Could you take a photo further away? I would like to see the entire cabinet.

Sometimes samples are slightly different than in person. Did you order these from a KD or maybe a cabinet shop.

What is the return policy?

When I went to the website they do not have a repose gray with linen finish. Was this a special order color ? They do have a linen finish. One sounds cool the other warm.

ultracraft cabinets

Honestly, they look very pretty even though I am seeing it up close. Will the slight change in color be a problem or could you work with it?

Was this what you were going for? This is the Silver Elm finish. I actually like yours more.

Modern Kitchen in New York Townhouse · More Info

Houzz Anyone use Ultracraft

IMO you always need to see at least a door done in a custom finish to know how what you choose is going to look like . I dislike glazes on cabnest to me they always look like the cabinet is dirty.

Is it veneer? If it is I guess like any natural wood might change color with time being exposed to light. Maybe that's what happend with the sample if it was old one.

It is maple. The sample has very uniform striations of the brown linen that soften the gray and it leans more taupe. Sample goes better with my floors which have taupe, gray, beige. The coolness of the cabinets is noticeable to me and I prefer the warmer tone of the sample. It's not awful, but also not what I ordered, expected. I realize there would be variation, but when it takes it from a warm taupe to a cool gray, I feel like it's too much.

Agree that the sample a better match for your floors. What response are you getting from cabinet source and are they fully paid?

Can you pls post a better picture of the back of the sample. I am curious what's written there. Doesn't this say this is the finish you can expect??........

Sample back has usual disclaimers about 'variations within the standard will not be reason for replacement'. Kitchen design company has been paid 50% deposit of total job; cabinets are about 40% of total job. Also since J Sk asked, I just noticed it has an expiration date of 2022 on it! I have contacted designer and asked him to come look at finish to discuss, so I'm not sure about response yet. My post here is really to get thoughts from others about the variation. Now that I see the expiration date on the sample, I may ask for a current sample. I think the picture with my floors makes it look a little worse than it is...hard to tell from monitor/photo colors. I think it's odd that they would have given me an expired sample to choose from. Will likely have to live with the end result but will see how designer responds.

^^^ the color is very different from the sample and since they also presented you with expired sample I would push them to come up with some solutions.

Who even glazes a slab door? There is no recessed place for the glaze to hang up and show, so you do not get a lot of color at all from the glaze. The slightly lighter color was entirely predictable as occurring on a slab.

If you wanted a strié faux finish look, that is another entirely different paint process from a flood glaze. Omega is one of the few companies that offers strié. And it isn’t done on slab doors very often either. Most would just choose a bleached reconstituted veneer if they wanted that light linear type look.

^^^ how come lighter color was predictable? It's ridiculous. It looks different than a sample and any customer expects something close to the shown sample.

This has ZERO to do with any ”expired” sample. That is absolutely not a factor. The issue was the process chosen, and the door chosen, combined. It was a poor choice to combine, and the result was fully predictable to anyone with any finishing knowledge.

A flood glaze is a wet color coat that is applied to a base color door. Then it is wiped off. It remains in the recessed and details of a door, and is almost removed completely from the flat portions. A slab door has zero recesees snd crevices for the glaze to cling to. It is all flat surface that gets the glaze all wiped off. Of course it is barely going to barely affect the base coat color. Because there is no place to hold it. The sample has ridges to hold the glaze. The doors have none.

Modern slab doors are for single colors, either matte or high gloss. They aren’t fussy ornate traditional shapes with lots of ridges and crevices to hold glaze. Which hardly anyone has done since about 2008, even on the rare fussy ornate traditional door shapes.

I’m guessing this was ordered by a cabinet seller. And an inexperienced one. Every kitchen designer past a year’s experience knows that you do not do glaze on shaker or slab doors. The minimal effect isn't worth the 20% upcharge for zero real change. I’m surprised a cabinet company would even do it, without red flagging the order and a ”are you sure” conversation.

“the result was fully predictable to anyone with any finishing knowledge.”

It is always easy to distinguish between finishing knowledge gained from spraying a lot of coatings and those with third or fourth hand knowledge.

Toner coats are often used without being wiped off to add depth to a finish. typically you use a richer color that is sprayed on and left to dry.

This is a premium coating but there is nothing particularly difficult about it. It is just time consuming.

Ellen:

Please make sure that whatever solution is offered that the cure isn't worse than the disease.

@zumi

The Linen glaze is not a flood glaze or wipe on /wipe off.. It is a hand applied glaze that is done in a linear fashion. It is often done on slab doors in Ultracraft and other manufacturers that offer that process.

@ellenstork

That is a big difference ( on my monitor ) . Do you happen to still have any of the boxes with labels - do they say brown glaze? Does your order? It almost looks like they did the lighter glaze. Find out if they can send a refinisher to add more glaze to the doors and sides of the cabinets ( not sure if this can be done with a whole kitchen - I have had it done with moldings ).

