Skip to Content

Cherry vs. Walnut Wood (For Furniture, Flooring, and Cabinets)

Kitchen with cherry wood cabinets, beige mosaic tile backsplash, and a peninsula equipped with double sinks.

When it comes to choosing the best wood for your furniture, flooring, and cabinets, knowing the characteristics of each wood makes your decision easy. Both Cherry and Walnut wood is excellent wood choices for either of your furniture, flooring or cabinets or even all three. However, how do you know which one of the two will best suit your home and décor?

Cherry wood is unique because its reddish-brown hues darken over time, making it a beautiful choice for elegant dining furniture. Walnut wood is a beautiful rich deep brown that looks especially stunning in a natural or linseed oil finish and is a great candidate for stunning dining furniture.  

Both the Cherry and Walnut wood offer effortless style, beauty, and durability. However, they both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Because each home has different requirements, only you can decide which wood meets your needs. Have a look at each of the woods when it comes to furniture, flooring, and cabinetry.

Related: Maple vs. Walnut Wood | Poplar vs. Walnut Wood | Cedar vs. Walnut | Oak vs Walnut | Types of Walnut Wood | Maple vs. Walnut Wood | Cherry vs. Birch | Cherry vs. Oak | Cherry vs. Pine | Cherry vs. Cedar | Types of Cherry Wood

What Makes Cherry and Walnut Wood Great for Furniture?

Why are Cherry wood and Walnut wood great for furniture?

Cherry Wood for Furniture

A large cherry wood-top table paired with black leather chairs.

Cherry wood is elegant, timeless, and strong. How do you know if it is the right choice for your new furniture? This wood is the most popular wood for furniture because it offers a beautiful tone and grain pattern, which makes it a great fit for almost any furniture style.

The first thing that you need to know about this wood is that it darkens over time with exposure to light. After finishing, Cherry wood will darken considerably during the first year in your home and will continue to darken slowly throughout its life.

Cherry wood has a fine shallow grain that takes stain well, and you’ll find ripples, tight waves, and abstract patterns on the wood. Rustic Cherry Wood is the best option for your furniture if you want furniture that has character, like dark mineral deposits, white and grey streaks, as well as the occasional knots.

If you are not a fan of your furniture being rustic, then you can ask a furniture specialist to upgrade you to select Cherry. Cherry wood is one of the softer types of hardwood. It is comparable to Walnut wood but is significantly softer than hard Maple wood.

This means that your furniture will be lighter and easier to move around. However, this also means that it can sustain scratches and dents more easily than other hardwoods. This high-end wood features light red tones that give the furniture a stunning look.

Walnut Wood for Furniture

Contemporary walnut chair with black leather cushion

Walnut is considered one of the most beautiful wood types. It is dark and smooth and has a luxurious feel and look to it. Is it the correct wood type for any new furniture that you may be thinking of acquiring?

You may be wondering why Walnut wood is a great choice for furniture. Well, there are several distinctive characteristics that make Walnut wood an excellent choice for your furniture. It is among the most stunning wood types for furniture, but there is a lot that should be taken into consideration apart from its beauty.

First the look, Walnut is a naturally dark-colored wood that varies in tone from medium to dark brown shades. It also features a fine, smooth grain with a consistent pattern and very little texture. It has subtle waves and long narrow loops that are interrupted by dark-colored knots.

This wood is about average hardness for hardwood, and its construction is highly durable, although it may take scratches or dents with heavy use. Walnut wood won’t warp, and it absorbs shock well and naturally resists decay. This makes it an excellent choice for indoor furniture as it is premium wood.

Which Wood Between Walnut and Cherry is the Best for Floors?

How do you know which of the two is the better choice for your floors?

Cherry Wood for Flooring

Living room with cherry hardwood flooring, a marble fireplace, and dark walls graced with white wainscoting.

Cherry wood is a true classic that never goes out of style. This wood is one of the most popular choices for floors as it has proven its durability and has a rich beauty. The exotic graining and rich autumn red colors that deepen with age make it an excellent choice for floors. The change in hues will add warmth and elegance to any home.

This Cherry woodworks whether your decorating style is traditional or traditional with a twist. Because of the new technology and floor trends, it is possible to get the authentic look of Cherry in a variety of flooring options, from solid and engineered hardwood to laminate and more.

This wood is appealing for floors because there is an option for every room and every budget.

Walnut Wood for Flooring

Dining area with wooden dining set over walnut wood plank flooring.

Walnut wood is the most sought-after domestic hardwood. Walnut is a superb flooring choice as it has a refined look and is a beautiful interior design gem that will instantly enhance the appearance and décor of your home. Its color tones range from light brown to a darker chocolate brown.

With its artistic grain markings and exciting figuring, the wood makes the flooring very unique and lively. The flooring can either be done in wood that has color variation and no knots or wood that has knots and color variations. The latter is the more popular choice for flooring.

Because it is not as hard as other flooring woods, it is often made in a natural finish so that dents and scratches are less noticeable. However, the dents and scratches are considered to add character to the beautiful and rustic Walnut wood flooring.

The Difference Between Cherry and Walnut Wood for Cabinets

Are Maple wood and Cherry wood cabinets the same?

Cherry Wood for Cabinets

Home office with vaulted ceiling, large windows, and cherry wood cabinets paired with a swivel chair.

Because of its red and brown undertones, Cherry wood allows for many possibilities when it comes to the styling and designs of cabinets. This wood is one of the most popular woods used in kitchen cabinetry.

Because Cherry wood is a very porous wood, it soaks up stain very well, and that’s the beauty of it because when you have a natural glaze on Cherry wood, you get different color variations and wormholes on your cabinets, which makes them authentic.

Walnut Wood for Cabinets

Kitchen with walnut cabinets, white appliances, and double sinks.

Walnut is a classic wood for cabinetry as it is a dynamic wood due to its numerous possibilities. Although it normally brings a vintage look to kitchen cabinets, when paired with other materials like metals, it can elevate your cabinetry to more modern levels.

It is a complex wood due to its range of colors, varying grains, patterns, and textures. This means that your kitchen will look unique, even when your neighbor used Walnut wood for cabinetry, too, as no design is the same.

Conclusion

Wooden furniture, flooring, and installation of cabinets are major investments, and you need to select the wood species that works for you best. Now that you know all about Walnut and Cherry wood when it comes to decorating your house, you can make a well-informed decision.

References:

Real Simple: The Pros and Cons of Different Types of Wood for Furniture

Difference Between: Difference between Walnut and Cherry Wood