I have Ikea Ramsjo island cabs with a black walnut counter. Ramsjo is the same as Laxarby. The walnut works well with black/brown. I think the cherry would be too similar in coloration. Can you get a cherry door sample to hold next to the desk?

Ramsjo with walnut.

Thanks Butternut and Bbtrix. With just your 2 responses I find that I have so much to add, so bare with me.

The desk will be across the room from the wall of cabinets. But I might want to put some high cabinets over the desk in the future for more storage and would keep them the same as the set on the opposite wall, that I am referring to in this post. The room is small, the color of the walls will be Copen Blue from
Sherwin Williams. It does look good with the Laxarby, as I had a paint
sample with me when I was at IKEA. I also had my flooring with me (The floor will be fake click together, natural oak color). So
everything was good at that point. It is just that I have found this
walnut live edge desk ;) that I really like. I think DH would love it
and it is very masculine.

Butternut, I have cherry and walnut in my living room too, and really like it. I also have natural oak flooring in that area of the house and I like it with the darker walnut too.

Bbtrix, I see you have an interesting 3rd wood component in the floor. It looks good with everything. Is is walnut too?

I have natural cherry in the kitchen; the office is just off of the kitchen.

One reason I liked the Laxarby is because the detail in the rails and stiles match (close enough) to my cherry cabinets in the kitchen. I think the cherry would coordinate with the Laxarby like your walnut does with the Ramsjo, bbtrix. But I don't have a sample of the Laxarby to take to the store with the desk. I live 4 hours from an IKEA.

The Baker doors do not match in detailing of rails and stiles, just the color of the wood, would match my kitchen, nearby.

As I write this over that last hour, between chores, I am thinking of sticking to the Laxarby. Its more of a sure thing with the cabinets, buy all in one place :)

My floor is Acacia; it does blend well with the walnut. Do you have a picture of the desk? What is the base made of?

I'm curious what your time frame is. Would you be able to order one door on-line so you can see it in the room and take it to the store? I do like mine, but they are quite dark. How small is your office? I think they would look striking against the light floors and if you have excellent lighting in the room, they would work. They have a matte finish and absorb light so lighting is essential.

I'd love pics of your kitchen and LR to see your lovely cherry and walnut to get an idea of how it would mix with the Laxarby.

Hi Bbtrix, here is my kitchen: I've edited this post a few times in the last few minutes.

These are the images I took at the store of the desk, a swatch that is similar to my wall color, and a swatch of a leather Chocolate Brown that I might get on an office chair. The base of the desk is walnut:

Very pretty cabs! The desk is gorgeous and I think the Laxarby is a good choice with the elements you've selected. I also have many woods in my home; cherry, mahogany, maple, oak, and a very large, dark media unit. I prefer the interest of differing textures and colors of the wood rather than matchy. One thing to note on my dark pieces, they add contrast yet recede into the background.

Going back to your original question of the natural cherry and walnut together...though they may go, I think the dark is a better choice for the room with a more contemporary feel. But this is really such a personal decision and you really seem to prefer the cherry. If you really prefer a light wood, maybe explore additional choices?

Bbtrix, thank you so much for your input. It has been very helpful as I reflect on this project. I want to make the IKEA work because of $ and for simplicity. I considered the Laxarby because it will match the other elements and be paintable in the future if needed, as it is wood. The white selections that IKEA offer now, are all foil wrapped or some other product. I would have preferred a color to the cabinets other than white though. White would not work with my DH.

I am thinking, after discussing this, that the dark Laxarby would be fine with the table. The room won't be really contemporary, the desk/table I am reading as more rustic. We live on a farm next to a major river with lots of woods nearby. The desk/table, to me, speaks to the countryside around us. The cabinets will blend and contrast with my kitchen. So maybe I am off the cherry cabinets for his office ;) I will be using a whitish countertop with the cabinets, but will need to consider that now, if I go with this table. I couldn't go walnut!!! Could I? It might be too dark for the room. Speaking of counters, I just saw on craigslist a bunch of walnut slabs that might work for countertop at my depth. OH NO! I wanted simple. But I love projects. I have the means to make a countertop out of a slab I think.

