Oak Kitchen Cabinets

Oak kitchen cabinets are popular in traditional kitchen designs. Oak is a very hard, heavy wood that's strong and durable. It also features a coarse and highly visible grain pattern, which makes it a popular choice.

If you're considering oak kitchen cabinets in your kitchen redesign, you might want to consider that oak comes in a wide range of colors. Oak is often known for its distinctive pale gold color, but it can also be seen in brown with rich red highlights. The pronounced grain pattern of natural oak wood is often brought to light when stained, so oak may be a particularly good choice if custom cabinets are what you seek.

You can actually choose from more than one subspecies of oak. Red oak is strong, durable and relatively inexpensive. It is often featured in traditional cabinet styles as it shows off the pronounced grain patterns that oak is known for. It is available in a wide range of styles and finishes and is widely available in stock cabinetry as well as through custom retailers.

White oak is as durable as red oak and even a bit stronger. It has more of a golden tone than red oak and a more subtle grain pattern. White oak is generally quarter-sawn for custom cabinetry—a process that creates a distinctive grain pattern with a characteristic fleck. Quarter-sawn white oak is often seen in Arts and Crafts furniture design, although it is also popular in contemporary design because of its consistent grain pattern.

For the budget-conscious kitchen designer, oak is lower in price than maple, cherry or birch. This lower price allows you to buy very sturdy yet inexpensive kitchen cabinets in many different styles and colors. Oak is widely available in stock kitchen cabinetry, which allows for much less expensive kitchen renovation. It is also available from custom cabinet retailers, allowing you to design your oak kitchen with more creative freedom.