I can't say about cabinets but I do have cherry furniture and it does darken considerably in indirect light.

Cherry will definitely darken over time. Your KD should have ordered you a new sample so you could compare to their aged sample. They have showed me samples that are 2 years old vs 1 month old and there are at least 4 shades difference between them. The good thing is your cabinets will get to the shade you envisioned - it will just take a little time to do so

Ditto -- we have a cherry floor and it has already darkened substantially since it was installed in Sept -- in fact, it darkened considerably even in the first month or two. We also have cherry furniture which darkened. So you are definitely better off having matched everything to the "aged" door sample.

Not sure how the treated door glass impacts the darkening process ... but I can tell you that we don't have outlines on our floors from where the light comes through the window.

I don't know about the effect of the glass treatment either, but do know it doesn't take 6 months to a year for cherry to change quite a bit. We put in our last kitchen in stages. When we put in the 2nd stage, I was shocked about how different the 'new' wood from the cabinets that were a couple months old. I think it was only about 3 wks until the new ones blended and 2 months, at most, before you couldn't see any difference. The color change is definitely a major characteristic of cherry. Did no one tell you to expect this, or maybe they just assumed you knew?

My experience with Cherry is rapid change the first 6 months, slow the next 6 months and unnoticable after that.

Hi,

Thank you for your comments. They've made me feel so much better about my situation although I'm still not sure what to do. I did know in advance that the cherry cabinets I ordered would be a shade lighter at first and then darken with age. But, I didn't expect them to be 3 shades lighter and not match anything I picked out.

I'm not sure what to do now about my granite or the paint color. I've already purchased the cork floor but I may need to change the granite. I'm afraid the granite I picked out is based on a darker brown and this lighter soft color of cabinets may not be able to hold the strength and color of the granite. I may need to change my granite (again!) to something softer with the colors toned down.

I agree with a post I saw on this web site a while ago, Where is the "Easy Button"?

Thanks for your help and a place to vent my anxiety!

Karen

I'm not sure I understand why you want to change your granite. The cherry's lightness, as explained, will go away rapidly, then you'll have granite that matched the new cherry you had at first, but not the aged cherry, which is what you'll have for years.

I too have been shocked by how fast granite changes to a darker version. I wouldn't change the granite, as it will darken quickly and be what your vision is meant to be. Perhaps you can add some light and speed up the process. I'm sure it will be beautiful!

Karen,

Three shades seems a lot. I don't think cherry changes that much unless you are starting with unstained cherry. My cabinets are stained harvest gold. The color has deepened over two years, but it is not three shades darker. Have you verified that the cabinets were stained the correct color? I had a bathroom cabinet delivered that was the wrong color. It was supposed to be butternut (wood) and it was butternut squash. DH inspected it when it for damage when it arrived and didn't question my ordering of an orange cabinet. It was weeks later when I saw it unwrapped and realized there was an issue. The cabinet had to be completely remade because the color couldn't be fixed.

If the cabinets were stained the correct color, then your cabinets should catch up to the sample in a year or so. I wouldn't change the flooring or counters.

You guys are freaking me out! 3 shades darker? Does anyone have pictures... original cherry stain, then the aged cherry stain?

I have a sample door that I've had for 2 months here and haven't noticed a difference. I will be putting it in my bedroom window for direct sun to see what happens. He won't be staining my cabinets for a few weeks so I'll have to see if I'm happy with the sun aged cherry. I'll keep you posted.

Hi,

When I first noticed the difference in shades of color in the cabinets, I called the salesperson. The cabinet salesperson came out right away to see the cabinets as they were in the process of being installed. She agreed that they were too light as compared to the sample (even taking into account that the initial cherry would be lighter). She contacted Kitchen Cupboards and they claim they made the cabinets according to the door sample. Since I used their (Ktchen Cupboards) door sample to select the granite, floor, and paint, I'm positive the door sample was darker.

As it stands now, Kitchen Cupboards is sending their rep out on Tuesday to look at the cabinets. The salesperson has sent my door to the Kitchen Cupboards plant so that they can compare my door color with the sample door they used to make the cabinets. My kitchen designer is also coming out to judge how light the cabinets are and what we should do about the granite.

Maybe I'm too quick to jusge but for the money I spent on the cabinets, they should be at least close to the sample color (taking into account the nature of cherry wood). I understand a lot of this is my fault for selecting cherry wood but I really didn't like the Alder without the knots and love the richness of cherry wood.

