Wood will take stain with variation. What was your written agreement in the beginning? I think you're out of luck on this one, although they'll probablly do a discount for good will purposes.

All of the cabinet companies with whom we deal disclose up front to customers that stain colors will vary depending upon lot and wood pieces. It generally is also on the back of their samples they hand out. A sample can be a couple of years old or they can sometimes hand you a color on one type of wood when you end up selecting another.

I expected there to be some variation, certainly, and knew it wouldn't look exactly like my sample. And don't get me wrong, the cabinets are beautiful and of very nice quality,
but I think the sample misrepresented the final product. My sample is quarter sawn red Oak, just like the cabinets, with the exact same stain and glaze that we ordered (in our contract).

The sample you have could have been made from a very dark 'version' of red oak (heart wood part of the red oak = strong orange) while the rest of your cabinetry comes from a lighter 'version' (not so much heart wood). If you look at a red oak floor, you will see planks that are light honey sitting next to planks that are dark orange. The same representation is available in cabinetry as well: light gold down to dark orange/cinnamon.

A dark plank will add extra depth to a stain. A light plank will offer a lighter version. Painted with the same brush and the same stain at the same time = two "different" colours...yet they are called the same thing: red oak with stain + glaze.

I'm sorry to say, but the stain sample is close enough that you would be hard pressed to get much out of the cabinet company. You will notice that the sample looks very close to the L. hand side of the panel (heart wood probably) yet the R. hand side is much lighter. This is a huge indicator that the stain is "true" to what is present...even in your photo.

i have a quarter-sawn oak island and i feel your current angst. when the arched toe-kick was installed it looked to be stained a different color completely, the only wood it matched was on the other side of the island. i was assured it wasnt a mistake (and of course it wasnt, as it matched a panel on the other side of the island) but they were right, i quickly got used to it. i think you will be ok with it too in a day or so.

you will also notice the variation less when your hardware is on.

I'm definitely NOT a cabinet producer... but I'm relatively well versed in working with hardwood & colors... and at the risk of going against my learned colleague @Cancork's helpful suggestion, I'd almost be willing to bet my lunch money that your cabinets are Quartersawn White Oak, with a sprinkling of Riftsawn (which is the darker piece in your photo).

The Rift will take color a bit more readily than the quartered, so perhaps (?) the folks who finished them erred on the side of caution depending on the ratio of the 2 different cuts.

If there is a high percentage of rift, it would have come out darker in relation to the neighboring quartersawn pieces.

Regardless of the WHY's, it appears that the stain is indeed a few shades too light, and if the seller is amenable to discounting you, I'd imagine that would be the path of least resistance.

Thank you for the validation, Select Hardwood! I might roll with it better under different circumstances, but we based our choice of cabinet stain on the stain in the adjoining dining room, with the intent of matching the cabinets to those existing doors and trims. We have lots of woodwork stained different colors throughout the house, and I was hoping to finally have some unity.

I tip my hat to Select Hardwood for spotting the difference between stained "red oak" quarter sawn" and "white oak" quartersawn with a sprinkling of riftsawn. If this is indeed the wrong species...now you have a huge amount of leverage. There are testing facilities in the USA who will find the species for you if you feel it is not what you ordered.

Yep, I think Select has got it nailed. They even glued rift and quartered together for the panel. I'm not sure what the stuff is on the right style.

You can cut the woods and put the raw part of the exposed edges sides by side. White oak is darker(green/grey) red oak is lighter( rosey/salmon). White oak has more visable " Rays" on the end grain as well....check you paper work to confirm your purchase and keep in mind the older a sample is the darker it may be. I do stain match ups often and the exact same color can look lighter when it's fresh. You possibly could be over thinking this....

Sorry but that cabinet door is a hot mess. Why aren't the woods matched no matter what kind of wood they are? Sure there is variation but when we ordered a certain hue of cabinet we got what we ordered...not something several shades lighter. This would have been unacceptable if our contractor would have wanted us to accept this.

This has been informative. Seems that the buyer has to know all the pitfalls before purchasing. Makes the process scary for normal consumers, even those of us who do our research.

@Al F. is right... just using the same species isn't enough to ensure color matching. Attached is a pic of the color variation to be expected when mixing the "cuts" in White Oak. Of course, the variation & randomness is common & somewhat desirable in wood flooring... however the person performing the installation SHOULD have a keen eye for detail to make sure all of the varying pieces are well disbursed to avoid having patches of light & dark.

Over glaze the cabinets to make them darker and even out the color.

MS Colors, they already have a glaze. Can I do a second glaze?

Also, I should mention taht I'm not actually concerned that the door itself has different colors of
wood--though I'm not in love with it I accept it.
Most doors are much, much better looking. I chose that door for my photo
to demonstrate that my sample is darker than even the darkest pieces
and much lighter than the lightest pieces. I've definitely got
white oak cabinets and a red oak sample. This has been quite an
education. Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I wish had
read a thread like this one before I ordered my cabinets--Hahaha!

yes

Oh, that is great to know! Thanks for the suggestion.

I might as well wade in here, too....This is a commercially produced cabinet, not custom? Let me inform you of a "dirty little secret" that I have come across as a retailer of such cabinets.

