Hello,
We are in the process of custom building a home and are very excited. It is 2700 bi-level home with lots of railings. We will have the builder stain stain the railings this green, brown charcoal color. We will eventually have oak hardwood the same color. We are debating between 2 kitchen cabinets. One is elegant oak, which is dark brown with grains of black in it or Timberlake Maple (a brown ciannamon color). Do you find the oak cabinets look cheap?? I actually think they would match the hardwood better although it will be ceramic tiles in the kitchen. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.
I don't think oak cabinets
look cheap, per se. I've seen some beautiful modern oak kitchen cabinetry.
However, I do find that certain oak cabinets from Home Depot or Lowes (American Woodmark and Kraftmaid brands immediately come to mind) look kind of cheap.
But then again, I'm not really an oak person (even though I currently have oak floors throughout my 1950s rowhouse). I prefer a less "grainy" wood, like maple. Although I do think a light oak would look nice on flat frameless kitchen cabinet doors.
The only
problem might be that inexpensive cabinets will be made with plain-sawn or even rotary-cut oak, which have a "loud" grain pattern. See if anybody will sell you rift-cut oak; this will have a more tailored, finer grain pattern. I like the idea of relating the cabinets by specie to your other woodwork.
As for color, cinnamon might sparkle against a dark green-grey, but be sure you like it before going that way. We wouldn't want you to be painting your cabinets after a year or two. . .!
For the love of God don't go with oak!
I had a friend who has since moved away, so we are no longer in touch. However, he was a rather hard-core modernist - which made for many a night of qualitative discussions. one of those nights while we were agressively indulging in some therapudic imbibing, he sat silent for some time, as if in a trance. After a considerable pause he broke his glazed stare and said : "you know what? there's too much f*cking oak in the world". I will remember that forever because all the cheezy furniture from big box discount stores, all the 'McMansion' wood work, and low end cabinetry seems awash in the stuff. Now granted, cost factors play in to all of our financial decisions, but there are more beautiful, less pedestrian yet equally cost effective alternatives that will showcase your good taste and individuality. So please, please consider oak alternatives - your aesthetic concience will thank you.
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