Maple is a rather "closed-grained" wood and does not absorb stain as well as other woods. Moreover it is quite common for stained maple to appear splotchy because the grain curls and waves back and forth within the wood giving inconsistent absorption. That being said, it is not wrong to do nor impossible to somehow achieve a beautiful effect by staining this type of wood. I would recommend doing a good deal of homework on staining maple (different kinds) and experimenting a bit with it before committing to it.

Walnut is dark and has a beautiful depth to it. It can be expensive, and seems to be going through some serious price fluctuations at the moment. Be warned, it will yellow and lighten over time. I think this would look best!

The Sapele is a lustrious red and it might seem out of place in a kitchen that has elements of white/clean and rustic (with the reclaimed wormy chestnut hood, etc.)

Thank you so much! It’s just what I needed to know!

I love my walnut island top and waterfall edge. (I'm not crazy about the color or sheen of my floors and would like to have them refinished one day) I'm just really partial to the look and grain texture of walnut. Mine is finished only with Waterlox, no stain. I wanted the Waterlox because of the sink, plus I know I'm a messy cook and won't always wipe stuff up immediately.

Sk- love you island,. I also have darker wood floors and am trying to figure out if I can incorporate a wood island. (Seems so hard to match/ contrast with wood floors.)

@gthigpen. Beautiful! That’s what I want!

@gthigpen. Why did you choose mineral oil & beeswax over something like Waterlox? Do you chop on it? How long have you had it?

We moved middle of September of last year, so just a few months. I chose beeswax/oil over Waterlox because I wanted a matte/more natural finish. I also wanted the option of re-oiling as needed to hide scratches or stains. I had read that Waterlox is a sealer that if ever scratched, you'd have to refinish the whole thing vs spot finishing. I guess similar to a polyurethaned wood floor. And similarly, we chose a hard-wax oil for our floors so we could re-oil as needed without needing a complete refinish.

We do not chop on ours. It does take a beating though as my DH is an avid cook, my kids are constantly doing art projects on it, and we entertain a fair amount. Any scratch, stain or water mark so far has just buffed right out when I re-oil it. So far, I've applied the oil/wax about 5 times total since we moved in. It's "new" wood so it was "thirsty" at the beginning. So my frequency has slowed down.

I heard great things about Waterlox and it was definitely my 2nd choice. If we had an island sink, we would have gone with Waterlox.

We will be adding a walnut TV cabinet in the adjoining family room and to the left of the kitchen window in my pic, we will be adding floating walnut shelves to try bring more walnut into the house. I just love it.

Your kitchen is beautiful gthigpen!
You don't have to sand the whole thing for a scratch with Waterlox, you can touch it up and feather it out and it's not necessary to sand in between coats for adhesion purposes. I've touched up Waterlox finishes in my powder room and in my kitchen. However, until it dries, it does have a very strong smell so I dislike pulling it out to do touch ups. ;)
If I didn't have a sink in the island I would've used mineral oil most likely.

@gthigpen Did you mix your own mineral oil & beeswax or purchase a premise product? My counter just arrived and I’m anxious to protect it!

J - I mixed my own mixture. I'd have to pull up my Amazon records to figure out what I bought exactly. And I can't remember off the top of my head what the recipe was. I'm pretty sure it was 1/3 oil to 2/3 wax. The consistency is like a thick paste. I have to warm it up a bit before I spread it. I have also used Howard Butcher Block Conditioner one time in a pinch because I had misplaced my mixture and needed something quickly. I liked that one too.

J. . - you can use Rubio Monocoat, Bona, etc, as well, and iirc Ikea has one too.