First, I used to sell a line that did not grain-match their doors. I was not happy with some of the panel matches and called them to see if there was a way to get better matches if I paid extra. No, they don't do that was pretty much the answer.

Some of the better "custom" commercially produced lines might do better, but from the look of your door, they obviously don't make that a priority. This is one of the reasons to go with a true custom company.

Second, some companies encourage ordering a sample door to make a color selection, rather than just using a chip. Some dealers go a step further and once the color is approved, they will cut the door in half, keeping one half and giving the customer the other half.

Third, if you are going with quartersawn anything, you can count on the grain not looking the same because of the nature of the cut.

@River...

Agree with you on color consistency... we ALWAYS send color samples showing the "range" (dark & light pieces)... regardless of the cut &/or species.
And we retain a portion of the samples that were cut in half.

Of course, another detail is the fact that, as I'm constantly telling myself as well as the guys in the shop...

"match the SAMPLE... not the color formula". The recipe for any "color" is only a starting point (IMHO)... and although it may be a dead match MOST of the time, you can't rely on it being perfect from one job to the next.

Too many variables in woodworking, from regional origin of the lumber to the grit differences in the sandpaper brands on down to "dye lot" inconsistencies make it necessary to ALWAYS check & adjust the color when needed. Too many wood product producers regard stain/color as "plug-n-play", when it's not.

It's not???? ;-/

These were semi custom cabinets, whatever that means. Wood Harbor in Iowa produced them (we're in Chicago, so that counts as shopping local, right?). Our carpenter, who looks like he's been around the block a few times, complimented their quality. Here is a pic of them installed:

I am familiar with Wood Harbor...I looked into carrying that brand a while back. They are respectable quality, but they are still a production cabinet.

Did your kitchen person order the cabinets with the wrong stain?

This is the exact reason dark gel type stains have become the norm. Today's fake looking no grain showing wood finish is what the typical buyer expects.

How do you explain that a door is made up of at least 6 pieces of wood that might not be from the same board to someone who is used to brown painted wood?

Your door looks fantastic and I think you are missing that you paid for a real hardwood door and not one gel stained to look like one. Be happy and enjoy your cabinets. It is white oak and yes they did mix in different grades but I have no ides what you paid for the cabinets. If you wanted all the panels to have flecks and be hand picked I would say your cabinets would start in the 40k range for a 10x10 kitchen. The more they have to select and disgard the more the cost goes up.

I build real would products and I can't tell you how many people turn their noses up to them just because the see shade and grain variance. 1 in 10 get it and are blown away with the natural look of the wood.

I wish they would have used a better stain mix to pop those flecks and grain as that is what white oak is all about but it looks fine and will age well as is.

Just a sign of the times. Throw away your Pottery Barn books and enjoy!!

@River, yes, I believe my red oak/white problem was our designer's oversight, not Wood Harbor's. I'd be totally comfortable ordering from Wood Harbor again.

Thanks for posting all this, I have the same issue on my new maple cabinet doors, although they are darker, not lighter than the sample. Very informative and gives me some great info. So you are not alone!

Glad this has helped you, pmmucci. Let me provide an update on our story. A cabinet company represntative came out to look at the job. It turns out that the sample and the cabinets were indeed both white oak. My designer ordered correctly and did nothing wrong. The problem was the stain. Wood Harbor is apparently investigating why the sample and the job were so mismatched. They took a sample door of mine to examine; they have had it for a month and have not returned it, nor have I received an apology or compensation. (They may be in touch with my kitchen designer, who is technically the customer instead of me, but word hasn't been passed along to me.) I will update this threat again, eventually, to let everyone know if I ever get my door back and how this all turns out.

Thanks for that update. My designer, so far, doesn't seem to think much is wrong, but she hasn't actually see anything yet. We will see how she is willing to handle it.

Hi All, I thought I'd follow up on this story and let everyone know that the manufacturer gave us about 16% cash back on our cabinets. It was not overly generous but it was fine and about what we expected/hoped for. Perhaps we could have argued for more. In the end, the cabinets--while not the right stain color--are of good quality and we have a new, wonderfully functional kitchen to enjoy. (And maybe we'll use that check to buy stainless steel appliances to match the countertops!)

good outcome. its so annoying when something is different than what you ordered,

@lucidthinking...So glad a cash-back option was acceptable for your situation. Not everyone can take the time to have everything refinished and reinstalled. This gives others insight into what can be "hoped for" if you, as a client, are willing to live with what is produced. A bit more cash in the pocket is not the worst thing in the world and can be very welcome to some people. Not everyone goes in this direction...but it can be acceptable to many.

Exactly. In fact, the cash-back option was based on what it would cost to have the cabinets refinished--or at least that is what I was told by my kitchen designer, who negotiated the deal for me.

Read your contract if you ordered STAIN GRADE VERSUS PAINT GRADE it makes a difference. If you ordered a certain wood and a certain stain IE A CERTAIN COLOR and is not delivered correctly thats on them not you. The object is the DOOR should be of all the Same WOOD, perhaps variationsin Grain and the same Stain. If it isnt I'd tell them to return it and to get you a cabinet made ofthe same Wood as you bought cabinets to be stained not painted and this appears to be PAINT GRADE WOOD and its not STAIN GRADE an there is a Huge Difference