In addition to picking your signature look, choose a wood that can withstand daily wear and tear
Cabinets are key to keeping your space clutter-free and serving some serious style. They work their way into the kitchen, bathroom, pantry, and even built-in living room shelving units. But because each room deals with a different level of traffic, humidity, and sunlight, choosing the best wood for your cabinet doors takes a bit more foresight than considering cost and appearance alone.
Think of your cabinets as the glue that ties together your interior paint colors, countertops, and even the furniture of the room. But in addition to playing a role in the room's style, cabinets serve a crucial functional purpose as well. Depending on the space, cabinets can get tugged, bumped, and slammed on a nearly daily basis.
So choosing the right wood for your next cabinet installation should balance a handful of factors:
Budget
Durability
Reaction to humidity
Color
Natural grain
Structure of the cabinet door
While you do want to keep the price in mind, your chosen wood’s longevity should stand up against the cabinets’ everyday use. Most wood warps the moment it comes in contact with moisture, so it's important to pick a factory-finished material before installing it in a humid space such as a kitchen or a bathroom.
Cabinets that see less traffic—perhaps those in your home office’s built-in bookshelf—fare better with softer woods that won't get nicked and bumped.
When it comes to choosing your cabinet colors, the options seem limitless. Many natural woods come in an endless list of hues, finishes, and one-of-a-kind grain markings. Additionally, many natural (and nearly all manufactured) woods can be painted, stained, or covered with a veneer for extra style and strength.
If you do need to alter the finish, remember to calculate the cost of painting, refacing, or staining your cabinets.
And, of course, you have to consider style. Some kitchen cabinets incorporate glass windows, unique carvings, or rustic hardware. Countryside and farmhouse kitchens may opt for more of an uneven, unfinished look using a strong hardwood like pine or hickory. It all comes down to your personal preference!
You may think opting for manufactured wood isn’t the highest-quality route for cabinet doors. But think again—many home designers choose synthetic materials for cabinets both for their budget and for their durability.
Unlike many natural woods, you won't have to worry as much about warping, impact damage, and bugs moving in. Manufactured wood such as medium density fiberboard (MDF) is a bit easier to tailor for large projects and unique design ideas.
On the other hand, we understand if you crave the look and smell of cherry oak cabinetry. With the right care, natural wood will hold up for decades. It also has a specific high-quality aesthetic that’s customized and carved to your vision.
Perhaps the most familiar manufactured material, plywood alternates the grain of thin layers of wood. The result: extreme durability. While plywood holds up against moisture, its natural qualities can warp over time.
Most plywood cabinet doors come with a veneer coating. Or, you can easily paint or stain them to style your kitchen.
Also a fine candidate for veneers, particleboard combines pieces of wood and resin to create one dense piece of building material. You'll find a range of grades of particleboard that vary in price and durability.
Many designers opt for MDF because it uses smaller shavings than what’s used in particleboard, making MDF denser and stronger against screws, use, and tailored design work. Its smooth service means that it’s easier to paint and stain as well.
On top of all of this, MDF uses recycled wood fibers, making it a great eco-friendly option for wood cabinets.
Those looking for custom cabinets that have a sleek, modern look will love hard maple. While incredibly durable, maple isn't as tough against scratches or changes in humidity, so keep this in mind before opting for its extra costs.
Oak offers excellent variety for a range of home design styles. Red oak includes larger grains and a richer hue, while white oak provides a more minimalist aesthetic as well as a vintage style.
What's more, oak is not as expensive as many other go-to natural woods. In addition to its strength in customization, it also lasts long enough to make it worth the investment.
If you want to bring some elegant flair to your space, you can’t go wrong with the deep red hues of cherry wood cabinets. Cherry wood is both hard and has fine, straight grains, making it ideal for a classic home look.
It's important to note that cherry wood can darken over time, especially if it’s exposed to sunlight. So if your kitchen windows shine sunlight on half of your cabinets every morning, you might eventually end up with two different shades. Speak with your cabinet design team about keeping your cabinets protected and the colors consistent.
