From my experience in my own parents home (they LOVE natural oak) the blonde honey tone will only deepen with age.

I can understand why it is visually appealing, but since you don't like the blonde and it will get more pronounced as it ages, I would personally go with your first choice.

People generally choose oak BECAUSE they want to see the grain pattern. Any stain accentuates the grain pattern, it's the price of using oak.

Agree with Texas_Gem. Your first choice is likely your best choice. You might look into an oiled finish, which may highlight the grain but not show the blond as much. Not sure if oil works well on oak, but it is a beautiful finish on other woods, so maybe worth a look.

Thanks Texas Gem. I have to admit my heart sunk a little when I read that the blonde tone will only deepen with age. Aww! Darn it! :(

I am one of those who chose oak specifically for its grain. I like the textured feel of it as opposed to a wood like maple that feels totally smooth. I like the look of the grain too but wasn't prepared for how dark it turned out to be with this particular stain. It's growing on me though... the grain doesn't look as pronounced as it first did, the more I look at it. I'll have to live with it a few days...

ssg, thanks for the suggestion of trying an oil finish. I'll try to find info about it.

It may have an orange tone as it ages. I like the darker stain. It's very warm. Just make sure you go with a light counter & backsplash.

As TG wrote, your first choice is likely your best choice.

IMO, a medium tone is the most timeless and that would be my choice.

I can't remember--have you chosen counters?

Thanks mark_rachel, benjesbride and arialvetica. So far, all votes are for stained! arialvetica, I haven't chosen counters yet but I know that we will be getting quartz and either white or a light grey. I prefer light grey because it seems to give the wood a slightly more modern look than white.

So if I go with stained, two wonderings:

First, it looks to me like the cabinet maker used a different oak for the center panel (red oak) and a different cut for the side rails (rift sawn) and top+bottom panels (quarter sawn or just a totally different grain pattern than the side rails).

Because of the different type of wood, the center panel seems to take the stain more evenly and darker than the rails. And because of the different cuts, the top and bottom rails have a different grain pattern and more mottled look to the stain than the side rails.

Should I ask the cab maker to use the same wood and cut for all 5 pieces?

Second, if I get a lighter stain, would that help to let the shimmer and flecks of the wood show through? Or will any medium toned stain cover that up?

There are hand finishing techniques that can give you dark oak but keep the rays lighter. The topcoat also plays a role.

In the teens, they loved them some oak player pianos, and knew how to make the rays pop:

You can also get stains with something in it that softens the dark grain. Has a bit of a milky wash to it or something. Just decreases the definition of the grain.

Thanks Sombreuil and silken. I'll inquire with my cab maker about whether they can do a handfinishing or milky wash type of stain. I've been doing more Googling and I think that fuming with ammonia might be the most ideal way to get the wood darker but not cover up the flecks and shimmer.

But it seems fuming is only something a very specialized cab maker would do. I don't think my cab maker has experience with fuming. Any thoughts on that?

I have a quarter-sawn corner table in my LR. The actual color isn't as red as this. There is a LOT going on. I've had it 16 years and it gets lots of sun and incandescent light. Plus cats racing across it.

Thanks so much for sharing that photo Linelle. I don't want to misinterpret what you wrote: when you say there is a lot going on, do you mean that the wood can look very busy? Or that there's a lot going on with the silly racing cats? ;)

If it's the former, I can see how the busy-ness might be too much if applied across a whole wall of cabinets. So having a stain that minimizes the flecks might actually be a good thing?

If it's the latter, then I'm out of luck... I've got two kids! ;)

Ms K, yes, I meant there's a lot going on with the wood itself. :) I didn't mean it to mean busy in a bad way, or that it's too much.

