Light grey stained cabinets... Alder, Cherry, or QS Oak?
I had settled on light grey cabinets, which I was initially planning to do in a painted finish with a dark glaze. We picked out the following with a local custom shop my contractor had recommended. They also showed me a grey stained maple which didn't look very good. Their initial ballpark estimate was very high and in budget breaking territory. They were supposed to work with me to try and modify things get the cost down some, but their follow-up has been lacking (been over a month without any update other than a second hand "they're working on it" through our contractor)
FYI the floors are wood like tile that blends pretty well with the existing hardwoods in the rest of the house (ran through a lot of samples to find one I liked). Backsplash is tile shop, probably will do with white grout. The countertop is LG rococo (deciding between that and the very similar but lighter veined minuet).
I priced out cabinets with Starmark (via Costco Tuscan Hills). They were substantially cheaper than the local custom shop. Reviews seem generally good. In addition to being flat out cheaper, one of the suggestions was using a grey stain instead which would save $5k+ and put them at least in the zip code of what I was expecting to pay. I've seen pictures of grey stains online and I like the look as much as the painted finish. Starmark has a driftwood stain which is light grey which I'd likely pair with a "chocolate" or "ebony" glaze. I can order door samples at $30/each. These cabinets would be a little different (inset and reversed flat panel, rather than raised, which better matches the existing doors throughout our 110 year old house)
My wood choices are (all cost the same)
alder
cherry
QS oak
they don't offer driftwood in maple
Concerned about softness of alder but otherwise like it. While I like the initial look on cherry, concerned how it will look over time as redness increases and it darkens. Not sure I love the look of Oak (reminds me of the 80's) but the QS oak seems to have a less dated vibe to it?
Paying up for paint is also still an option.
Comments (7)
Christine Regan
7 years agoDrB477
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI got a sample door of driftwood with ebony glaze on cherry and really liked it. I think I would have been happy with Starmark, but after figuring tax/installation/etc the difference between them and the custom shop was very little and my contractor really wanted me to use the custom shop. The custom shop allows things to be a little more "custom" too which is nice. They work together well with the contractor so it has made things easier than I think it would have been otherwise.
I ended up matching a stained maple to Starmark driftwood with a black glaze. It's very close in appearance.
The kitchen is still in progress so I don't have any finished pictures (probably 4-6 weeks out still), but here is a sample door with the stain. This isn't the door style we ended up using, its more for color. This is my custom shop's maple, but it looks very similar in color/tone to the cherry driftwood sample I got from Starmark. I think the glaze is important on cherry or maple to mellow out the underlying wood tone, otherwise looks really pink (was not a fan at all of that look). Oak might be able to get away with plain stain.
It's a little dark, I thought about doing the whole kitchen in it, but ultimately settled on a mix of light grey paint (matched to SW Repose Grey) on one wall and the island/mudroom/appliance wall/desk all stained.
Omega porch swing seemed pretty similar, I cross shopped that too.
I think I would have done QS oak inset if I stuck with starmark or omega. I really liked Porch swing with a brushed ebony finish.
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Comments (10)Rhome, we cross posted. Thank you so much for your kind words (and for all of the help during my very long planning phase). It's hard to believe we started out wanting a white kitchen and ended up here. It fits in so well with the rest of the house. We couldn't be happier! I can't wait to get the backsplash in so I can finally do a "finished kitchen" post. I love the blue/green paint too but the kitchen is dark and with the soapstone and dark cabinets, it feels a bit oppressive to me. I'm waiting until the backsplash goes in before I make a final decision. I could trim the entrance from the mudroom to the kitchen, keep the mudroom the color it is and paint the cabinets white. I also love the idea of gray cabinets (almost did that in the kitchen) but am not sure it would go with the walls. What color walls would you put with gray cabinets and a black and white checkerboard floor? I'll bet Martha Stewart would know!...See MoreThey're here! QS White Oak Kitchen Cabs-picture heavy!
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6 years agomissmelnel
6 years agoDrB477
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agomissmelnel
6 years ago
DrB477Original Author