Wood cabinets are a classic feature in any kitchen. When stained or kept natural, wood cabinets pair with nearly every decorating style, making them a popular cabinetry choice for homeowners. Although most cabinets are made from hardwoods, these materials are often applied as veneers over a substrate, such as plywood, to reduce costs. Wood alternatives, such as laminate and Thermofoil, provide another cabinet material option that offers the look of hardwood for an even lower cost.
CREDIT: WERNER STRAUBE
Before you choose wood cabinets, know that they can warp easily as the moisture content changes. That's why it's important that the wood is finished on all sides before it leaves the factory. Unfinished cabinetry should be finished on-site as soon as possible to prevent warping. Veneered cabinets are more stable than solid lumber in high-humidity areas. Follow along to learn more about various cabinet types, including wood cabinet varieties and alternatives like laminate kitchen cabinets.
Types of Wood Cabinets
Wood cabinets range in color and style based on the material. Options include oak, maple, hickory, cherry, birch, ash, and pine.
CREDIT: JOHN GRUEN
Red Oak Wood Cabinets
Red oak is strong, durable, and relatively inexpensive for wood kitchen cabinets. Available in a wide range of styles and finishes, it features pronounced grain patterns and is most often used for traditional cabinet styles. This wood is an option for stock, semi-custom, and custom-made cabinets.
CREDIT: LAUREY GLENN
White Oak Wood Cabinets
White oak is as durable as its red counterpart and a bit stronger. With more golden tones, white oak has a subtler grain and is often quarter-sawn for custom cabinetry, especially for an Arts and Crafts or period look. Generally, white oak is available only as a custom option.
CREDIT: PANICHGUL STUDIOS, INC
Hard Maple Wood Cabinets
Hard maple is a fine-grain and light-color wood slightly more expensive than oak but less dense. A popular choice for semi-custom and custom cabinets, maple can be stained, but it is most often dressed with a clear or natural finish to achieve a light, contemporary look.
Hickory Wood Cabinets
Hickory, seen on this kitchen's island, is lighter than oak but is similar in grain pattern and strength. This creamy, pale yellow wood can be stained; however, like maple, its blond tones are most often complemented with a clear or natural finish. Lending itself well to rustic farmhouse-style kitchens, hickory is a rare choice for custom and semi-custom cabinetry.
CREDIT: JEAN ALLSOPP
Cherry Wood Cabinets
Cherry wood kitchen cabinets are hard enough to withstand knocks and marring. Elegant and formal when used for certain traditional styles, cherry's design versatility can also give a kitchen a contemporary personality. The smooth, fine-grain wood has a red to reddish-brown tone that darkens with age. This cabinet material is often stained for uniformity of color.
CREDIT: KIM CORNELISON PHOTOGRAPHY INC.
Birch Wood Cabinets
Birch is a durable, fine-grain wood that is slightly darker than maple. It takes finishes well and can masquerade as a more expensive wood. When stained, it can achieve a good "faux" cherry or maple look. Prone to some irregular coloring, birch is a relatively inexpensive wood choice in both stock and semi-custom lines.
CREDIT: ANDREAS TRAUTTMANSDORFF
Ash Wood Cabinets
Ash is similar in strength and durability to oak, but it has a light color and a more pronounced figure. This straight-grain lumber takes on a contemporary character when it's given a clear or natural finish. Its availability is limited in semi-custom lines and is more often seen in custom kitchen cabinet work.
CREDIT: WERNER STRAUBE
Pine Wood Cabinets
Pine is the only softwood species commonly used for cabinetry, and it dents more easily than hardwoods. This pale yellow wood, featured on this kitchen's island and ceiling, can be stained, and it often features knots used to underscore traditional and country styles. Eastern white pine and Western white pine are found in select semicustom lines.
Wood Cabinet Features to Consider
When deciding between several options, take these factors into consideration to help you choose the best cabinet material.
Grain: Except at the very high end, veneered cabinets are likely to give you better grain-matching than solid wood cabinets.
Color: You're not always wedded to a wood's natural color. Stain can replicate the color of maple on a birch base, for example. Painting wood cabinets is also always an option.
Construction: Wood cabinet drawers can be constructed using dowels or rabbets, as well as dovetails. Drawers with dovetails generally last longer but consume more wood to produce, and therefore are more expensive.
Wood Cabinet Cost Guidelines
Wood or wood-and-plywood cabinets start at about $100 per linear foot, especially in the stock and semi-custom realm. The cost can rise to well over $300 per linear foot for the rarest woods, custom designs, and so on. Cabinetry that is not solid-wood or wood veneer is generally laminate or Thermofoil, both of which are applied to substrates. Laminate and Thermofoil come in a range of colors and patterns, including some that mimic wood.
CREDIT: ED GOHLICH
Types of Wood Alternatives
Laminates are made of three resin-saturated layers: a base layer of paper, a printed and colored layer (which often looks like wood), and a protective transparent layer. Heat and pressure fuse a laminate to a substrate. The weight of the substrate makes laminate cabinets heavier than those made of wood. Laminate is used to cover exterior cabinetry surfaces, the fronts and backs of doors, and some interior surfaces. High-pressure laminates are difficult to damage, giving vertical surfaces the same durability as countertops. Low-pressure laminates, also called melamine, are less impact-resistant than high-pressure laminates and have a tendency to crack and chip. The use of better substrates reduces these problems.
Thermofoil is a vinyl film applied to a substrate with heat and pressure. The application process makes it possible for Thermofoil to resemble wood detailing more closely than laminate can. Most often white or almond, Thermofoil cabinets are easy to care for and less likely to chip than painted cabinets.
Wood Alternative Features to Consider
Laminate and Thermofoil cabinets both have their benefits. Keep these considerations in mind when selecting this type of cabinet material.
Availability: Laminate and Thermofoil cabinets are readily available at home centers and even some assemble-it-yourself home stores. If you need new cabinets in a hurry and don't have a lot to spend, these cabinet materials can be a good choice.
Durability: The construction of particle board-substrate cabinets is not as strong as other options. The joinery on the least expensive options is likely to use staples, which are not as sturdy as other construction options.
Door style: Your choice is likely limited to a flat front, although the laminate and Thermofoil processes can accommodate the curves of raised-panel doors.
Wood Alternative Cost Guidelines
This is the lower end of cabinetry options, compared to wood or wood veneer. Expect to pay $50 to $75 per linear foot for wall and base cabinets chosen from a stock selection. High-pressure laminates are more expensive than lower grades but are more durable (though also hard to repair). Thermofoil will vary in cost from $35 to $45 per linear foot.
Manufactured wood products known as substrates are hidden behind laminate, vinyl film, or wood veneers. Here are the various types used:
Particleboard is made from wood particles mixed with resin and bonded by pressure. It serves as the base for most cabinetry covered with laminate and vinyl film. New technology and improved resins make particleboard a strong, reliable building material. In poor grades, however, hinges and other fasteners tend to fall out, and particleboard that's too thin will buckle or warp under the weight of kitchen gear.
Medium-density fiberboard is a high-quality substrate material made from smaller fibers than particleboard. It offers superior screw-holding power, clean edges, and an extremely smooth surface. Additionally, its edges can be shaped and painted.
Plywood is made by laminating thin layers of wood to each other with the grain at right angles in alternate plies. Varying the direction of the grain gives plywood equal strength in all directions. The layers are bonded with glue under heat and pressure. Thinner plywood is typically used on cabinet backs; thicker plywood forms the sides.