Yup - all of that sounds about right. Why do we have to fall in love with the hard and expensive way of doing things!?

I don't know, but I'd like to know if you figure it out! Please post your results. Your inspiration photo is gorgeous!!!

Has your cabinet maker tried a liming wax? See it here.

And how Amy Howard shows it done - HERE

Several images here, some showing the Briwax Liming wax in my first link HERE

Caution! Wax is not at all a suitable product for kitchen cabinets. For lightly used furniture, sure.

Thanks Cook's Kitchen, can you elaborate? does it get dirty and hard to clean?

Is there a way to "seal" it with a wipeable coat of something or other?

Wax is lifted by moisture. There is no compatible top coat to a wax. When a floor or piece of furniture is contaminated by wax, the whole piece needs to be sanded back to bare wood and the finish process started over in order to have a conversion varnish finish applied. That professional catalyzed clear finish is what all cabinets come with from the factory, and what good quality local custom finishers use. It protects against moisture, staining, and wear. Wax does none of those things well. For a lightly used end table that doesn't see a drink without a coaster, it's fine. But set that drink directly on the piece, and you will have the notorious "wax water ring" where the moisture lifts the wax.

If you can find a copy of Adventures in Wood Finishing by George Frank you can read about Ceruse finishing by the man who invented it in France circa 1930. Be warned—it's a lot of work. This is not a step by step how-to book, but is filled with stories of Franks most interesting life, and has a wealth of information about many wood finishes which originated or were popular in that era, many of which are in fashion today. It's an easy and fun read for anyone, even if you are not much interested in varnish.

THe original cerusing "technique" dates back a lot further than the thirties. :-) It was in the 1500's that white lead originally that filled the pores of the nobility as makeup, and the pores of the oak. Mr. Frank repopularized the look in the thirties and took it to the forefront of fashion and reproducable in an assembly line environment.

Lead is much too toxic for today of course, so other whitening agents are being used. Titanium dioxide, drywall hot mud, and actual plaster are some of the things that some people have used to replicate the finish. I'm not advocating any of those as workable. Each woodworker that does this has perfected his own recipes.

When trying to specify this finish for your own home, it's best to work with someone who has already perfected their own technique. Not someone starting from scratch.

Cook's Kitchen,

Yes, of course you're correct. I was working from memory and my brain was not yet up to speed—coffee hadn't taken effect yet...

There will be similar finishes available from major custom and semi custom cabinet makers. People that have small cabinet makers try to make unusual finishes usually don't get a very professional looking product.

Add to that that almost all the designs we see that don't come from kitchen designers working out of major well known showrooms are amateurish . And so becoming very focused on finish but using small cabinet makers and part time designers or architects ignores the elephant in the room. Great designers work for bigger companies and usually don't work with small cabinet makers. We consider the cabinetry that they make "homemade" and not "custom".

Silvery gray stain on maple cabs will come close. Many custom millwork companies can do this.

Rachel, contact several high-end decorators and ask for help locating a cabinet maker with experience in this technique. Yes, it's expensive, but very unique and striking. Oh, how I miss having access to The Mart!

Sure, "contact several high-end decorators and ask for help locating a cabinet maker with experience in this technique." I'm sure they will be happy to share with you their sources so you can go directly to them and bypass the decorator. It's not like they make their living cultivating sources or anything--they'll just give you all their expertise for free!

Brighton Cabinetry, DuraSupreme, and many major cabinet manufactures produce this style finish with a more consistent and durable technique. I would stay away from interior decorators with kitchen design and cabinetry questions and talk to experienced professional kitchen designers.

In general I always ask the professionals that specialize in the area you need help. For kitchen designers this is particularly frustrating because consumers, interior decorators, architects, engineers, contractors, and even real estate agents all often believe that they have some kind of expertise in an area that takes a decade of full time experience to even become passably competent at.

You can also do a ceruse-type finish using paint and furniture glaze. Cabinets are wire brushed, painted, then glazed. A final saning removes glazefrom the paint while leaving the glaze in the grain. Works great to transform old red oak without having to totally strip them first.

These cabinets look more whitewashed than cerused to me.

Cabinets require a far more durable finish than a craft paint type approach can create. Using craft paint products that aren’t compatible with professional finishing is extremely risky.