Select a wood species for your handcrafted kitchen cabinets that is in sync with your life — the drama of varied hickory grains, the reassuring hues of cherry, or the durable comfort of oak. So, if you were a tree — what tree would you be?

Your wood. Your life. Fine wood cabinetry you can live with — Holiday Kitchens.

Red Oak

Red Oak

• Color that varies from rich wheat to warm yellow and rich reddish brown
• May be streaked with green, yellow or black minerals
• Medium-coarse to coarse texture
• Straight prominent open grain distinguished by rays that reflect light and may vary from sweeping arches to tight grain patterns
• Very high dent and shock resistance
• Machines and glues well
• Holds nails and screws well because it is heavy, strong and hard
• Sensitive to changes in humidity
• Responds well to a wide range of finish tone

Quarter Sawn Red Oak

Quarter sawn oak (with stain)

• Harvested from northern red oak by a special sawing process, with boards cut along the radius of the log
• Hallmark of the Arts & Crafts and Mission style, prized for the medullary ray flecks that are revealed by this specialized cut
• Distinctive patterns include wavy and interlocked grains, flake figures, pin stripes, fine lines, leafy grains and watery figures
• Appears darker than regular oak due to the tight grain
• Reduces twisting, warping and cupping
• Holds finishes better
• Does not allow liquids to readily pass through it.

Hard Maple

Maple

• Color ranges from cream to light reddish-brown
• Light, creamy brown color accentuates mineral streaks and color variations
• Usually straight-grained, but sometimes has highly figured bird's-eyes that resemble small circular or elliptical figures
• Color will take on a golden hue with age
• Sometimes exhibits a burl grain - clusters of round curls
• Fine and uniform texture
• Extremely durable, strong and stiff with excellent resistance to shock, dents, abrasion and indentation
• Sensitive to both ultraviolet light and changes in moisture
• Machines well and holds fasteners well
• Sensitive to changes in humidity
• Uniform texture and tight grain make it excellent for stains and paints
• Mineral streaks darken with stain

Hickory

Hickory

• Color varies dramatically from white sapwood to near-black heartwood, sometimes with inconspicuous fine brown lines
• Use of both sapwood and heartwood provides striking contrasts called "calico"
• Generally fine and straight-grained, but may also have flowing variations in grain
• Can exhibit dramatic and random burls, mineral streaks or specks
• Course and even texture
• Extremely tough and resilient
• Sensitive to changes in humidity
• Stains and finishes well with natural grain pattern accentuated by medium to dark finishes

Cherry

Cherry (with stain)

• Colors range from creamy vanilla to deep, rich red
• Darkens with age, mellowing to robust reddish-brown with golden luster
• Straight, satiny, more subdued grain
• Small gum pockets can produce distinctive markings
• Distinguished by an occasional pitchpocket or birdpeck
• Fine, uniform, smooth texture
• Sensitive to changes in humidity
• Machines, glues and holds fasteners well
• Good shock and dent resistance
• Excellent finishing qualities because of its uniform texture

Alder (Red Alder or Western Alder)

Alder

• Color is a very consistent light brown with a reddish tint
• Straight grain with no distinct grain pattern
• Even texture
• Hardwood that is softer than cherry
• Porous, moderately light and soft wood that is less shock resistant than other species and tends to dent more easily
• Sensitive to changes in humidity
• Lightens with age, reds diminishing and shifting toward a soft yellow
• Finishes smoothly and takes stain well, absorbing more stain at the end grain because of its porous nature

Bamboo

Bamboo

• Characteristics of bamboo are similar to hardwoods, but bamboo is not a wood.  It is classified as a grass
  
• Bamboo is much denser and stronger than hardwoods, making it a renewable resouce
  
• Fine, even grain
• Less susceptible to mold and fungus

Character Cherry, Character Oak, Character Maple and Character Alder

• Known as "rustic" or "knotty," these fine wood species have the added character given them by the random size, quality and placement of knots within the wood.
• Character wood is specially selected to have more knots, mineral streaks, sapwood and color variations.
• Knots will vary in size, quantity and placement, but will be sound.
• Holiday Kitchens carefully selects the types and placements of the rustic features that comprise its character wood.