When it comes to strength and durability, maple and oak are some of the best kitchen cabinet materials you can have. After all, they're both hardwoods. That being said, maple is a slightly stronger hardwood product than oak. Maple is one of the strongest and most durable natural wood options available.
Maple wood kitchen cabinets are incredibly versatile! And far from outdated. They're one of the most durable woods used in kitchen cabinets, and with the right finishes, they can fit in perfectly with any look, whether it's a traditional, modern, rustic, or contemporary kitchen.
Maple has a smooth, even grain that can be stained for a consistent look. Whether you choose to highlight the color of the wood or darken (or lighten) the wood to look like something else, you'll have an attractive end result.
Maple surfaces owe their light natural color to their clear oil finish, but this finish gradually breaks down as time passes and returns to its original oily yellow color.
Kitchen cabinets made of pine tend to be the cheapest type of cabinet on the market. However, if you want something that will last longer and look nicer, cherry may be a better option. Keep in mind that maple cabinets tend to be more expensive than other types of wood.
Oak is still a strong and durable hardwood choice for kitchen cabinets. But, if you were to put maple and oak to the test to see which one would resist denting and scratching, hard maple would perform slightly better. Ultimately, you're really splitting hairs when it comes to durability.
The 5 best and most popular woods for kitchen cabinets are pine, oak, hickory, cherry, and maple. Pine, oak, and hickory are cheaper and easier to get. Cherry and maple look luxurious and cost more than the others.
When it comes to durability, there is a bit of a tradeoff between painted and stained finishes. Painted cabinets are more resistant to damage because the paint layer adds some protection from dings and scratches. However, stained cabinets are better at concealing the damage done to them than painted cabinets.
Like cherry, maple will darken over time, though far less dramatically. Maple starts off very light and bright, with a few pink and grey tones. Over time, it will age to a warm golden honey color.
Because wood dye is able to penetrate the wood and dye the wood cells themselves, rather than just sitting on top like a stain can with denser woods, you'll get a more even appearance. It will also highlight the beautiful wood grain in your maple cabinet doors. As such, it's often the best finish for maple cabinets.
Tone down the orange. If your wooden cabinets are stained a shade that pulls orange, you can do this by changing your wall paint color and cabinet door hardware. Choose a paint color that works with the cabinets to tone down the orange. Lots of recommendations include greige or beige colors.
The best maple wood stain is actually a wood dye. Wood dyes are more easily absorbed into the tighter grain of maple and provide a darker color. However, if you want the benefits of a stain, then you can turn to a lighter gel-based stain.
Maple Cabinets: Strength. Of the two, maple is a stronger and denser wood product than birch. That's not to say that birch isn't strong. Birch has a high tensile strength that can handily accommodate all the nails and screws required to make functional, modern kitchen cabinets.
Select a wood or tile floor in the same gold or tan/brown family as the cabinets — but about two shades lighter or darker — to coordinate. As maple tends to have little visible grain pattern, maple can work well with vivid woods like oak or cherry.
Of course, if you're careful around your cabinets, this difference in strength may be negligible to you as a user. Cherry is still a strong and durable hardwood choice for any kitchens - but if you're concerned about your cabinets being vulnerable, maple is the way to go.
Solid Wood Cabinets
Solid natural wood cabinets are the gold standard when it comes to strength and longevity.
Still, there is little you can do to stop your Maple Cabinets turning Orange Eugene. The light color of maple surfaces comes from a clear oil finish, but this oil finish breaks down and regains its original oily orange color in a gradual and inevitable chemical process.
Maple is one of the most difficult woods to achieve a dark, uniform stain color on because it is a dense, closed grain wood and often absorbs stain very unevenly.
| Hunker. The color of granite countertops that match light maple cabinets include dark colors, such as black, bold colors, such as green and red and earth tones.
Natural maple is a versatile wood with warm finishes ranging from creamy off-white to light reddish-brown tones. The chosen cabinet finish becomes a dominant color in the room and in combination with the floor color, the wall color and the appliance colors is key in the basic color scheme of the space.
A light beech, warm cherry, or dark walnut in a suitable stain should lend a timeless look to your kitchen. Bamboo is another excellent choice for modern kitchens, and hickory has a rustic aesthetic.
Arguably, the most timeless kitchen cabinet color is white. Bright white cabinets suit a variety of beautiful kitchens, including modern, contemporary, and farmhouse styles. Brilliant whites work to give kitchens a light and airy feel, and off-white options, like the White Dove shade, provides warmth.
Made of pressed wood, MD, or plywood topped by a layer of paper coloured with a heat-fused melamine resin, melamine is the least expensive cabinet material. Variety. The assortment of colours and patterns is enormous, including a rather convincing faux wood grain and textured melamine option.