Replies

1. 
   Kell | Feb 14, 2003 05:18pm | #1

   Cambelldust,

   If the cherry is finished naturally, it will only get so dark.  That level, in my experience, is reached in about 6 months and I describe it as being in the medium area of the darkness scale.  (Boy, doesn't that sound scientific!)  So called "cherry stain" that you see in mass produced furniture is much darker than natural cherry.

   If you're going with natural cherry it's a beautiful color.  Maple, finished naturally, is usually much lighter.  I wouldn't call it contemporary; that's more the style of cabinet.  You can get a traditional cabinet in maple and that also looks good.

   Can you get an example of each, a door for example, from your cabinet installer and compare them in your kitchen?

   Kell

1. 
   ccampbell | Feb 14, 2003 05:32pm | #2

   Thanks for your comments.  We do have a door in each finish in our kitchen right now.  The style we are going with is the flat-panel "shaker" style.  We have it narrowed down to maple in a "wheat" finish - basically one step darker than natural (I'm not a fan of really light blonde wood) or cherry "honey spice" which is just a touch darker than the maple, and pretty close to our floor color.  Maybe we should consider the natural cherry instead.  Our kitchen is kind of long and narrow.  We're going with mottled black faux-granite counters, which I think look great with these woods, but I'm worried about the dark presence overall making the kitchen feel constricted.

1. 
   BG | Feb 14, 2003 05:57pm | #3

   Campbeeldust,

   You feel more warmth from cherry than darkness with your natural or honey spice finish IMHO.  Our kitchen was all natural cherry, altough quite large, and it darkened to a medium/light after ten years..and it did get exposed to morning sun. 

   The one issue that I was never satisfied with was the oak floors.  They were stained medium/light to begin with...but with the large grain..and the cherry butting up against....not the greatest.  If I had to do it over I do not know what I would do to change it.  Again, this was a large kitchen..and perhaps the floor/cabinet issue was more prominent.

1. 
   ccampbell | Feb 14, 2003 08:01pm | #4

   We haven't seen the natural cherry yet (and I've never worked with it on a project).  How light is it?  Is it still warmer than maple when it's natural?  I really like the warm glow and soft grain in the sample we have.

1. 
   BG | Feb 14, 2003 10:21pm | #5

   Campbelldust,

   Those are relative questions which are fairly hard to respond too.  When I put a BLO on Maple or Cherry the differences might be like white oak to red oak..? Naturally aged cherry might be comparable to fresh cut mahognay..kinda?

   I think the key is you really can't go lighter than what you start out with, but from there you can create any look you want...just about...in either wood.  What you want to avoid is different wood with different colors and grains butting up against one another....that is what gets noticed.

   I would think you'd be happy with either wood in the space...and neither would darken the room to any great extent.  I'm not sure how the contrast between the dark counter and light cabinet  would add or detract from the look...I think that is good in a small space...but I just don't know.

2. 
   dmt | Feb 15, 2003 01:05am | #6

   I have built several cabinets and display cases using cherry with an oil/varnish finish. They reached a nice light brown color after only a few months. One problem that I hadn't expected was the appearance of lighter sap wood as the heart wood aged. I was very careful (I thought) in the selection of wood, but a few streaks of sap wood appeared in one cabinet door anyway.

   I, too, plan to install new kitchen cabinets and plan to use cherry. I am a little concerned about the choice because I have a south facing "galley" kitchen with cabinets on both sides and large windows. I am concerned that the cabinets on the north wall will darken more than those on the south wall.

   Any comments from experts on that possibility?

   Dan T.