Choose from a color wheel when picking out the best walnut wood for your cabinet doors. This durable wood ranges from warm reddish-brown to a creamy gray. Walnut also has a straight, small grain, making this a fine choice for simple and modern home styles.
Designers consider this a “medium hardwood,” so while it can get nicked in high-traffic zones, walnut is an excellent option for cabinets only used on occasion.
Part of the walnut family, hickory is known for its extreme durability and strength, especially over the years. You can always spot a set of hickory cabinets by its extreme variations in color, even within a few inches. Dark knots, grains, and unique striations fill the wood for a dramatic look.
The two downsides to hickory are its high price tag and its reaction to chemical cleaners—harsh solutions can eventually strip the finish and discolor the wood beneath. Always opt for mild or natural cleaners to avoid leaving behind unsightly stains.
While pine is very easy to find—and therefore a bit more affordable than other natural woods—it is also quite soft. If you have a large family that spends a lot of time bumping around the cabinets, this may not be the one for you.
However, pine is a popular choice for its versatility in color, and it’s easy to stain pale pine to your liking.
Rustic and cozy or sleek and minimalist—choose the cabinet doors that speak to your one-of-a-kind home vision. If natural wood is not the path for you, work with cabinet contractors near you to customize your cabinets with paint, wood stain, or a unique veneer exterior to make it your own.
Alder's generally straight-grain pattern and stain-holding ability make it excellent for matching existing cabinet colors and styles. Alder naturally has a subtle, reddish tint, and using knotty versions can create a unique look with a not-quite-perfect appeal. However, take care when finishing, and use a staining sealer before adding color to avoid splotchy results.
As a hardwood, alder is softer than some types and has more of a medium density. While this property can make the species somewhat more vulnerable to wear or scratches than more dense woods, it's still tough enough to handle normal use, and most owners won't notice a difference.
Poplar is a hardwood—albeit one of the lesser-dense types. The species offers a rich grain pattern with combinations of thick and thin, often inconsistent lines. The inconsistencies can create a rich, deep, and textured look when using stain or just a clear coat as a finish.
Poplar's moderate price makes it an excellent choice for those desiring painted cabinetry. Poplar isn't manufactured wood, so it will expand and contract—meaning paint touch-ups must happen occasionally. However, the wood's relatively low cost and easy workability often make up for the small amount of extra maintenance.
Birch rates as one of the harder, more dense woods for cabinet-making. In fact, it may be harder than necessary to avoid scratches and dents in many homes. It compares well to maple wood. However, birch tends to be less expensive than maple, and its fine-grain texture is a little darker. While this feature may be undesirable when trying for an extremely uniform color, it can provide just a bit more character than maple.
Use a sealer before staining birch to avoid splotchiness, and expect subtle but more frequent inconsistencies in grain pattern than more expensive hardwoods. The price of birch cabinets generally lies between that of MDF and maple wood.
Ginny Bartolone contributed to this piece.
The Janka Hardness Scale rates wood species according to their hardness levels or density. On the scale, hickory ranks as the most dense hardwood that is common for use in making cabinets. While there are woods that are harder, they're uncommon in cabinetry. Maple, oak, and walnut also rank relatively high on the scale and are excellent for use in cabinetry.
Birch or maple plywoods have tight grain patterns and are dense species that hold up well over time and even in damp environments with proper sealing. These properties make them the most stable plywoods. Oak plywood is also an excellent option. However, care is necessary to ensure oak is well-sealed against moisture to ensure stability.
Solid wood is a durable and attractive option for cabinet doors that holds up well against a small amount of moisture. However, solid wood doors will expand and contract, meaning upkeep will be necessary if painted. Particleboard with veneer cabinet doors are cost-effective and can be attractive. MDF cabinet doors offer excellent and predictable workability features. However, both of those options are vulnerable to damage if water finds its way through the veneer or paint finish.
