Not sure this is the color you were after, I usually charge for this but it is an awesome way to know which way to go before you put out the money!

If it is Birch or Ash is she better off painting or staining?

That is her choice. I just rendered it for her to see what is might look like in a taupe color. It is easy enough for me to change the colors.....

Any color of the rainbow! LOL (I know you don't want hot pink!!!)

Natalie, THANKS!! I do like the stained look better, apart from the hot pink of course, who can resist:)

I like grain showing through, so will probably lean towards staining if it's not oak...oak grain pops up too much, imo when stained

I do have to figure out what wood it is as I am trying to have a couple of drawers put in and need them to matc. When I call cabinet makers or carpenters, they ask what the existing is...it does look so much like the birch..

I'm glad you like it. Good luck! send me an email when you finish! natalie@natalievasquez.com

I see a repeating grain pattern, it may be a veneer. Take care when sanding, test an inconspicuous spot first. The lack of rays suggests "not oak" as others have commented.

The center panels are raised, therefore this cannot be a veneer. These cabinets were sold by the semi truckload in the 80's and are pickled Oak.

Staining would be nice, but stripping is going to be a huge job. Painting will highlight the grain and all the seams in the cabinet faces if you go with a light color paint.

http://www.artisaninteriorsnj.com/archives/000138.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/424605071090387414/

If you take a drawer in the cabinet maker can decide what the wood is.

Is there a way to find out if its veneer?

Rekha, you have solid oak frame doors with raised panel wood inserts. No veneer. Here is a picture of the door in pieces.

Doors can be built with a veneer raised center panel and a solid wood frame. This is an economical way to build the doors. One way to tell the difference is to look closely at the center panel and look for individual glue up boards that make up the panel. It is a little easier to spot in light stain or grainer woods. Look for a change in color natural to solid wood or a change in the pattern of the grain to detect solid wood. Consistent pattern and no change in color can be a sign that the panel in veneer. In purchasing new cabinets, make sure to ask about the construction of the center panel.

I dont think there is any change in color or anything else to indicate that its individual boards that are glued...will take a second look tonight

I would paint this kitchen in a heartbeat......

This is the inside, I see the color variations. Btw, the cabinets are Kent Moore, it looks like solid wood?

Looks like poplar, solid wood doors.

OMG! If you know the manufacturer's name, why on earth are you wasting time here (and everybody else's time)??? ASK THEM!

;)

It is not poplar! Have you ever seen poplar? Poplar has almost no grain, it is the softest and weakest of the 'hardwoods', and because of that is totally unsuitable for kitchen cabinet doors. And it's GREEN! Jeebus.

Either red oak or ash with a pickled/whitewashed finish. and yes I would contact the maufacturer to be sure

Well, I did call them and the manufacturer does not pick up or call me back. I looked at their website and don't see anything similar, house was built 15 years ago and 2 other owners ago. They only see people by appointment and I can't seem to get them to respond, which is why I was asking here thinking someone can help, sorry..

Yes Tatts, I have seen poplar cabinets. In fact here are some pics

Redha,

You best course of action is to take a drawer down to a cabinet shop or a store that specializes in selling stain to painters. Between the two, they will be able to identify for you.

It is very difficult to tell from the photos. In one photo, it appears to have the openness of grain that oak has, and in your other, it appears to be birch or ash. I am sure this is why you are getting such conflicting information.

This is where a visit to a professional will help you. If you are hiring someone to stain them for you, I would call them to have them identify the wood for you.

Good luck!

I didn't say that cabinets can't be made from poplar, I said it was unsuitable for kitchen cabinet doors (because of the wear and abuse). Poplar can be dented with your fingernail.

And those are NOT poplar cabinets in the photos you posted. Go to the website of photo #3 (101buildingsupply). It's labelled "Natural Shaker Maple". MAPLE.

Photo #1, from affordablecabinetstore does not indicate on their site what the cabinets are made of. It sure doesn't look like poplar, although given the sad state of their website, they could be cardboard.

Photo #2 is from a real estate sales listing in Colorado. Just because a photo comes up on Google when you search for 'poplar wood cabinets' doesn't mean that they really are poplar (no matter what a real estate agent says).

Photo #4 is also from 101buildingsupply. Go to their site and see that that photo is labelled "Honey maple vanity". MAPLE. And those cabinets are bottom grade--a sprayed on stain/finish--you can see the shadow of the raised rails and stiles where the spray didn't cover the recessed panel evenly. Cheap.

You haven't made much of a case for your knowledge of woods.

Looks like a white wash red oak. we had a similar kitchen in our previous home.

Geez, never said I was an expert on wood! If I new it was a competition I would have stayed home! HeeHee , I would still paint it though!!!

It's not a competition. But there is an expectation that if you don't know what you're talking about, you don't add to the confusion just because you have nothing better to do.

And if you don't know how to search for terms properly, you then don't use the flawed results to bolster your original point.

Posting rubbish about something you know nothing about doesn't help anybody. It's better to just stay silent.

What they are are good candidates for demolition. Look at those old hinges. Look at the shelving. The lack of drawer bases.

And they are a veneered ''frosted'' maple. Sold a gazillion of those to cheap apartments 20-30 years ago. Not gonna ''refinish'' those. Maybe paint. But then you're left with the antiquated and dysfunctional guts. That isn't worth the money or time to do anything but a DIY stopgap until the gut renovation happens.