I read the desk as rustic also, but leaning toward contemporary with its sleek, airy lines. I think a light counter material would look good as well as walnut (if you have enough room lighting). We DIYd our walnut and it was fun to work with. What other counter material are you considering? Have you designed your cabs in the Ikea planner yet? It can give you a good idea how the room will look. Are you using a contractor or is the project DIY?

Hi, DIY for me. Did you do your own walnut counter? It looks very nice. How long is your walnut piece that you made?

I just spoke to the guy with the walnut slabs and it would cost about 550 for a rough cut that still needs to cure a year, lol. Though I am not on any time frame. I could put plywood down until its ready. But the finishing of the surfaces are beyond my knowledge/skill, but I could learn. I will probably drop by his house this coming week and see what he has to offer.

I have used the Ikea planner and the light counters look good. I've done my own soapstone in the bathroom and kitchen, but didn't think it would look good with the Laxarby. I have had good luck with remnant pieces of soapstone and gluing them together, using a 2:1 stone epoxy. I think marble would look great with the Laxarby and the room. But I was thinking of laminate to keep cost down.

Thanks again Bbtrix, you've been very helpful. I do want to know more about your counter in walnut :)

My DH and I DIY'd our plank walnut counter. I purchased the wood through Craft-art.com as homeowner DIY. This means the wood is planed, lightly sanded, with an eased edge profile, and nearly finished. It just needed light sanding and whatever finish you choose. I chose Waterlox. We purchased 2 slabs that we had to join together, cut out and install the sink, sand and finish. My DH did the cuts, joining, sink install, and supports, though I helped through the entire process. I did all the finish work. It was a bit of work but very rewarding. The island is 8' x 4'4". Here are a few pics, the first on the day of delivery as it came from the factory, and the second of the finished island. We did our cabs too and have chocolate brown leather stool.

What are the dimensions of your counter? You might check Craft-art and some of the other companies GWers have recommended in the past-lots of walnut threads. I also think marble would look great but a light laminate would still look good and be very functional. I'm curious to see your design as I think it's a great idea to use Ikea in an office. So many drawer options! If you can, can you capture a screen shot and post?

Well it looks like I am going for the same color pallet as you. What color are your walls. I am trying to see blue/white in the background in the second picture. Or is it a faint green/gray?

I will look up those options you mentioned for counters. my counter will be 8.5' long and an inch overhang from my base cabinets. They are the narrow ones, Sektion, at 15". I don't know if the fronts add an inch or not. Do you?

I'll get the screen shot soon. I have to remember how to take one on my mac.

my screen shots:

The color you're seeing is SW Exclusive Plum. I have it on one wall. Most of my kitchen walls are SW Collonade Gray which change with light and moves slightly toward green, but it's not in those pix! SW Agreeable Gray is my transitional color you see in the staircase. I really like the blue in your fabric sample and think it will go well with your selections.

Your office is nice with all the windows. What will you store in the uppers? I ask because I wonder if glass doors would work for any, especially if books would be contained within. They would lighten the look.

Actually there is only one window, the other 2 spots are doors, one from the kitchen and the other a narrow one that was once to a closet but now opens to the neighboring small bedroom/exercise room.

The uppers would be nice in glass, but I have planned 24" boxes with double doors and they don't come in glass. Unless I reconfigure the run to have larger boxes. I want the smaller doors so that they don't swing into the room as far. The one set next to the kitchen door will be mine, an upper and a lower. The other 3 sets will be DH for all his business things, books, etc.

I am not sure if I will use all drawers on the bottom or not, though that is how I have it set up in the drawing. I need to stick with the 15" depth for the bottoms due to space. Unfortunately, the bottom drawers are just shy of being large enough for a file cabinet. I've measured the drawers when I was at IKEA in February and asked the people in kitchens if they would work. I will need to get a rolling file to fit under the end of the desk, maybe two.

I am going to look at the desk this Tuesday again to decide.