Choosing the Right Finish: Buff vs. Natural from Showplace Cabinetry

When it comes to selecting the perfect finish for your cabinetry, the choice between Buff and Natural finishes from Showplace Cabinetry can significantly impact the overall look and feel of your space.

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Each finish offers unique benefits, and understanding these differences can help you make an informed decision that aligns with your design vision. Let’s dive into the details of Buff and Natural finishes and explore how they can transform your cabinetry.

Buff Finish: A Modern Solution for Consistency

The Buff finish from Showplace Cabinetry is designed with a specific purpose: to lessen the yellowing effect that can occur over time with natural wood. This finish is particularly beneficial for those who prefer a more consistent and contemporary look in their cabinetry.

Key Benefits of Buff Finish:

  1. Reduced Yellowing: Over time, natural wood can develop a yellowish hue due to exposure to light and air. The Buff finish helps mitigate this effect, keeping your cabinets looking fresh and new for longer.
  2. Consistency in Appearance: Buff finish evens out the color variations in the wood, providing a uniform look. This is especially useful for white oak, which can exhibit a range of tones and hues.
  3. Modern Aesthetic: The smoother, more consistent appearance of the Buff finish lends itself well to modern and minimalist design styles, where clean lines and uniformity are highly valued.

By opting for the Buff finish, homeowners can enjoy the beauty of white oak without worrying about the gradual color changes that naturally occur. This makes it an excellent choice for those seeking longevity and a sleek, polished look.

Natural Finish: Embracing the Beauty of Variations

On the other hand, the Natural finish from Showplace Cabinetry celebrates the inherent characteristics of wood. This finish highlights the natural highs and lows, allowing the unique patterns and grains of the wood to shine through.

Key Benefits of Natural Finish:

  1. Enhanced Natural Beauty: The Natural finish accentuates the wood’s natural grain and texture, showcasing the unique patterns and variations that make each piece of wood distinct.
  2. Warm and Inviting: By highlighting the natural tones and variations, the Natural finish creates a warm and inviting atmosphere. It’s perfect for those who appreciate the organic beauty of wood.
  3. Traditional Appeal: The Natural finish complements traditional and rustic design styles, where the character and charm of the wood are focal points.

For homeowners who love the idea of embracing the natural beauty of their cabinetry, the Natural finish is the way to go. It brings out the rich, diverse characteristics of white oak, making each cabinet a unique work of art.

A Step-by-Step Guide

How It has Done:

Step 1: Consultation and Design

The first step is to schedule a consultation with a Showplace Renew dealer-designer. During this consultation, you will discuss your vision for your kitchen and explore the various style options available. The expert will take measurements and provide recommendations based on your preferences and budget.

Step 2: Removal of Doors and Drawers

Once you have finalized your design choices and materials have arrived, the refacing process begins. The doors and drawer fronts of your existing cabinets are carefully removed, leaving the cabinet boxes intact – with the contents left in place, if you wish.

Step 3: Surface Preparation

Next, the surfaces of the cabinet boxes are thoroughly cleaned and prepared for the new veneers. Any necessary repairs, such as filling in dents or scratches, are also addressed at this stage to ensure a smooth, uniform smooth surface to apply the veneer.

Step 4: Application of Veneers

The new pressure sensitive veneers, chosen during the design phase, are then applied to the exterior surfaces of the cabinet boxes. Showplace Renew uses high-quality materials available in an array of stains or solid paints.

Step 5: Installation of New Doors and Hardware

Once the veneers are in place, the new doors, hinges, and drawer fronts are installed. This is where you will see your vision come to life as your kitchen transforms before your eyes.

Step 6: Final Touches and Inspection

The final changes are applied to your newly refaced cabinets and are now ready to be enjoyed for years to come.

Making the Choice: Buff or Natural?

The decision between Buff and Natural finishes ultimately comes down to personal preference and the desired aesthetic for your space.

Choose Natural if: You want to highlight the natural beauty and variations of the wood. Natural is perfect for traditional or rustic designs where the unique characteristics of the wood are celebrated.

Choose Buff if: You prefer a more consistent, modern look with less yellowing over time. Buff is ideal for contemporary designs where a sleek, uniform appearance is desired.

