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Knotty Pine versus Hickory cabinets and trim

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25K views 26 replies 8 participants last post by  Peter_C  
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#1 ·
I am having a set of kitchen cabinets built for my living quarters in my garage. My intentions are to someday build a house hence my decision to use a lower cost of wood.

My cabinet builder mentioned that hickory may not be a whole lot more cost and a much better grade of wood.

I was planning to trim the rest of the house in a rustic manner with no.2 pine boards but if I want to use hickory trim to match my cabinets I believe the trim cost would be quite a bit more.

For this situation I prefer function and durability over something higher cost.

Anybody have any insight to my dilemma? :laughing:
 
#3 ·
IMO, there isn't a problem mixing the two, they're both typically a rustic style. I wouldn't want to be trimming it all out in hickory - pine is easy to work with. Hickory cabinets should be pretty durable - the pine ones typically have to have repairs done periodically, and the wood usually breaks instead of the joint.

Personally, I'd go with hickory for the cabs and pine for the rest. If you're really concerned with getting some matching wood in, consider hickory floors, but that's way more than sheet vinyl...
 
#11 ·
Knotty pine is going to look like knotty pine. If you stain it, it's going to look like somebody stained knotty pine. If you like the look, you could go with a pickled look or a wash coat on it.

I haven't stained hickory - probably Pinwheel would be the best for what you can do with it in this situation. He does a lot of rustic work, and is very talented at getting a good rustic look.

Cabinets finishes are very specific relatively expensive products, and if you're being cheap, you'll use a different product for the trim than the cabinets. A seal coat on a cabinet isn't going to hold up to use - they really need to have a normal finish schedule.

Hickory cabinets are relatively main stream - I think I can buy them at Home Depot here.
 
P
#14 ·
Seems very common to find custom cabinets for the same price or less than box store cabs. The box store cabinets are crap too, unless you get the high end ones and even then dollar for dollar custom is better quality. Having a solid 3/4" box is way better than the cheesy 1/2" with plastic corner braces from the box stores mid line.

Not that it really makes a difference but often the smaller cabinet shops won't dove tail the drawers, but if dadoed and glued they are plenty strong and will last 30+ years.

All of the cabinet shops I know buy the drawer and door faces from an outside supplier.

The best part of custom cabinetry is they are built to fit the area, not one size fits all like the box stores. Plus there are a lot more options. For instance I prefer all drawers in the kitchen base cabinets, and like the double stacked drawer for pots and pans. Pull out garbage and recycling rocks! There are so many options these days for kitchens.
 
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