The oak cabinet shown here will receive a red chestnut stain that darkens the wood and adds a warm red tone while bringing out the wood s natural beauty and pronounced grain.
Best wood to stain for kitchen cabinets.
If you want a lighter look that stays close to oak s natural color a golden oak stain is a good choice.
Ash pine and oak absorb stains evenly.
Choosing the best wood type for dark stain.
If you want to add additional definition to your cabinets a trick is to glaze corners and lines in an almost black stain and wipe off excess stain.
As the below swatch illustrates the espresso stain almost dulls cherry s inherent luminosity and makes.
Cherry is quite dark on it s own.
Gray wood tones with a very slight hint of warmth are stunning.
A pine kitchen cabinet system would be better stained with an alcohol or oil based stain that is rubbed on to bring out the knotty veins.
But there s no rule that says you have to use oak.
If you want to tone down your cabinets because they are too red or warm look for ash colored stains or even test the gray colors.
Maple kitchen cabinets could use a nice opaque stain that brings out its reddish brown color while a semitransparent or transparent stain could compliment cherry cabinets.