Cabinetry - Materials/Finishes
Wood Finishes

The Look of Wood
When you look at wood cabinet doors, what you see is not always the actual color of the wood. In fact, what you see is usually wood that has been stained or dyed before being finished.

Your choice of wood will have the most impact on the cabinet's ultimate look, because the wood grain and natural characteristics will show through.

When purchasing stock or semi-custom cabinets, the manufacturer will have a pre-selected range of woods and colors for you to choose from. You should know that not all color stains or finish treatments will be available for all woods.

Custom Cabinets
When purchasing custom cabinets you will be shown samples of different woods and finishes to choose from, but you can order anything you want as long as it is available and doable.

When choosing a wood for your cabinets, start with a wood that is a little lighter than what the final color will be. Color stains will render the actual color of the cabinet and bring out the natural beauty of the wood. You can always darken the color of lighter woods, but it's very difficult to make dark woods lighter.

Light Color Woods
Light woods are ideal for making a small kitchen seem larger, a dark kitchen brighter, or creating a more contemporary look.

Light woods are predominately yellow in color - ranging from pale yellow to pale tan. Choices include, but are not limited to, maple, oak, ash, poplar, birch and pine.

Choose a clear or light colored stain to highlight the wood itself. Semi-opaque stains, and glazes can be used to further enhance the look of the cabinet.

Medium Color Woods
Colors in the mid-range add warmth to a room without overpowering it. Medium colors work well with contemporary and traditional styles.

Medium colored woods have a pinkish cast, with a light brown or tan color to them. Choices include, but are not limited to, beech, cherry,

For colors in the mid-range, consider using cherry with a natural finish, or stain maple a little darker than it's natural color.

Dark Color Woods
Dark colored cabinets can make a large room seem smaller, or can be used create a dramatic effect. Dark colors work especially well with traditional or Mission Style.

As the label implies, these woods range from a medium brown to almost black in appearance. Examples of dark woods are butternut, mahogany, rosewood, teak and walnut.

Stains / Dyes
Traditionally, the difference between a dye and a stain is the size of the color particle which determines how the color integrates with the wood. Both are applied directly to natural wood that has been sanded.

Stains
Stains have very large, insoluble particles that do not penetrate the wood, but sit in the open spaces on the surface of the wood. Which is why some woods like hard maple, which has a very dense and tight cellular structure, do not take dark stains well. Others, such as soft maple, which is less dense and more open, can be stained as dark as desired.

Stains may be sprayed, brushed or wiped onto the surface. The depth and final color are determined by the length of time the stain is allowed to remain on the surface, and how hard the stain is wiped off.

See: Wood Stain Comparison Chart

The doors pictured above are made of cherry, but each has a different stain or colorant that gives the door a different look and feel.

Using a color stain on the wood may produce different color variances. Softer areas of the wood and end grain surfaces will accept more stain and often appear darker than other areas. This is a natural reaction when finishing wood products, and potential variances in color cannot be controlled.

Dyes
Dyes on the other hand, have soluble, molecular sized particles that actually penetrate the wood. Since the dye is actually in the wood, it is more transparent and does not mask the wood grain and texture like pigments that remain on the surface. Any wood can be dyed any color.

Sealers/Finishes
A stain is not a finish. The finish can be self-sealing, or the sealer can be different from the top coat. The sealer locks in the colorants, seals the grain, starts the filling process, and provides a sandable coating.

Typically, a stain will be coated with a catalytic-conversion varnish to give it durability and the desired sheen. When it's baked on, the varnish catalyzes into a hard, protective finish.

Clear finishes allow the markings and grain variations of the wood to show through. Tinted or opaque finishes change the color of the wood and can make two different woods appear to be the same. Glazes can be used as a top coat over the finish, to create decorative effects, such as an antique look.

A Word About Varnishes
Alkyd varnishes are the traditional varnishes made from a polyester resin. They are durable, flexible, resistant to abrasion, have good adhesion qualities, and are resistant to discoloration from light.

Polyurethane resins have pretty much replaced the alkyds for only one reason - they dry and cure faster. And while they are more water resistant than traditional varnishes, Polyurethane varnishes are not light and UV resistant, and therefore will turn "yellow" rather quickly. The addition of Light Stabilizers to the varnish has helped minimize the effect.

Glazes
Glazes are transparent or semi-transparent stains which are applied after the sealer coat. Glazes are often used to even out a light and dark area after the staining and sealing process, and actually enhance and improve the beauty of the wood and the base finish color.

Colorants
Colored stains, paint and glazes will look different on different types of wood. Be sure you see the color on your choice of wood before you order.

Bleached wood
Some woods, such as pine, are sometimes chemically bleached to give a much lighter and uniform color. However, over time the chemicals used to bleach out the natural wood color begin to lose their effect, causing a change in color.

Exposure to Light
All wood is photosensitive, and any light source (including artificial light) will eventually change the color. Exposure to direct sunlight, as in the case of a bright sunny kitchen, will accelerate the natural mellowing process.

Exposing light colored woods to direct sunlight can cause unattractive yellow spots to develop in only a few days. The spots are permanent and nothing can be done to remove them.

Choosing a more opaque stain over a clear or light stain, will help make the color change less noticeable, because less of the wood is visible.

Newer finishing methods can slow down the effect of light, but so far, no product has been developed to stop it completely.

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