Sophie, what about the shelving? Apart from lacking drawers, I think functionally it is fine. May not be the most updated, but I really don't think it needs demo

Old partial overlay arched door cabinets of that vintage are rarely worth making over unless it is all DIY. Even then, their limitations don't make them pleasant to live with.

And you most certainly CAN have a veneered raised panel door. That is what all of the entry level cabinet lines use as their raised panel door. Which is what that is. And that is another reason that you do not want to think about sanding them except as a scuff sand to prime and paint. But not paying a pro. That would be throwing good money after bad.

There is no practical way that you are going to "sand" the cabinets and remove all traces of the old finish to the point that you have properly prepared stain grade cabinets ( assuming the cabinets can even handle that). Your option ( as pointed out by others) is paint.

Non adjustable shelving makes you get really creative in stacking things. All of the modern cabinets, even the builder grade ones like that, have adjustable shelving these days.

I have entertainment cabinets coffee and end tables like your cabinet picture
Mine has lots of grains and some and then not so many grains
Water stains very very easily
Also my wood is heavy in weight
It's oak with white pickled wash
It sometimes will have a light bleach
Look when new also kinda somewhat yellows with age gas heating or smoking (people)
It's hard to decide what to do
I need to have mine fixed also !!!
Almost anything will work depending on what look you yourself likes!
Hope I helped

Rekha if they work for you paint them. My cabinet shelves do not move either. Up to this very moment I have never given it a thought. They are shelves, I put food on them, I close the door.

The shelves are adjustable, well, I can move them up or down, dont know what adjustable means these days.

Rekha, all this nasty back and forth about wood species is really immaterial, and while we would all like to have a shiny new kitchen it is not always financially feasible! If these cabinets are serviceable for you and you feel as though you would like to get more years and use out of them then by all means do that. I think they would look very nice painted with updated hardware. This would be the less expensive route and make the most sense . Good luck.

Thanks, the question about wood was not to decide if I am going to tear down the kitchen. I am not. I wanted to find out what it is to make sure I can get some drawers put in of the same species and whether I should stain or paint(what will be better based on what the wood is)

Even if it were financially possible, I still would not tear it down at this point. Will be overspending in the neighborhood that i am in, its a nice neighborhood, but no one is doing this. The kitchen is fine, I just want some modifications and refresh the color. I like the counters, i like the backsplash, appliances

One option is just to buy new doors and drawer fronts. That's what I did in my house, which had been renovated as I bought it. The kitchen was all new except the cabinet, and I hated them, but I didn't want to rip out all the new stuff just to replace the boxes. The cabinets are solid, but were horribly dark and 'Mediterranean'.

I tossed the doors and drawer fronts, stripped and sanded the finish on the frames down to bare oak, and ordered custom-sized, unfinished doors and drawer fronts in oak from Lowe's. I finished them and the frames and put patterned glass in the upper doors. Looks great. much less expensive, and less hassle.

I have the exact wood on my cabinets that I got from Italy. I was told it was beech wood. But lime-washed. It looks EXACTLY the same. Check out beech wood on Google.

I am pretty sure these are a white washed oak. Several homes built in the 1990's in my neighborhood have these cabinets.

Look up on the website
wooddatabase.com

To me the spring grain just doesn't look wide enough.

Birch,ash is what I'm leaning towards....

So funny.

The back side of the door panels are clearly veneer. The front may be as well.

@Rekha A -- could you post a picture of the widest door? As someone said above, solid wood raised panels will almost always be glued up of individual boards, your cabinets seem to have a one piece face (a single wide board) which indicates a veneer.

The raised panels probably have a MDF or particle board core, with veneer front and back.

Oak and ash have similar grain patterns, but oak is far, far more common in cabinets, so my vote goes for oak.

Definitely not poplar, or cherry, or maple or birch, or walnut.

Check out HOUZZ discussion titled "Pickled oak cabinets has me in a pickle over wall color!" You will recognize the cabinets because they are the same as your cabinets.

Yes, looks like they are pickled oak. Had a carpenter take a look and he said it was solid wood. Decided not to do anything much at this point, just add hardware and leave it. Cabinets are in great condition inside, and we have other things to do in the house. Wondering if I should play with the light temperature a bit to see if I can minimize the pinkish undertones

We have some pickled oak bookshelves in my husbands office area. When we bought the house, the walls were painted crayola crayon orange in that room!!! Oh, and the floor is cherry colored oak. Talk about some clashing colors!!!
We are not redoing the floors, and we didn't want to take the energy to sand the bookshelves. (They're VERY large, take up 2 walls, and tall, there's a rolling ladder, so BIG job to refinish!) so, in an effort to get rid of the horrid orange and tone down the pink hue to the bookshelves (it's actually bookshelves and a desk with upper cabinets) we painted the walls a nicely saturated grayish blue color and changed the cabinet hardware from bright brass to an aged bronze kind of hardware. It made a massive difference and I no longer HATE the pink looking wood. It's not offensive anymore. It's still not my favorite, and maybe one of these days we will actually refinish them, but now I can easily live with them.

Sorry about the poor quality of the photo... But here you can see the blue wall, the pickled oak bookshelf, and the color of my wood floors. I can't find a picture I used to have with the orange walls... It was so horrible! LOL! Anyways, I do think the blue helps tone the wood down a lot. (And one of these days I'll convince hubby to keep his bike in the garage, and get proper drapes for the window...)

Please when you find out let us know.

Pickled oak