It's Not as Granular as you Think: Choosing the Wood for Your Cabinet

Published: April 02, 2020

Here at Estate Millwork, we offer a wide variety of cabinet doors for you to choose from. The choice of style is entirely up to you, of course, and have fun making your selections! However, a somewhat more involved choice might be which wood to choose. Personal taste is the ultimate guide to your choice, as always, but there are a few things you might consider.

Cabinet doors are mostly an indoor feature, but circumstances vary. It might be that you plan on installing a cabinet door outside, or someplace that sees strong temperature variation and moisture. In that case, Spanish Cedar is an excellent choice. Its a very solid choice for outdoor applications, being hardy and bug-resistant.

In most cases your cabinet doors will be on the inside, though. So then the big question is this: Do you need them painted? If these cabinet doors are a part of an existing set, or if you need them to match or compliment the color of the room where they will be located, then the answer is probably yes. That means you need a nice, smooth wood that paints well. And that means you want Poplar. How good is Poplar for painting? Well, centuries ago, a fellow by the name of Leonardo Da Vinci painted a little something called the Mona Lisa on Poplar. You won't get a better recommendation than that!

If matching colors is not an issue, and what you would rather do is have the natural beauty of the wood itself do the talking, then you have many more options. What you want is a wood with an attractive grain, and one that you can stain and varnish for just the right effect. Woods like Walnut, Mahogany, or Oak are just perfect for this. They have beautiful grain, and will give the warm tones of woodwork wherever they are installed. The stain you use will tint the wood to the exact shade you need, but do not forget to varnish! Cabinet doors tend to see a lot of use, so you want to protect them, and varnish is a good way to do that.

With woodwork, the choice of what wood to use is of course very important. You have a lot of choices! But by keeping in mind just what you want to do with your cabinet doors, you should be able to narrow your choices down pretty quickly to the perfect choice for you.

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Upgrading Your Kitchen with Custom Cabinet Doors

Replacing cabinet doors is one of the most cost-effective ways to transform a kitchen or bathroom without a full remodel. Custom wood cabinet doors from Estate Millwork are built to your exact measurements, so they fit existing cabinet boxes without modification. This approach saves thousands of dollars compared to tearing out and replacing entire cabinets while delivering a dramatic visual upgrade.

Cabinet door style sets the tone for the entire kitchen. Raised-panel doors create a traditional, formal look popular in colonial and transitional kitchens. Flat-panel or Shaker-style doors deliver the clean lines favored in modern and contemporary designs. Louvered cabinet doors add texture and airflow, making them ideal for bathroom vanities, entertainment centers, and laundry rooms. Bead-board and V-groove panels bridge the gap between casual and classic, working well in cottage and farmhouse kitchens.

Material choice for cabinet doors should account for the kitchen environment: heat, humidity, grease, and frequent cleaning. Maple and Cherry are the hardest common cabinet-door species, offering excellent resistance to dents and scratches. Red Oak provides strong grain character at a moderate price. For painted cabinet doors, Poplar is the preferred choice because its fine, even grain produces a glass-smooth painted surface. Estate Millwork sands every cabinet door to 180 grit before shipping, so they are ready for primer and paint or stain upon arrival.

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