Cherry wood kitchen cabinets have been a market leader for a good reason: they look terrific and can often cost less per set than other hardwood cabinet materials. Homeowners who are not familiar with the wood are often surprised–even disappointed–when the colors darken over time. Like everything else, it’s a question of taste. Most people love the look. But it pays to plan coordinating the colors of your counters, flooring, and backsplashes for a darker hue of cabinets over the long run.

Money Watch has already picked cherry wood to remain the top cabinet wood choice among consumers through 2010. Maple and alder wood cabinets will follow in popularity. If you’re refacing cabinets, cherry wood veneers can lend a rich look, and they’re typically cut from good quality logs. Cherry wood can have knots in the panels, which add charm and a unique quality to your selection.

Examples of Cherry Wood Doors

Industry leader Armstrong (not an endorsement) has a great online layout with examples of the range of styles available in cherry wood. You can surf around and take notes about prospective styles for your own kitchen.

If you’re among the homeowners who haven’t liked the deepening color of your existing cherry wood cabinets, How to Do Things suggests you change the way “invasive light” falls on them before doing anything dramatic that can harm the finish. Frantic consumers may try to bleach cherry wood with horrific results.

Before taking drastic measures, consider repainting your kitchen walls, changing out window treatments, or altering other aspects of the kitchen decorating scheme to match the deepened cherry color. It’s not always the most obvious solution that’s the best.

Protect your investment.

Let’s say that your kitchen cabinets are not a disaster from an operational point of view–but they look terrible!  Depending on your budget and your comfort level with hand tools and basic carpentry, you might avoid a total replacement. But homeowners beware. If you’re uncomfortable or inexperienced with a common screwdriver, sandpaper, and paintbrush, you might hand this project over to a kitchen contractor.

And if your cabinet surfaces are beyond repair, you may want to look into having them refaced.

You’d be surprised who has the inside skinny on cabinet refinishing:  Popular Mechanics, the people who can tell you how to change the sequence of firing plugs in your WWII P-51 Mustang.  In this case, the magazine recommends that you use 100 percent acrylic enamel paint for the cabinet job, since the paint won’t off-gas toxic fumes while you work and it cleans up easily with mild soap and water.

Cleaning and Prepping Cabinet Doors and Drawer Fronts

First, remove the drawers and then unscrew the cabinet hinges, hardware, pulls, and knobs.  Mark all the wood parts on the unfinished side with numbers according to the order in which they came off the cabinet boxes for easy replacement. Next, wash all the surfaces with powdered trisodium phosphate (TSP) and warm water.  TSP, according to Lowe’s, not only strips away dirt but gives the paint a nice clean surface to cling to.

Even while clean, the surfaces should still be prepped with 120-grit sandpaper to create the best possible adhesion, according to Popular Mechanics.  You probably want to do your prep and painting in a garage or outside on a warm, dry day.  Before you paint, be sure to lay masking tape over any parts of the doors or drawerfronts that you don’t want coated. Go for it!