Oak Kitchen Cabinets: A Classic American Kitchen Tune Up
By Kelly RichardsonRefacingCabinet.com Columnist
It's the wood so endeared to the Romans that they used it to make honor crowns. The English placed images of it on the back of their coins for centuries. Oh, and it looks great in the kitchen. If you're considering a kitchen tune up, oak kitchen cabinets are timeless classics. Durable, stainable and cost-effective, oak wood deserves your serious consideration.
Kitchen Tune Up: Nothing Compares to Oak
Oak has long been the wood of choice for traditional kitchen cabinets. Its durability comes from a comparatively tight grain that is insect-resistant. eHow writer F.R.R. Mallory describes oak as a wood of great strength and hardness--it's density is 0.75 g/cm³. Oak features high tannin levels that make it an ideal building material for wine barrels, furniture, flooring, construction beams and ships. Now you can make this historic wood an integral part of your kitchen tune up.
Oak Kitchen Cabinets: The Standard Sizes
If have standard kitchen cabinet shapes and sizes, then oak should be a natural choice. Stock and semi-stock oak kitchen cabinets are built to common industry specs. Joyce L. Carroll, writer at BobVila.com describes the dimensions of standard oak kitchen cabinets:
- Base Cabinets. 34.5-inches high by 24-inches deep
- Cabinet Sides. 3/4 of an inch thick
- Wall Cabinets. 30-inches high by 12-inches deep
- Width Options. Increases in three-inch increments from six to 48 inches
Oak kitchen cabinets are like working with a blank slate. Leave them sanded and unfinished for a rougher look; or stain them to a rich, golden tone and dress things up a bit. Either way, you simply can't go wrong with oak kitchen cabinets.
About The Author
Kelly C. Richardson, MEd is a freelance writer and manic do-it-yourselfer. He specializes in home improvement projects ranging from savvy landscaping to house repair and beyond. Find out more about him at kellyrichardsoncopywriting.com.
