I think we need to know your style . I love slad doors in kitchens IMo makes cleaning easy and a nice simple look. Your idea book is all over the map as to kitchen styles so maybe first narrow down what style you like. I think slab doors are best in a more contemporary kitchen or MCM style .I am always curious to know what it is you are looking at IMO most cherry kitchens are pretty traditional and I also really dislike the darker stains that make cherry look red and fake.I love natural cherry and see no reason to stain it any color so I need a bit more info. Maple is IMO best left natural since it takes stain poorly usually.

Thank you for your response @Patricia Colwell Consulting. I definitely like the idea of something easy to clean and a simple look but not sterile. We currently have custom built shaker cabinets in white. I love how bright and airy the kitchen space is but we've had issues with the paint flaking due to the wood shrinking and expanding. We recently bought a house and we'll be relocating the kitchen into a 19X14 space. The 19' wall is at the back of the house and overlooks 2 acres. My hope is that I'll be able to create a bright and airy space with windows even though I plan to have stained cabinets. I like a light brown but not too light because I'll likely have light floors. I don't really want red or yellow hues. If maple is left natural, it will yellow, correct? What do you think of the stain of the cabinets in the photo?

I should probably organize my ideabook. The current kitchen is galley and I considered just updating it but have since decided I really prefer a more open kitchen so we're moving it into a space that is currently a sunroom (image attached)

Scandinavian Transitional · More Info

What do you think of the color stain and the slab doors in the image below? We'll mostly have drawers on the bottom and handles on doors

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That one (with the marble block island) looks like natural walnut.

I think the slab doors are wonderful and not boring at all! Especially in a beautiful wood like cherry or maple. I love the natural maple, but of course one must be prepared that they will *probably* change color so staining may be a great idea.

Actually if I was going slab I would do walnut every timeit is abeautiful wood and left natural it is lovely. I have no idea which space is the sun room . I love galley kitchens they are usually very functional I think the 19 x14 space is the sunroom you are speaking of . IMO all that potential deck space will need to be planned before the kitchen is done since IMO access to the deck is best from the kitchen for grilling and that will have ahuge effect on kitchen design.Since that space has to also be your dining space that is a pretty small space .IMO I would expand the kitchen into the deck space on the left or right to then have a proper dining space and a decent sized kitchen and amke the deck at the back just larger to make up for the missing deck.

It really comes down to your personal aesthetic taste.

As others have posted, the only way I would do slab doors is gorgeous walnut slab doors in a contemporary feeling kitchen. It doesn't have to be slavishly modern but it definitely isn't a traditional look. Looking back I realize that one of my friends back in the day must have had this style kitchen in her parents' home - it was a modern home built into a hill and I bet it was state of the design aesthetic when it was built in 1965 with walnut slab cabinets and white counters - maybe with orange accents :-).

I recently remodeled and opted for a more traditional look inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style. But I really drool over some of the walnut slab kitchens that I see in design magazines.

Ironically the kitchen which I gut remodeled is in a high rise condo which was built in 1965. The cabinets were built on site and were more like old fashioned cupboards rather than modern cabinets in terms of the boxes. The doors themselves were some kind of very thin wood which was stained a greenish dark brown - maybe they were simulating walnut - who knows LOL. They were fugly and as a make it work fix, I painted them and switched out the harvest gold formica for another relatively inexpensive formica counter. That was fine until I had the money, energy and time to do a full gut remodel. Looking back I am grateful that I didn't have the ability to renovate the kitchen when I moved in as the kitchen I would have done would have been so inferior to what I installed and not just because I was able to afford to indulge on nicer finishes but also because I knew exactly how I wanted my kitchen to work for me.

Semihandmade walnut on Ikea boxes

Gentle reminder - Cherry wood does darken over time, it's inherent in the wood. Maple will yellow over time (see above). Walnut remains as it ever was.

Walnut turns a bit orangey, but in a good way.

@Fori - thank you as I had no idea. I like that color. Guess that means I like walnut. I'll have to research it as I know nothing about walnut.

@mimimomy thank you for your input!

@Patricia Colwell Consulting, I would consider making the kitchen larger but we are staying in the confines of that space because of roofing and flooring. Ultimately, the plan will be to have a deck off one side of the kitchen and a screened in porch off of the other side. With that in mind, we're planning to have double doors on the left hand side and probably a single door on the right hand side and a large or multiple windows on the back wall. We were originally thinking a single kitchen wall with an island but now I'm thinking an L shape (back and right wall) with an island.

@Helen thank you for sharing. I will need to look up walnut cabinets.

@Beth Allen is that your kitchen? It's very nice. I would love to know how your experience was with semihandmade/ikea. I considered them early on and have since forgotten about them. I would also like windows along my sink wall. Yours are nice a big. Love it!

@chiflipper, good to know!

I have slab drawer fronts (painted and dark) and I love how easy they are to wipe down! Not boring at all.

Slab fronts let the wood be the star.

And no dust in the shaker stiles and rails - PITA!

Lianne- I had my Ikea installed by a local who specializes in Ikea. Very collaborative/fun project.

Semihandmade was the best! They were so helpful, and I sent them my Ikea pdf of the kitchen and they told me everything I needed. Even identified things I never would have known to order. The cabinets (in total) was half the price of a previous kitchen reno (including installation)

My slab cherry fronts are in my bath, not kitchen, buy I love them and would do the kitchen if I could. Terrible photographer, though.

@Beth Allen, pretty positive our contractor doesnl have guys who specialize in IKEA installs. Do you think that would be a problem?

@G W, thank you for the picture. I really like it. I think I would be very happy with slab fronts. Such a clean look.

heres my natural walnut slab kitchen. Installed about 6 years ago.

@wsea, I love it! What kind and color floor did you go with?

Not at all. They can provide a very sleek, modern look. Cabinets often provide a sort of base or foundation for the kitchen that you can then build around.

Thanks LiAnne. we added more wood to continue what was original to the house into this area. It was red oak. I’ll get a picture tomorrow.

Here’s our kitchen in the finished kitchens blog (fkb) almost a year after it was completed. Slab door cherry cabinets. Light (very “watered down”) harvest gold stain. They pretty much looked like natural cherry when they arrived, did started ambering up shortly after, as they were exposed to sunlight streaming in through the windows.

cat_mom’s finished kitchen

@wsea, great! I loved to see a photo.

@cat_mom, thank you for sharing your photo. I liked the detailed information you included in that blog. What a great way to keep track of what you purchased/have. I really like the look of your cabinets. Would you choose the same stain again?

@Lianne I think we would. If not, we’d just go with natural cherry, after having seen how they look in others kitchens, and how similar they looked. I believe going with the slight tint of stain, it was supposed to “control” the ambering process, and perhaps speed it up by starting out with some color.

Our DR furniture is solid, natural walnut, so I sometimes think that would be nice for the kitchen cabs as well.

Here’s a quick shot of the floors with our cabinets.

What did you decide? Did you check out white oak?