Post date: May 2, 2015 2:37:26 PM
While looking for tile for the bath and backsplash, one designer suggested that the best approach for a kitchen is to work upwards: floor, cabinets, countertops, backsplash.
So we found cork flooring that has some visual texture, but is not eye-catching. Then we looked for woods that would make good cabinet fronts and found ‘Caribbean Walnut’, also called Tzalam and biologically known as Lysiloma bahamense. Native to southern Florida, the Bahamas, and grown in Mexico and Central America. This wood is mostly used for flooring, as it is harder than white oak.
But just because it is popular as a new tropical hardwood for floors doesn’t mean I can get it as kitchen cabinet doors. There are, however many manufacturers of cabinets and cabinet parts. Most use North American species or medium density fiberboard (MDF). Some claim they will get other species, so I’ll try them. The following took me three hours to compile.
Decore-ative Specialties sells a wide variety of woods, including Honduras Mahogany (which I have used, but is too red) and Sapele. Possible. They seem to offer a complete variety of drawer boxes, fronts, components.
Cabinet Door World claims “Other wood types are available upon request”, so I will contact them at sales@cabinetdoorworld.com.
Conestoga Wood Specialties only offers 25 species. They recommend plywood panels for extremely humid or dry climates. Most of their species have a fine-grain figure (if any), except (Black) Walnut and possibly White Oak. They do not say they will get other species.
Dura Supreme Cabinetry offers Lyptus along with common hardwoods. Lyptus is the trade name of a wood made from a hybrid of two species of Eucalyptus tree, Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus urophylla. The grain figure is variable. Grown on plantations in Brazil.
American Cabinet Doors has no list of species used for the cabinets, but they also sell exotic lumber retail, so this is possible. Cocobolo is a possibility, from Central America.
Maple Craft USA seems to use only common north american species; Alder, Ash, White Birch, Cherry, Hard Maple, Hickory, Knotty Pine, Lyptus, Quarter Sawn Red Oak, Quarter Sawn White Oak, Red Oak, White Oak, and Walnut.
Valley Oak Cabinet Doors uses (in addition to common species) Mahogany, Lyptus, Oak in several grades, and (Black) Walnut.
Scherr’s Cabinet & Doors has a bad web site. They are reworking it. Species list here includes Lyptus and African Mahogany.
Advantage Cabinet Doors has a hidden page for species with African Mahogany, Walnut, and Zebra.
Taylor Craft Cabinet Door Company has a good display of their mostly common species.
Bridgewood uses only common north american species.
Cabinet Doors Unlimited claims they can order any wood type not listed.
Rockler now sells cabinet doors, but their species only include Red Oak or Hickory (of the interesting ones) and they don’t offer pictures.
Menards sells standard size fronts, only in oak, but that could be stained.
Keystone Wood Specialties only uses the common north american species.
Aristokraft Cabinetry sells only common species.
Barker Door uses only north american woods.
Fast Cabinet Doors uses only north american woods.
Eagle Bay has only three species.
Amish Cabinet Doors uses only north american woods
Cabinet Door Shop has a broken web site.
Cabinet Door Service gives no clue about species.
Cabinet Doors has particularly difficult navigation in their web site and only a few common species.
Cabinetry by Decora uses only common species.
Lakeside Moulding & Manufacturing Company uses only a few common species.
Richelieu does not distribute in the southwest. Finding species requires tedious selection of everything else.
Cabinet Doors Depot has a hard-to-navigate, gaudy web site. Species are buried deep in the ordering process and are very limited.
Corona Millworks has no species list, even though they claim a wide variety.
Cabinet Doors Unlimited claims they can order any wood type not listed.
Arkansas Wood Doors has a weak (as opposed to ‘bad’) web site. No apparent list of species.
Cabinetry by Diamond has the same web site as Cabinetry by Decora. :(
Elkay Innermost Cabinets do not show species.
Evans Cabinet and Door does not list species.
Drees Wood Products has a technically interesting but user-hostile web site.
CP&W Manufacturing uses only north american species.
Cabinet Now does not list species.
There are more, but I ran out of patience. The sites listed later on the search results are less-often visited, usually because they are hard to navigate.