Countertops And Cabinets

The choice of finish and wood species for your kitchen or bathroom cabinets will make have a big impact on how the room you are decorating/redecorating looks. In a nut shell you can choose from various wood species and finishes. Whether you want to achieve a rustic, elegant or contemporary look how well your finished product looks will be determined by the choice you make in bathroom cabinets and kitchen cabinets wood species.

Some more popular wood species choices are maple, oak, cherry, red birch, white birch, pine, walnut, hickory and ash. They all have different characteristics. Some are hardwood, while others aren’t. The natural shades and grains are distinctive and how they will look after staining is one thing you don’t want to overlook. Here are the characteristics of a few.

1) Oak – a strong hardwood with a long, linear grain, this is the mainstay of the cabinetry and furniture industries. Oak coloration can range from golden blond to deeper tones. Glazing, especially in the darker shades, tends to enhance the additional grain patterns of kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

2) Hickory – is another strong and heavy hardwood, it has vibrant grain patterns and wide color variation. A clear or light stain will maximize the color, while darker stain selections will give this wood distinguishing characteristics all its own.

3) Maple – this hardwood offers versatility and a fine, smooth grain. Varying in color from nearly white to almost reddish brown it accepts a variety of stain colors to good effect. Mineral or sugar streaks occur naturally in maple and can vary from piece to piece. This is more noticeable in lighter stains of our bathroom and kitchen cabinets.

4) Cherry – offers warm rich color shadings with a distinctive grain pattern. It can range in color from nearly white to dark reddish brown. Cherry will darken when exposed to light, more than most wood species, especially in light stains. Cherry is a multi-colored wood characterized by shades of red, white and brown. With time, darker tones will turn a deep reddish brown, while light areas will mellow to medium yellows and brown.

This brief description of wood species for kitchen and bathroom cabinets is not comprehensive, and not meant to be. It is imperative to do a little research to get the full benefit of your decorating ideas. The best choice made will be based on your own design ideas and the usage of the room you are decorating/redecorating.

You should visit local galleries to see what finishes and wood species actually look like. A quick way to get an idea of what fits is online. The internet is full of cabinet manufacturers and merchant websites that feature photos of kitchen and bathroom cabinet wood species, stains and finishes. Many will send samples of items you are interested in. What ever you do, do not overlook this vital task. The worst thing in the world is to have kitchen or bathroom cabinets installed and then realize they don’t fit aesthetically.