Those hinged doors w stools in front are not desirable usage . show the working side of island to see everything in context. id paint probably .

Thank you! I didn’t get a picture from that angle but there is a 15 inch (steel supported) overhang. We have tons of cabinets on the perimeter so those will probably never be used by us. I didn’t want but she had the cabinet maker do to utilize space. At this point, I think paint is the best. I don’t trust them for a do over stain but not sure how much difficult/time consuming that will be. Thanks again-have a great day!

I don't think they look good, not just stain-wise (not a good stain job) but also because there's not enough contrast with the floor or the countertop. If you want to re-stain, go dark (which might also hide some of the blotchiness). If you want to paint, go dark(er) than the floor.

Thanks! Yes at this point thinking of painting darker and going lighter on the floors. The floors still need to be done so want to get the island where it needs to be first then worry about the floors. Thanks again!

then consider the counters at this point. It appears some warm cream with gray ? ? I might choose dark green or hale navy..something like that. There's some leeway with floor...but not infinite . Do you have a floor refinisher lined up...I might get going a bit with that.....quotes and some stain offerings...they will test right on the floor...then you'll know what ballpark. Your Island is quite large.....and a lot of floor area too.... meaning okay to go high contrast , so , not difficult if that's consolation.. once you decide to do this.

heres a quite dark island....might be the easiest with your counters and a light to med floor.

History is in the details · More Info

Glazing sometimes helps the blotchy problems w maple as in this one.......but you probably dont want to mess around with risk and time to find out.

Creekview Drive · More Info

Awesome! Thanks for the pictures. I love Hale Navy and was thinking that exact color. And yes on the floors too. Wish you had been my designer. I appreciate the input!!

I think you should find someone who is a cabinet finisher, i.e. specializes in staining and other finishing. It really is a speciality, not some that cabinet makers necessarily know a lot about. You’ll want one is willing to work on-site, which I think they don’t all do - often the cabinet maker brings the cabinets to the finisher’s shop to finish there. .

Not a stain expert but looked into it a lot for my maple cabinets and discussed at length with the furniture maker who built them and was very happy that he wouldn’t be doing the finishing.

Maple is difficult to stain well, because it gets blotchy, doesn’t absorb stain evenly. To stain a darker color, a finisher may use a dye or gel, and may actually spray it on, building up the color.

I like the idea of going darker to contrast the floor.

Myself, I decided my DIY skills and facilities were not up to the task of confidently staining maple, and chose to finish my maple cabinets with clear.

Looks like a pigment stain on unsealed wood. Not the route to happiness with maple. Many excellent resources on finishing maple out there (look for books by Bob Flexner and Jeff Jewitt-- perhaps send a copy to your finisher.) Coloring works much better with soluble dyes, often in a couple stages with different colors, especially if you're trying to emphasize the figure, then a topcoat, followed by a toner coat if needed to correct the color. Dyes should be sprayed on if possible for uniformity, a wash coat of shellac will help the blotchies a lot if you need to hand apply.

Sanding down to bare wood and starting again is probably the best course unless you want a much darker color. Even then the blotchiness will show through.

Agree with @John Liu and @rwiegand, you should have a specialist do this, it will take several stages; maple needs more than correct preparation it needs an artisan/artist. What were you aiming for? Do you have an inspiration image?

These cabinets were done by a painter/stainer that the contractor uses. I am disappointed with the final product and expected a more even finish from the professional. I believe he didn’t complete the work but one of his associates did who did not prepare the wood properly prior to staining. I need to address this with the contractor and get this rectified. Everyone’s insights are very helpful - thank you!!

Oh, sorry...I thought the floors were finished, just dusty from renovation work {blush}