Now the million dollar question seems to be will the cabinets darken 3 shades and match everything I selected and how long will that take? Thanks for your moral support!

Karen

IME, the lighter the cherry is initially the more evident the color change will be. I have a table that was only treated with wax and it has gone from pale cherry to a rich red/auburn color. That table is now 17 years old. The color changed most dramatically the first few years. I wanted my kitchen cabinets to be a little darker than that, so I started with stained cabinets. I'd say the color has gotten richer and deeper, but not three shades darker.

nepool - as Sue36 noted - you will see a greater amount of darkening starting with light than already darker stained cherry. If you start dark, you probably want see 3 shades of change

Karen - ask your KD how old the sample door is

I'm not sure that 'shade' has an objective meaning in this context, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

While UV speeds the darkening process, it will darken over time whether it gets direct sun or not.

Some granites also oxidize and darken if they have a fair amount of iron in them.

I'm with oruboris that it seems like some are getting excited over the term "3 shades" and that's not exactly a measurable quantity or a description that would be the same to everyone. But, also, the truth is that wood is not all identical...Some will be lighter and some will be darker, and the changes will be more rapid or slower, deeper or not quite as much. I don't think it's something you can expect to be exactly the same from one piece of lumber to the next, much less one batch of cabinets to the next. The age of the tree, the growing conditions, the part of the tree that piece of lumber came from, etc. are some of the variables that can effect the color. Staining may improve the chances of consistency, depending on how deep or opaque it is, but the only way to completely insure a color is to paint.

Karen, choosing your granite, etc., with the older sample is exactly what you should do. If they used the same finish on your cabinets as what was on the sample (and most cabinet makers familiar with cherry would be sure to do just that), the sample should give you a very good idea of what to expect within anywhere from six months to two years from now. I have cherry furniture that is dramatically darker than when we bought it, and it has been this color since about two years after we got it. You absolutely should not match things to the color of the new cabinets because they won't be that color for long.

Hi all, this thread is very interesting! Reading through all these responses is making me wonder about a few things about Cherry wood: do all the stains of cherry darken in the same way, at the same rate? Also, do all the stains look the same, ultimately, after aging? (dumb Q, but....) I would greatly appreciate if someone clarified this to me!! I do not mean to hijack this thread; but just wondering.

Is there a way to treat the cherry so it will not darken if you like the lighter color???

We are looking at cherry also but wanted it to be light.
Thanks!

Something to consider if you are reading this thread thinking about cherry, but scared of the color change...

One alternative to cherry is red birch. Red Birch has a similar grain, "hardness", and reddish undertone as natural cherry (though maybe a little more golden-red), and it hardly darkens at all.

Re: preventing cherry from darkening: I don't think so, at least I've never heard of such a product.

To 100% prevent cherry from darkening, do not expose it to light; keep it in the tree. Use a finish with an extremely high UV protection value. It's going to darken some no matter what is done.
Casey

I am really struggling with selecting a finish and wood species. I came across this thread and have a question about how cherry ages. I do not want to end up with auburn cabinets. If you go with a lighter, browner stain like wheat, does the wood just get darker brown? I want kind of a medium color. I was going to go with Maple - Chestnut, but heard that darker stains blotch on maple. I was then leaning towards Cherry....now this is throwing me another curve.

I guess at this stage, the more I look and think about it, the further I get from a decision.

Hi,

Believe it or not, I'm actually starting to like my lighter cabinets. My advice to you would be to pick another type of wood that is more stable in it's color then cherry. I originally liked the color of Alder with a Midnight Fruit wood glaze. But I didn't like the Alder without the knots as I thought the knots added character to the wood. However my kitchen is not Rustic and I really didn't want the Knotty Alder. Hence, I went with the cherry wood which was essentially the same color or so I thought.

If you decide to go with cherry, I would ask for a recent sample so you know what color the wood may be when your cabinets arrive and a sample that's 6 months to 1 year old so you can see what color it may darken to. As I've said, the cabinets that arrived are not the color that I originally selected (think milk chocolate as opposed to dark chocolate). I still can't believe they'll darken that much but my kitchen will still work regardless.

Spend a lot of time looking at different woods, cabinet doors and types of finishes. To my knowledge (and it is meager at best), cherry wood is the only wood that darkens with age. I don't know anything about Maple or dark stains blotching. I'm sure there is someone else on this forum that can help you.

Best of luck!
Karen