Top Kitchen Designs

If you are considering new cabinets, be sure to educate yourself about wood species. Durability, cost, and overall appearance are greatly influenced by your final decision. It takes several hundred board feet of solid wood to construct the average kitchen, which can be a tremendous investment.

Solid wood is categorized into hardwood, softwood, and exotic wood. Most cabinets are built with hardwood, however pine, a softwood, can yield remarkable results. Exotic woods like mahogany and teak are less common, and come from far away places.

Durability is woods ability to withstand nicks and scratches over the years. If you have a lot of traffic in and out of your kitchen, especially from young children, you might want to choose a wood species with a high durability rating. Hickory/pecan, maple, ash, beech, oak, and walnut are high all extremely durable hardwoods.

If you are on a tight budget, choose a species of wood that is lower priced and easily attained. Oak and poplar are common choices because they are readily available in any part of North America, which makes them inexpensive. You will see a significant price increase on some of the rarer species of wood like cherry, select alder, hickory/pecan, and walnut.

Wood grain is defined three ways, which are closed, medium, and open. Closed grain is smooth to the touch, while open grain has raised prominent texture. Closed grain woods like maple and poplar are best for painting, while open grain woods are best stained, which brings out their natural texture and beauty. Oak, ash, and hickory/pecan are open grain wood types. Closed grain wood types include cherry, alder, and maple.