Can I Stain Maple Cabinets White or Cream?

Maple Wood

• Hard maple is indigenous to the northeast but reaches down to Minnesota and Tennessee. Hard maple trees come in both white and black varieties. Hard maple is a high quality wood for making furniture and cabinets. Its natural, creamy white color has resulted in specialty uses of this wood.

Natural Stain

• A clear or natural stain on maple wood will have a creamy color. Start with the highest grade of hard, white maple to get results that look white or creamy. With clear stains and some natural stains, the color of the wood is also the color of the finished product.

White Stain

• Shop around for white wood stains. Colored wood stains are a newer product than traditional wood-hue stains and finished. Colored wood stains are often water-based. They can be found in hardware stores and home improvement stores, and are perfectly safe to use on maple wood.

Test

• Test a small amount of stain on an unseen portion of the cabinet. For example, use a little stain on an inside corner. Allow to set overnight, and then look at it to decide if this is the color and effect you want. Do this no matter what type of wood and what color stain you are using. If you are pleased with the results, stain your maple wood cabinets.