Why Maple Is the Go-To for Cabinet Interiors
It’s really common for cabinets of all styles and types to have almost the exact same identical interiors. This coincidence occurs across a wide range of cabinet styles from dark cabinets to white cabinets and even includes all colors and styles of cabinets in between.
Even though the outside of the cabinets might be a totally different color from one to the next, and the doors might be a totally different style, the interiors of the cabinets are normally rectilinear, planar wood with shelves with a maple natural finish color. The interiors aren’t normally real wood though. Instead they’re made of pressboard and covered with a adhered paper that has the same maple grain design printed on top of the paper.
The picture below shows a dark Jacobian stained wood cabinet door in a Shaker style. Shaker styles have a near minimalist door and door frame. The horizontal part of the door frame is referred to as a stile and the vertical part is referred to as a rail. The panel between this frame around the door is flat. This is a shaker style door and shaker furniture and designs are known for a simple minimalist aesthetic.
Although the exterior of the cabinet has this dark color stain applied throughout the outer surface, the interior is a much lighter maple grain and natural color. This natural color is not as bright as a white melamine or typical white lacquer finish. It’s a few shades darker than that but still very light overall.
The lighter color helps reflect more light on the inside of the cabinet which makes it easier to find and visually identify dry stored food, plates, and or kitchen types of accessories. In most cases, the insides of cabinets are not illuminated by electric lighting and for that reason cabinet interiors can be a bit more shadowy and darker than the exterior of the cabinets. The lighter color on the inside of the cabinets helps reflect some of the light from the kitchen room space into the cabinet which makes it easier to see the object stored inside of the cabinets.
These maple color parts on the inside of the cabinet or normally not made from real wood. They’re generally made from a wood byproduct which is a type of fake wood. It’s so common though, even with relatively good quality cabinets that it’s the norm in the industry.
There’s several reasons why cabinet manufacturers often choose to make the box and interior parts of the cabinet from fake wood. One of the main reasons is that it’s simply cheaper. Another valid and functional reason is that the fake wood generally holds its shape better than wood made from natural grain. Natural Woods that have been ripped, especially when flatsawn, have a tendency to warp, even when stored and milled in relatively precise environments of quality control.
If you look closely at the edge of the door face, at the left hand side of the photo below, you may notice that the grain at the edge of this door frame where the frame isn’t covered with the dark color Jacobian stain, is exposed. You can tell that the door and frame are made with a different type of wood. The grain pattern indicates that this is a hardwood where Maple wood technically comes from a deciduous tree yet is a little bit more of a softer wood than some types of hardwoods like red oak. Red oak is a particularly dense wood with a strong grain.
This particular edge is a good example of why the American style door frames and the doors themselves are often made with real actual wood even though the interior and the box of the cabinets are often made with fake wood. Fake wood does not perform well, especially at the edges when the edges are exposed. By the nature of the door and frame, parts that are operable and therein required to have exposed edges, you will see and touch the edges of the boards. For the interior of the cabinet, all of the boards are in fixed positions which conceals the edges.
That fixed nature with concealed corners and edges helps the manufacturers get away with the fakery. Because the door and frame open to show the exposed edges you can’t hide the fakery as well as you can with the interior parts of the cabinet box. The pressed board used to build the cabinet boxes have edges that are either covered with a glued edge band which still shows the fake reality of the boards.
The joint between the edge band and the planar surface of the board show its visible seam, or the edge is just left untreated to show the pressed particle board on the inside of each board. They get away with leaving it exposed, in most cases because you can’t access that cut edge or factory edge of the boards since they are in a fixed position against one another in the box assembly.
Dupont Kitchen & Bath Can Help
As dedicated and local DC metropolitan kitchen and bath builders and installers, we pride ourselves on turning your visions into reality. Your kitchen and bathrooms can reflect your unique style and be designed with personalized aesthetics. It can be a process from creative designs to the realization of your dream space. Specializing in kitchen and bath construction, we bring expertise and skills to every project. If you’re contemplating a renovation, upgrade, or modernization in the local market, we’re happy to be your team. Consult with us, and we can start together on a path to redefine and elevate your DC living experience.
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