The table is 25" square and of course the surface is horizontal. A wall of cabinets might be another thing altogether. However, I do love quarter-sawn oak in a mid-tone stain. I have a white kitchen now, intentionally got rid of my golden oak doors with the regular grain. If I were doing another kitchen, I would consider going back to oak if it were quarter-sawn.

kalapointer, thanks so much for sharing a photo of the lovely QS oak in your kitchen. Does the stain on the cabs in the back still allow the shine in the wood to show through?

kiko, I do like the look of limed oak! But I would prefer to have it on a bathroom vanity or bookshelf or dining table. Im trying to achieve a warmer look in the kitchen.

Ha ha Linelle! ;) Thanks for clarifying. The stain on your QS oak actually brings out and emphasizes the flecks. Do you have any idea what kind of stain the maker of that piece used? I'm trying to figure out what options I can ask my cab maker about, so he can understand the look I'm trying to get.

mark_rachel that is a gorgeous wood on your table. It's even more lovely that it has a story to it, and that it's seen generations of use.

kiko: I've never heard of or seen Patina Farm before! I'm a new fan now! Wow is their property gorgeous! I love that kitchen too. When started off on this kitchen journey, that's exactly the style I wanted. It's morphed into something more modern and less rustic, though... mostly because my DH finds farmhouse and rustic styles too "out there". :( He's quite conservative in his tastes. You're making me wonder if I should reconsider the style of my kitchen though...!

I've done more Googling and I think I've found the perfect solution. I want the medium tone of the stain but I want the shimmer and flecks (I've learned the proper word for all that is "figure") to show through. Wood dye is how I achieve that. A dye will soak into the wood vs sit on the wood, like a stain does, so the figure of the wood will show through if it is dyed but will be covered up by the opaque pigments in a stain.

Anyone know more about dyed wood vs stained? Sorry, I'm taking my own thread off topic here! I'd start a new thread in the woodworking forum but it's not very busy over there! ;)

My kitchen cabs are oak & they have changed color a bit, but not as much as my kitchen table. After taking that pic I now see I need to clean my cabs!!! I wish they had just a hint of gray in them to neutralize the color a bit.

mark_rachel, that's a nice, mid-tone brown on your cabs! When you say they changed colour, did they lighten, darken, take on more of a warm or cool tone...? And do you know if you have white oak or red oak?

Ms K, I'm not sure about the stain. The table was made locally and I think it's darkened ever so slightly over the past 16 years, but in a good way.

This is a little more accurate color of the top

and a shot from the side, showing end grain

I have considered having this guy make me a dining table, but I'm worried about oak being softer than my current table made of rock maple.

That's gorgeous Linelle. Love your mid-tone stain too. I'm still trying to get used to the heavy, dark grain pattern though. I've grown to hate the heavy grain in my current orangey red oak cabs so it's going to take me a while to embrace the grain in my new rift white oak!

I've learned so much about cuts of oak this morning that I know you've definitely got QS oak (not that it was hard to tell, with all the lovely tell-tale tiger striping on the top). The end grain shows the lines of the grain run at 90 degrees, which is how you know for sure you've got QS. ;)

It's hard to tell in the photos, but when you move the wood in the light, does it shimmer and catch the light?

It's red oak if k remember correctly. The color has darken a bit. They have alwYs been a warm brown, but a bit darker now, noting drastic though.

I've grown to hate the heavy grain in my current orangey red oak cabs

Ms K, I hear ya. Been there. I'm not a fan of the conventional heavy graining of oak on a lot of cabinets. But quarter-sawn is different, and I've always loved the craftsman vibe. Have you searched Houzz for photos? It helps to see a whole kitchen of quarter or rift sawn cabs. So awesome.

ETA: I think it depends on the piece. I refinished a funky little desk with regular grain oak (the kind I didn't like in the kitchen) and I love it.

Like you, I adore QS oak. I have several antiques in QS oak. Two that are inherited pieces. DH hates them. I wanted QS oak in my next kitchen. He would not agree. We toured an Amish cabinet factory. They pulled out large sheets of QS oak and rift sawn to show him. He can tolerate the rift sawn whereas I love it. So I will get my oak but in rift sawn instead of QS, with distressed white perimeter.

