Mixing Woods - Cherry + Walnut or Cherry + Cherry?
A year after a move to a new-to-us house, I'm finally ready to pull the trigger on some permanent wood furniture. But I'm undecided about my selections.
In a few years - not now - we may also need to replace our 40-year-old kitchen cabinets, which means again selecting woods / finishes.
I'm still kind of 50/50 on a direction to go and need a push to get going down a path.
Here's the current situation (pictures below):
-Our kitchen, dining room, and living room are all visible from one another.
-We have wood floors that appear to be oak, but are stained a cherry-like red
-The kitchen is honey oak.
-The walls are cream - I want to keep the cream or repaint to a warm white.
-I have a few accent pieces in black that look good in the space and that I want to keep.
-Our existing lighting is really poor and the space is dark -- but we plan to install all new lighting on the first floor of the house, so that is a temporary problem.
View from middle of the space, looking toward kitchen (*note that the table is temporary, lights are being replaced):
If you turn around 180 degrees, you're looking at the sunken living room (*again, ignore current furnishings - we're prob only keeping the tan sofa and green chair):
Just the kitchen:
Since so much is still up for negotiation in this space, I'm trying to decide on a direction to take as we make decisions.
Half of me wants to add some walnut pieces .... and maybe change the kitchen cabinets to walnut in the future. My thought is that walnut would add some pleasant contrast. And walnut has warm elements that tie into the current orange-red tones. But I also understand that walnut has a somewhat different undertone (purple) and most photos I have collected do not show it with cherry or medium-dark woods. They mostly have walnut with walnut, walnut with light yellowish woods, walnut with gray, etc.
The other half of the time, I think I should get natural cherry. (I suppose Oak is an option, too.) Then all the woods would be medium-dark and red/orange, with cream or white walls and black accents. Would this be too matchy-matchy or would it be smart and cohesive?
I also wonder if I should accent with more black ... maybe even consider a black kitchen in the future. I worry that is too dark, but we are installing new lighting.
Is one of these concepts a lot sounder? What would you do? Inspiration pictures? I have so many pictures saved, but I haven't figured out which is "the one" to implement.
Comments (6)
- 5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Just to give an idea of what is leaving me unsure, I see a lot of pictures like this that I love, with lots of similar red wood:
solid cherry cabinets, marble subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances · More Info
And I see a lot of walnut that I love, often paired with light or grayish woods, but not so much with red:
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Lago Bungalow Kitchen · More Info
Since I already have all the red/orange, I kind of have to start with that and work backwards. So I'm not sure if I should "back up" into photo 1 or if the floor from 1 can be dropped into photos 2 and 3 without event. Related Professionals
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@likestonehomes, I want to see pictures when you are done too. It sounds like you have some really nice materials paired up!
In general, I like mixing and matching and 'eclectic' decorating. So I'm a bit inclined to run with the sentiment here just to mix it up. Walnut has the advantage, I suppose of being a bit of a chameleon color, so maybe it will be forgiving of mistakes on my part. My only hesitation is that it seems like walnut is so often paired to a wood that both lighter and more yellow, which isn't quite what I have. Then again...maybe I'm just thinking walnut goes with light because light and dark wood pairings are on trend, so there are more online examples. By contrast, cherry is less trendy.
Here's few of pictures where walnut and cherry / or dark brown + medium-red tones seem to work out alright:
Victorian House Remodel, Alameda · More Info
Pines Home · More Info
5" Select Cherry With Walnut Border · More Info
Shaker style Cherry and Walnut kitchen · More Info
#314 Walnut on Cherry Cabinets with Cambria Torquay Countertops · More InfoVictorian House Remodel, Alameda · More Info
Of course, this is nice too ... esp. when layered red tones are balanced out...:
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Decisions, decisions.
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