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Cherry
Smooth and warm, and it gets richer every year: it starts light pink and darkens to a deep red-orange.
Color over time
Approximate, in a normally lit room. Illustrated grain; real boards vary.
- Hardness
- 950 MediumHigher number means harder to dent. About the Janka test
- Weight
- Medium
- Cost of the wood
- $$Moderate, per board foot
- Grows in
- Eastern North America
What it looks like
New cherry is a pale pinkish-tan with a smooth, fine grain and a soft satin glow. Small dark specks are normal and part of its character. The deep red of antique cherry comes with time.
How it changes over time
The biggest, fastest change. It darkens within weeks, turns medium orange in a year and deep red-orange-brown in 2 to 5 years, then keeps slowly deepening for decades. Anything left in one spot on a new piece (a lamp, a vase) can leave a lighter patch for a few months.
Shimmer
A soft glow that shifts in the light.
Smell
A faint, sweet smell when cut; none once finished.
With a natural wax finish
Lets the color deepen naturally, the classic way to enjoy cherry. It starts pale; after a year it has the warm dark orange satin glow people buy it for.
With a semi-gloss lacquer finish
Richer right away: the first coat brings out a warm red-brown, and a warm lacquer adds more red. It keeps darkening underneath, just a bit more slowly. This is the classic American cherry furniture look.
Safe for food?
Looks great with
- American Black Walnut: a warm pair; the colors grow closer over time
- Hard Maple: a classic contrast that grows as cherry darkens
- Curly / Quilted Maple: shimmering maple panels in a cherry frame
- White Oak: Craftsman style
- Wenge: a dark frame that cherry slowly catches up to
- Ambrosia Maple: gray streaks against red-brown