Homeowners have no shortage of options when it comes to interior design features like custom cabinetry. Popular options include solid hardwoods such as maple, cherry, hickory, alder, and of course, walnut cabinets.

One of our native hardwoods, walnut offers a beautiful, rich, deep, dark luster that’s unique from other species, but aesthetics are only one of the reasons for walnut’s popularity. This post will explore some of the main reasons that walnut might make a great choice for your kitchen cabinetry.

Strength, Wear-Resistance and General Durability

One of the most frequently cited benefits of walnut cabinetry has to do with the durability of the wood itself. Very hard and wear resistant, walnut cabinets will last many years with proper care. Walnut is heavy, but it is also a very strong wood that can hold a lot of weight, and its close, dense grain resists moisture absorption, scuffing, stains and other marks. Moreover, the natural oil content and the grain pattern of walnut can both help conceal any minor scratches and marks that do appear on the surface of the wood.

To quantify these claims, we can use a metric called Janka hardness. The Janka hardness scale measures the force required to embed a 7/16” steel ball halfway into a piece of sample wood, so the higher the figure,the harder and more wear-resistant the wood is. Walnut’s Janka hardness rating is 1010. This is nearly as hard as oak and maple, and significantly harder than alder, which has a Janka rating of only 590.

Unique and Beautiful Aesthetics

Durability notwithstanding, another thing that so many find attractive about walnut is that it is aesthetically pleasing. It is one of the few commercially available woods with a naturally dark color, which makes it unique among most of our hardwoods.

Another interesting feature of walnut is that the wood can exhibit a trait known as “chatoyance,” also known as “cat’s eye.” Wood that is chatoyant appears to have a deep, brilliant sheen that can change depending on the light in which you view it. It can make the wood appear to have a nearly metallic or even pearlescent luster which is even more beautiful once the wood is properly finished.

Beautiful as it is in its native state, walnut, like the other hardwoods we sell here, is incredibly versatile with respect to finish, and can be stained and finished in a wide range of colors to suit nearly any interior.

Walnut Cabinets Will Likely Never Go Out of Style

While certain finishes and colors may come and go with respect to interior design trends, beautiful, natural hardwoods like walnut will likely never go out of style. Even if they do, a hardwood like walnut offers a great deal of flexibility, as the wood is naturally durable enough to be refinished as the prevailing fashion trends dictate.

Walnut is also an incredibly versatile wood that is compatible with a wide variety of other materials commonly used in interior decorating. For instance, it looks nice when paired with quartz and marble, both light and dark varieties, and it can even look good with butcher block. It’s also complimented nicely by both iron and brass hardware.

This species even ages gracefully, and over the course of years, the color and potentially even the texture of the wood will appear to shift gradually. This unique attribute gives walnut a very unique character that will change favorably with the passage of time.

Sustainability

Walnut trees might be considered to be relatively slow-growing, but when they are young they can grow fairly quickly and a walnut tree can reach harvestable age between 25 and 35 years, much faster than oak, which can take 60 to 80 years. Moreover, while walnut stocks are still rare in the wild, it is technically still a renewable resource, and more trees can be grown to replace what is harvested for timber.

Walnut Cabinets Can Improve Your Home’s Value

Compared to some other species of hardwoods, walnut can indeed be an expensive wood. However, you might choose to see that value as an investment rather than as a cost, as whatever you put into your home can be recovered in resale value.

Relative Ease of Maintenance

Lastly, as a result of the hardness and general durability of the species, walnut cabinets are relatively easy to maintain. For more information on how to clean and care for your walnut cabinets, please see the previous link or get in touch with us directly.

Update Your Home with Opulent, Custom Cabinetry Today

In addition to walnut, we also produce cabinets from alder, cherry, hickory, maple, red birch, and some other species, upon request. For more information on custom cabinetry, cabinet finishes, or the cabinet accessories and options we offer, please see the previous links. You can also get in touch with us to speak with a specialist about your project and what your options are.