Oak kitchen cabinets are here to stay
Oak wood kitchen cabinets with cathedral arch doors were a huge trend in the late 80s and the 90s, and while this specific style may have gone out of fashion, oak cabinets definitely haven’t.
Its durability, versatility and color variations make oak a suitable and popular material for cabinet making even in more recent years, and you don’t need to worry about your oak kitchen cabinets getting outdated as they’re fairly easy to update using a variety of stains and even paints.
Let’s see some of the main benefits of using this valuable hardwood!
The many purposes of oak
Apart from being a wonderful material for cabinet making, oak wood has several other uses both indoors and outdoors.
Since it’s a highly durable hardwood with a non-porous texture, it’s often used for flooring, and assembling wooden doors, windows and furniture – it’s also a preferred material of Mission style furniture for example.
Its resistance to mold and fungi made oak the most common wood used for making barrels for aging wine, whiskey and other alcohols, and in the past it was also used as a ship building material because of its water-resistant qualities.
This dense wood is less prone to decay, cracking, warping or shrinking and requires very little maintenance.
Oak is available in various colors and styles
Oak wood has over 500 species which offers a great selection of different grain and color variations.
Most types are light in color ranging from white through beige to pinkish-red and have a specific wavy grain that creates that “oak look.”
The lighter shades of the wood make it possible to effectively use a variety of stains and finishes proving that oak cabinets are easy to customize and can suit any color theme.
As you may see in the photo above, the simple quarter sawn oak kitchen island with a driftwood finish complements the white maple cabinets perfectly.
“Quarter sawn” is a term to describe a method of cutting the wood: first the trunk is perpendicularly cut into four pieces and then the planks are sawn off diagonally.
Using this method, quarter sawn oak pieces have finer lines.
Throughout the year oak wood may go through a subtle color change, resulting in a slightly darker hue due to explosion to UV light.
Still not fully convinced oak is the perfect material for your cabinets?
We know that it’s hard to make a decision without seeing your options first.
Visit the Gainesville showroom of Simple Living Kitchen & Bath and check out our oak cabinet selection!