cherry aging example w FR sample door vs kitchen cabs

Comments (3)

deedles

leela4

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Cloud SwiftOriginal Author

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Cloud Swift
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