I love the medium dark stain you showed. It's a little more of an updated look than the natural or the orangey color of my antiques.

to me the rift sawn is quieter and a little less "antique" looking, for lack of a better word. But, still just as beautiful as the QS oak with the wilder grain which DH and I disagree on :-)

the sample you show looks like it was made of mixed pieces. If you can do your whole kitchen in one or the other I think you are a lucky girl :-)

Ms K, I thinks the grain comes through beautifully with the vineyard stain. Click on the photo to enlarge it and you will see the grain.

Thanks so much for replying ILoveRed. I do feel like a lucky girl! I love the rift white oak. My DH doesn't like "busy" woods so I know he would not like QS oak. But like your husband, he can tolerate rift oak. ;) I really like the medium stain too. I just don't like how it totally covers up the shine and flecks in the wood. This stain, to me, is like a watered down paint. It's pretty opaque. Your wonderful antique piece there shows the figure in the wood so nicely. Does it look like it was stained? Or did it naturally age to that dark colour?

kalapointer: Thanks for sharing that. Yes, the grain and flecking does come through on your! I can't tell for sure from the photo, but does that piece show the shimmer of the wood through the stain? Hmm... so stain can be done in a way that allows the figure of the wood to show through. I'll need to do more research...

when you move the wood in the light, does it shimmer and catch the light?

Ms K, sorry I missed this earlier. I've never moved the wood in the light, i.e., the table sits in one spot from one year to the next, except when I'm doing an extreme cleaning and I don't want to say how infrequent that is. :p

I don't know about shimmering, but the wood has a lot of character.

When my cats were kittens, they were terrors, no respect for any surface. In a certain light I discovered they had left a lot of light-colored claw marks as they raced across the table. I got out my trusty Minwax Stain Marker and they all disappeared.

I haven't read every single post here - but I just love the stained version.

What are your floors, if I may ask?

MsK...this piece was originally stained but has never been refinished. It had some smoke damage after a fire and was "cleaned up" so the finish was dulled a bit. But this is the original color. I have an antique QS oak hall tree that is gorgeous. But don't have a pic and it has been taken to storage along with a QS oak Larson soap table. Paring down house in preparation to sell. DH thought these pieces should be the first to "go".

QS oak..you either love it or you hate it ;-)

Here's an article that describes dying white oak. Article

And Another

Hi jpmom, thanks! I'm glad that the stained door looks good to others, even if I'm not totally smitten with it... yet. I haven't chosen the floors yet! It's actually quite frustrating that so much is hinging on finalizing the cabinet finish - the floors, counters, backsplash and hardware. Decisions on all of those are on hold until I confirm the finish. I do know I'll be getting a wood look tile but so far, that's it!

ILoveRed, my house was built in the 90s so I have no hope of ever making a case for getting QS anything so long as I live in this house! I envy you...

Thanks for digging up those links for me cpartist! I've been Googling throughout the day and hadn't come across either of those.

Sigh... after doing some research on dying/staining white oak, I'm realizing that there are pros and cons to both. It's all very confusing. I'll inquire with my cab maker and see if they are experienced with different techniques for finishing the oak to get the look I want. I can't find any images of rift white oak that has flecks in it, but here's a photo of QS oak that shows what I'm looking for in the finish:

It's a midtone, the flecks show through very nicely, the wood's shimmer shines through the stain, and the grain doesn't stand out as sharply as it does in my sample. Here are photos of my sample again, so you don't have to scroll all the way back up:

Only you can decide if the grain will be too much. I'm not sure it bothers me, but it's very line-y. Do you like that? With the right stain it might be okay. I prefer the character of QS, but didn't you say your husband has nixed QS? What does he think of your sample door?

You're right Linelle. Only I can decide. And I don't like it. It is definitely too line-y. Husband doesn't mind it but isn't thrilled about the dark grain either. Yes, he definitely doesn't want QS. Thinks it's too busy. :( The little flecks in the rift sawn are already a lot for him!

Thanks so much for continuing to reply to my thread Linelle! I really appreciate it!