Kitchen cabinets question

[Greg Carter]

I'm scoping out redoing our kitchen cabinets, and have read the threads here, and bought a few books on the subject. I need a point of clarification. My wife loves the look of cherry for the cabinets, which I believe means she would like it for the drawer faces, doors, and face frames. Should I carry the cherry look through to the cabinet carcasses themselves, that is, use cherry plywood for the sides, tops and bottoms? Or would that make it too dark inside the cabinets?

If not cherry, then what? The finish on the cherry will be natural. Clearly, the outside cabinet sides that will show will be cherry plywood, but I'm looking at the insides, the back face, even the shelves. Drawers will probably be a hardwood, but I haven't nailed that one down, either. I'm just stumbling over myself on this one. Any help gratefully appreciated.

Greg

[Knucklehead]

Cherry will change colors as it is exposed to light. So even if you make your inside match your outside today, in 5 years they won't match anyway as they outside will get more light than the inside.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Go to the nearest kitchen center and look around. Open the cabinets and see what is inside. IMO, the cherry would be too dark inside (not to mention expensive) when a lighter wood would make searching for the can of beans easier. I don't object to opening a drawer and finding a contrasting wood, but you wife may. Best to look around.

Birch plywood is much lighter. If you do go with solid woods, there are many varieties that would be suitable. Ed.

[Renata]

Personally, I think I'd prefer a lighter inside and go with something like birch (or maple). i.e. birch ply for all carcasses except those where the outside face is seen. Doors and drawer fronts would be cherry, obviously

Renata

[Phisherman]

I'd use cherry ply for the sides, but only for sides that are visible. Cabinet inside would be painted a gloss enamel white for easy cleaing and light reflection, unless the cabinet doors are see-though glass. The inside door should be as the outside, as it is very visible when the door is opened. I seriously doubt the interior sides/top/bottom/back will be noticed once filled up with stuff.

[Mike]

I don't recommend painting interiors, especially gloss enamel on the inside of enclosed cabinets. It's expensive, it's high maintenance, it stinks for a long time, glass tends to stick if not totally cured which may take months. Save the paint for show areas. If you want white use melamine or ply core melamine. My standard practice for wood interior is to use pre finished birch or cabinet grade maple panels. By pre finished I mean either buy pre finished or pre finish yourself. Behind glass doors or open/exposed cabinets I match the exterior. If you choose cherry ply for the casework plan on 2x+ the cost of birch and mucho times the cost of melamine. IMHO melamine is a perfectly sound choice and it saves the cost of finishing.

Mike

[Mark & Juanita]

... snip

How prevalent is ply-core melamine? What is the price delta relative to particle-core melamine?