Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ljmai

Help! How to choose wood kitchen cabinets with oak floor?

Lola
last month

We are remodeling our kitchen and I hope to continue our white oak flooring (see attached pic) in the living room into the kitchen. We will be widening the doorway from the kitchen to LR to 5 ft wide to give a more open feel. The LR color scheme is light gray/white/blue&green and the portal from the LR to kitchen will look right into the working part of the kitchen (see attached sketch). My DH prefers wood tone cabinets in the kitchen, but we are afraid that our L-shaped kitchen will look too "woody" with oak floors and wood cabinets and on the internet I've seen examples of that happening. At the cabinet store, I had trouble resolving how the oak grain on the floor would work with wood grain on the cabinets and was trying to find cabinets with less noticeable grain on cabinets as a result.


DH likes light maple cabinets and I think those could work, but haven't found much on the internet with that combo that looks good to me. We want a light airy feel and I saw the attached photo on the internet and so thought a possibility would be to go with a granite whitish countertop with a light green backsplash. Really what we're hoping for is a light airy feel so I'm open to anything as I'm having trouble getting to resolution. Could the light maple cabinet

/green backsplash work with the oak, or other ideas for keeping a light airy look in kitchen with oak floor and woodtone cabinets? Thank you so much for your help!!






Comments (7)

  • Lyn Nielson
    last month

    Often, white oak will have many variations in the boards, not always white... sometimes a bit of pink. until you see YOUR chosen flooring in your space, it may be a struggle to find the right woodtone for your cabinets.

    Personally, I would paint the lowers a green and uppers a white since you want something light.

    White Birch is another light wood, but often has gray tones running through it.

    Lola thanked Lyn Nielson
  • AnnKH
    last month

    Is the sketch the plan for the new kitchen? If so, I think you'll hate the angled corner cabinet in your face - an easy-reach corner cabinet is far more functional. Frankly, I would move the sink out of the corner completely - you won't be able to stand at the sink and open the DW.


    As for the wood choice - I agree that it makes sense to wait until the floors are in place, so you can hold a sample door next to your actual floors. Personally, I love wood, and would not be put off by wood cabinets and wood floors, though I think there should be some contrast: if you use white oak for the cabinets, choose a darker stain than the floors. Rift sawn white oak will not have the pronounced grain that your floors show.

    Lola thanked AnnKH
  • kandrewspa
    last month

    If the flooring is in the living room already so you can look at sample doors next to it then you can move ahead with cabinet selection. Maple might be too yellow next to light white oak, so put the sample next to the floors and see what you think. You can always update your post with a picture of this to get others' opinions. Prop the door up against a wall as straight as possible. You will be seeing cabinets perpendicular to the floor when they're installed, so you want to duplicate that when sampling. Doing something darker like AnnKH suggests, or a color like Lyn said is probably the way to go. If the wood is close but not quite the same they could clash, or just be boring.

    Lola thanked kandrewspa
  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    last month

    You bring cabinet smaples home to see how they work with your floors . Are you planning on fixing that poor kitchen layout before getting new cabinets ? I like painted cabinets with wood floors oftn since mixing woods is often a really hard job. Maple does not take stain well so with thta be prepared to leave the maple natural and in my experience no matter what finish maple yellows over time . If you show us the whole space as it is in pics it will help I the drawing is the new layout stop right now and get an actual kitchen designer not a cabinet salesperson.

    Lola thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • eld6161
    12 days ago

    Good to get professional advise but….please come back here with the options.

    Coordinating wood is tricky which is why I prefer white cabinets.

    If this is not open concept, you can tile the floor. But then you have to coordinate it with the backsplash.

    And yes too much similar wood can look like a cigar box.




  • eld6161
    12 days ago
    last modified: 12 days ago

    Google KylieInteriors, coordinating wood tones. I can't seem to share it to the exact link.

    She discusses undertones and how to coodinate.