I would suspect that based on the pictures you are posting, these all look to be veneers. They will look different than a solid wood does. Also there are different walnuts - black walnut, english walnut, white ( butternut ) walnut. They will each stain differently. The other thing that affects how your cabinets will look is the top coat - there are different sheen levels and they will make the cabinets look different.

You can look online for inspiration, but getting actual samples is the only way to go!

Good luck - walnut is beautiful;!!!!

Thanks Debbi. Yes, as mentioned, we're going for walnut veneer.

FWIW, the local custom cabinet maker I spoke to yesterday uses 1 mm veneer, which he said was a good deal thicker than most of his competitors. (??)

I liked the walnut veneer I saw at Semihandmade's office, but it was one small vanity in a powder room. One of the samples I received from The Cabinet Face has this somewhat washed out look (at least to my eyes).

I'm guessing I'm just going to have to accept the less lustrous walnut, considering we can't afford to add many thousands to our budget.

There will be no escaping the price to quality curve here. The two are tied, unless you have the time and the skill to do things yourself.

I guess what flummoxes me is that the first photo above is of a walnut veneer cabinet from Semihandmade, which I believe runs far less in price than a fully custom made cabinet.

BTW, every time I try to click Edit to add a few more examples to my post, I get this message: The page you requested was not found.

You'll have to add the pictures in the comments. The time from for editing an OP is one hour.

Well, as I just posted on a new thread, looks like Semihandmade option is moot for kitchens as I now see they are no longer doing walnut veneer for IKEA Sektion (kitchen) line. Only for IKEA Godmorgon and Besta, which are more for bathrooms. Ah well!

https://www.semihandmade.com/pages/classic-walnut-material

There will be a warmth tone difference between the same piece of walnut when it is finished with a water versus oil based finish. An example is General Finish Arm-R-Seal. Here.

Matt then compares what he gets with a General Finish water based topcoat.

You can reference these to your cabinetmaker and get his ideas. Once he knows what you want he can make a sample for approval.

Wow, all of that is just gorgeous! Especially that amazing island! Can you come over and play? Ha ha.

And thanks for giving me more lingo to work with ("buttery yellow heartwood" and swirls)

Also, I have a walnut tissue box holder from Crate & Barrel that is at least 15 years old. It still looks great, with very luminous walnut luster. I noticed when I moved it out of the light, it looked a bit drab. Under the light (cheap halogen lamp from IKEA), it looks amazing. So, maybe I just need to work on lighting more than anything?

Well you've done the right thing by talking to your cabinetmaker. It's tricky to describe, but I know what you're wanting to see. Have him make sample boards. That's the only way to make sure. And board selection is a big part of the success of any design that's using a wood with a lot of figuring. I've seen so many bad examples in walnut, which seems like such a waste. Collect more examples of the ones you like, and take examples of the ones you don't like. A good cabinetmaker is going to choose well, but you can help by letting him know what you do and don't want to see. And most cabinetmakers enjoy that kind of discussion, and that kind of challenge. One of my cabinetmakers recently told me their orders were about 90% painted, and 90% of those were White Dove. They like to talk about wood ;-)

Good luck!

Thanks scottie mom. The cabinet maker we visited with yesterday made us three large samples, with light to barely-there stains. I think he said he just put on a light coat of P.U. on top. I didn't ask about other finishes as we were late to another appointment, but I will in a bit. Thanks!

Curious to know if the clear oil base product is higher in VOCs than a water based P.U.? We're in Calif., and told our local cabinet guy that we hoped our remodel to be as low VOC as possible. Hmm. Conundrum?

These are two recent jobs we have done. The first is a quarter sawn walnut veneer. The second is a plain sawn walnut veneer. The color differences are mostly from my old camera and my new camera (and lighting). The second vanity is just as rich as the first. The photos are for grain reference only.

Both are finished with clear conversion varnish. The plain sawn has more color variation.

To me, online photos are not a good representation of colors.

I think that price does very much come into play with wood cabinets. The trend for wood that is making a comeback are all slab cabinet doors/drawer fronts, no paneling. And they are all from very high end companies. Here are the colors Mouser offers in "walnut".

http://mousercabinetry.com/finish_wa.aspx I personally favor the "Saddle" and "Mink", but then I like darker walnut.

Remember, by the time this trend makes it way to the track houses and Big Box stores, it will look totally different. There is a reason that high end cabinets are expensive!!! It's the quality of the wood itself and the workmanship and finish.

Any cabinet maker that would use polyurethane on anything needs to be kicked to the curb. This isn’t 1978. And any cabinet maker that doesn’t understand how to work with veneer properly should also get kicked to the curb. It’s the only way to get that beautiful graining patterns across large expanses. It’s been used in furniture for generations with zero issue.

A cabinet maker who cannot work with veneers pretending the problem is with the material and not his skill should be out of work. Veneers are how you achieve some amazingly beautiful furniture. Not being able to admit what you don’t know achieves very little.