Good luck

Straight from the website. " Not all colors and finishes are available on all door styles. Printed and digital materials should never be used for color matching. We recommend ordering a sample door to see the best representation of your selected color, finish, and wood grain contrast and patterns on your selected door style, before ordering cabinetry. Sample doors are more accurate than any website, printed literature, or designer’s color chips. See your designer for details."

It again states, " Sample doors are the best way to visualize what your ideas will look like in your home. Printed posters and brochures, and even designers’ color chips, will never be as accurate – or as exciting – as a sample door custommade to your specifications. Before you order cabinets, order sample doors of the combinations you’re most excited about. They’ll be ready in about a week. Live with the samples in your home until you know which look suits your family the best".

This is what the literature also says. " . Glaze is hand-applied and rubbed away leaving color collected in crevices unique to each door style." I

It also says of the maple slab door, " Available in Oak, Maple, Cherry and Quartersawn White Oak with Stain finishes only; no Specialty finishes" Only the solid painted MDF door is available with the Linen look, linear wiping.

The door that they show in their brochure with the brown glaze pretty much shows what I would expect. The white paint is barely affected, and the areas with details are more strongly affected, like the legs, and the door details.

You need to call your designer to task. While Zumi’s comment above had a harsh tone, Zumi’s message is accurate. A glaze should not have been used for that cabinet style. Maple is also best suited for paint, not glaze. If you wanted a warmer color, you don’t achieve that by glaze. You achieve that by picking a warmer color, no glaze. This poor choice is on your designer, so let them take care of it.

@J Sk I am confused what it is you don't agree with. You say they shouldn’t misguide the customer. I agree. The OP mentioned her designer. It is the designer’s JOB to guide their client on what will or will not work in the kitchen renovation. That is what the client is paying the designer to do. Glaze was not the right choice to achieve the look the client wanted. The designer should have advised her client accordingly. The ”blame” is not on the OP, it’s on the designer.

Minardi nailed it. It was the designer's job to do what Minardi did, which is to go to the manufacturer's website and follow the instructions given there. The designer did not. Buck stopped.

What I don't agree is the look you mentioned customer wanted. Customer wanted exactly the look from the sample which was representing the finish. The sample worked colorwise for the customer. The problem is customer didn't get the color from sample. Pls read carefully how the finish is achieved for this slab door . Sample was to show how it is going to look like. Why are you saying the glaze was not the right choice to achieve the look ???? The brown glaze is brushed on the surface with brush and left accoring to manufacturer and sample looked in brown tones like they discribe.

If the customer wanted that look, then they needed to buy something other than a painted MDF slab door. That sample is an example of a crevice to collect the color. Look at the kitchen from their literature. That's more reality. Almost no color affect on the flat. Color pooled around the details.

Slab with a strong linear affect would otherwise be from their textured melamine collection.

^^^ she should get what she liked based on the sample. Period. To Op: if you still have original packaging pls check if it is really Repose Gray with Brown glaze. It might be Lunar Gray which they also have in their offer. I would also get from designer a sample in Lunar Gray and bring home and put those 2 samples next to your cabinets. Also other person mentioned the lighter glaze could have be used. This is from their brochure:

And here is a picture from their catalog in the color and finish OP wanted and definitely doesn't look cool gray but it looks like the sample.

Thanks everyone for your comments, insights. Yes, all packaging says Repose Gray with Brown Linen. My first reaction to the overall color was "I love it" and it was only when I compared the sample to the cabinets that I did considerable second guessing. Everything is coming together as I hoped, and I am not unhappy with the lighter version from sample. In fact, it is growing on me! The designer was good about addressing my concern, and said we could make a claim if we really felt couldn't work with it. Also addressed a few cabinet defects (marks, dents) and said absolutely will replace the doors with problems. Moving on! Thanks all for support and information.

For anyone having this same problem with a designer who isn’t as responsive… a sample door is always going to be your best bet, but that doesn’t disclaim their responsibility to match a painted wood sample.

This is clearly an issue with their finish.

The OP doesn’t have a paint chip or printed material. The OP has an opaque finish applied on a sample piece of wood. It is entirely possible that the finish will look more or less appealing on a full door than it does on a small sample, but it still must match the sample.

Get the damage replacement doors going so you can see what they look like when they come in.

It is unfortunate that they did not have you order a door in the finish. I have some companies that require it so the customer can sign off on the look, so I just do that now any time I have someone doing a glaze or distressing.

Glad you actually do like it.

@Ellen Stork My first reaction is also I love it. I think it is going to come together despite the differences. Can't wait to see the final photos.