What is a Hardwood Cabinet Door?

While searching for your new kitchen cabinets, you may have come across the terms soft wood and hardwood. CabinetNow offers high-quality hardwood cabinet doors that will last for years to come. What exactly hardwood and what makes it so great?

Photo used under Creative Commons from Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden

Hardwood comes from deciduous trees that generally produce a fruit or nut, have broad leaves, and go dormant in winter. The most popular hardwood trees used for lumber include the poplar, cherry, maples, ash, and oak. Each variety varies in hardness. Hickory is five times harder than aspen, for example.

Hardwoods are commonly crafted into furniture and cabinetry. Hardwood is not only beautiful, but furniture made of hardwood can last for generations. Each piece is has unique patterning that was formed over the lifetime of an individual tree and nicks and scratches do not diminish the value of the piece.

In an age of environmental friendliness, hardwoods are sustainable. Trees can be replanted to grow yet another generation of lumber. Another benefit is that hardwood trees store carbon as they grow. After their long lifespan, finished hardwood products can be used as a combustible fuel, re-purposed, or left in a landfill to revert back to nature. True hardwood is never artificial or synthetic.

Softwoods, on the other hand, are cone-bearing trees, conifers, and evergreens such as cedar, fir, pine, redwood, spruce, and hemlock. These woods are generally not used for cabinetry, but are sometimes used as structural lumber for home building.