Here is some wooden cabinetry I am considering for my kitchen renovation- I am usually a white kitchen kinda gal, but this Italian kitchen has taken my breath away. I guarantee this look has been achieved with veneers.

Not all the terminology here is being used correctly. By "luster" you are referring to depth of finish not really the color tone. That's a separate thing. Also you cannot judge accurately by a photo. Lighting has a lot to do with it.

There's no "swirly walnut" what is meant here is called "plan sliced" (PS) or "Flat cut" (FC) both terms are more or less interchangeable. It's the way the log is sliced which creates the swirls which are called "Cathedrals"

The other common type of cut is "Quarter cut" straighter grain or what someone called stripy.

Three types of finishes mentioned in the above post are waterbased (actually waterborne), oil and solvent based (lacquer, conversion varnish). All have a different look.

"FWIW, the local custom cabinet maker I spoke to yesterday uses 1 mm veneer, which he said was a good deal thicker than most of his competitors. (??) "

{Most likely he was talking about the edge banding only. One can get thicker veneers but it's not common and referred to as .0 something not mm.}

"Veneer is difficult to work with" Correct. That's why YOU don't work with it. At least you don't lay it up yourself. You either buy a veneered panel product or you have a company with very specialized equipment lay up panels for you. The latter is when you care enough to use and pay for "Architectural grade" veneer. Consistent, matched, uniform color, and quality graining. (not what I mostly see which to me looks like a "Rorschach Test". )

Semihademade by the way uses off-the-self plywood veneer with a clear satin (toxic) conversion varnish. Nothing special anyone can do this. Once in a while their veneers are passable but most of what I see of theirs I wouldn't put into a clients home.

Walnut will oxidize and change color over time when exposed to sunlight it can be dramatic. It can go from a deep almost purplish brown to orange in just a few hours of direct harsh sunlight. To match the color of a piece that's 20 years old will probably require a very light pre-bleaching before the clear coat.

Paying a higher price doesn't guarantee you will get a superior product. It's more about the expertise and the desire to go a bit out of their way of the person doing it.

Thank you so much, jdesign_gw, for those explanations. I really appreciate it.

Reading your comments reminds me of why my mother taught me to be so very careful about light on furnishings and textiles- to say nothing of art. We are fortunate to have more options than in the past.

Thanks all!

I called the local cabinet maker (who many of my neighbors have highly recommended) and he said he uses architectural grade veneer. He said we can try to work with me on getting the look I want by experimenting with different stains and finishes, but of course he warned that the price might go up, depending on labor hours, etc.

We are going for the slab doors. He did say he aimed to do one side of the island in one large piece of veneer and he planned to match grain for the other cabinets as much as possible.

@jdesign_gw thanks for all that. I guess by luster I mean the glow or light that seems to come from inside the wood. luminosity? Like I see in a lot of acacia hardwood flooring lately. love that!

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/light-at-end-of-tunnel-revealswalnut-dsvw-vd~2673618[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/light-at-end-of-tunnel-revealswalnut-dsvw-vd~2673618)

I guess by luster I mean the glow or light that seems to come from inside the wood. luminosity? Like I see in a lot of acacia hardwood flooring lately. love that!

This describes chatoyance (described here - and here and here with photos). Individual boards, even from the same tree, may or may not have the same chatoyance. It takes time examining boards, and a good eye, to consistently find those pieces with the chatoyance you're looking for - and then it needs to be finished properly to show off the chatoyance. If you want all your visible pieces of wood to have chatoyance, you will likely pay a premium because it requires carefully selecting each piece for chatoyance (and of course matching grain from piece to piece) rather than matching grain alone. You clearly have expensive tastes ;).

Some woodworkers would say luster = chatoyance. Others would say luster is simply reflectivity of the wood or applied finish overall, whereas chatoyancy is the 3d effect (i.e., luster that varies spatially within a single board). If you're going for the latter (luster rather than chatoyance), you'll have an easier (and less expensive) time getting what you want.

salex! Thanks, that's exactly what I've been looking for. And damn, it does sound just a bit more expensive than my IKEA budget allows. Ha. Or not so ha! :-< Maybe I should just carry a bunch of tiger's eye in my pocket and stare at them lovingly every time I'm in the kitchen? :->

You can likely find quartersawn oak available from a wide variety of cabinet manufacturers at a premium much less than that of a walnut premium. The medullary rays that occur in it exhibit a high degree of chatoyance, which is why it is prized.

You're making this all too complicated. Just use a good quality veneer with a full finish clear coat. Meaning a number of coats until you achieve a depth of finish that will reflect light. This can be done on an Ikea budget. Ikea plus custom budget I mean. Doors would be somewhere in the 7,500k to 8,000k range with Ikea parts 3,500-4,500. plus install of 2,500-3,000. so something like 14k or so depending on size. We just did one in Encino and Hollywood hills in that range.