Both Buff and Natural finishes from Showplace Cabinetry offer distinct advantages, and your choice will depend on your personal style and the overall design of your space. Whether you opt for the consistency of Buff or the organic charm of Natural, Showplace Cabinetry provides high-quality finishes that will enhance the beauty and longevity of your cabinetry.

The Beauty of Hickory: The Most Variably Grained and Colored Wood

If you’re looking for a wood species that offers a wide range of graining and color consistency, hickory should be at the top of your list.

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This versatile and beautiful wood has become a popular choice for any room in your home, and for good reason. With its unique graining, natural variation, and warm, inviting color, hickory is a wood species that truly stands out.

One of the defining features of hickory is its variability. Below are two areas in which hickory’s characteristics can vary, providing an unexpected beauty with each cabinet.

Characteristics

Hickory Pampas cabinets in a warehouse

Grain

The graining in hickory can range from straight and fine, to wild and wavy, and everything in between. This variability means that each piece of hickory wood is truly one-of-a-kind, and it gives the wood a natural and organic look that is difficult to replicate.

Vanity in hickory wood

Color

The heartwood of hickory can range from light to dark colors, with a reddish hue that adds warmth to the wood. Sapwood is usually lighter in color and can have a yellow or creamy hue. These color variations within a single piece of wood are part of what makes hickory unique and beautiful.

Hickory is a strong and durable wood, making it a great choice for high-traffic areas like flooring or furniture. It’s also a popular choice for cabinetry and millwork, as its natural variation and character make it a great addition to any kitchen or bathroom.

Hickory stained storage cabinets in the back office of our Harrisburg showroom.
This photo demonstrates the variability of stains on hickory. Sparrow finish shown.

Also, whether you prefer a natural finish that highlights the wood’s natural graining and character, or a stained finish that adds a pop of color to your space, hickory is a versatile wood that can be customized to fit your style.

If you’re looking for a beautiful and character-rich addition to your cabinetry or millwork, hickory is a great choice.

Effects of Lighting on Cabinet Color

Many factors affect the appearance of color. So, when you’re investing in new cabinets from Showplace, you want to make sure they’re going to look as close as possible to what you’ve envisioned.

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If you’re just getting started and are trying to pick the cabinet colors for your space, narrow down your choices by working with a designer at your local Showplace dealership.

Explore their color chip samples and our list of standard paint and stain colors. Then, when you think you’ve selected the colors you want, order a sample door from your dealer so you can see what an actual Showplace cabinet door will look like in your space. We highly encourage you to make your final finish selections based off a sample door, rather than a color chip.

Be sure to hold the door at the approximate location the cabinets will be installed and view the door with lights on and off, and at different times of day because light affects color in different ways.

Here are some ways light may change how your cabinets appear:

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Artificial Light and Color

The type of indoor lighting will change the appearance of the finish or surface of your cabinets because different bulbs have a different color temperature.

Incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, or LED lighting have different color and intensity.

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Natural Light

Natural lighting will also cause your cabinets to look different, depending on how direct the light is, whether clouds are dampening the intensity of the sun, or if window treatments are causing indirect sunlight.

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Sheen Level

The level of sheen (glossiness) reflects light, which may make the cabinets look a bit different in various lighting. Learn more below.

Sheen Level

If you’ve ever picked out paint before, you already know what “sheen” is. It’s the relative “shininess” or “glossiness” of a finish. Showplace offers all its finishes in your choice of two levels of sheen, no extra charge. 

“Satin” is what most people would consider normal sheen for home cabinetry. “Matte” is a little bit softer, a little bit flatter than Satin and is often associated with the finish on fine furniture.

Satin sheen tends to be a bit more reflective than matte, but adds more depth to the color.

Be Prepared

  • Be sure to purchase a sample door from your Showplace dealer so you can take it home and place it in your space to see how it looks in the lighting you have now.
  • If you plan to include different lighting in your space than you have now, go to different rooms in your home that may have similar lighting to view the sample.
  • Remember that colors on a screen will most likely not match the appearance of the same color in person, so consider this when viewing colors online.