Large south facing windows vs my future furniture.

[Jacob Lundmark]

Hello everyone!

Avid reader, first time poster.

I am getting involved in woodworking. Beginner. I have done several bedroom pieces. Nightstands and dressers. A few vanities. Now I am attempting to start some pieces for the main livingroom and kitchen. One catch though. Lots of sun. I was hoping to do the furniture out of walnut and cabinets out of cherry, but the color changes scare me a bit. Beautiful to start and later not match anything.

Questions:
1. Are there ways to slowdown color change (without shutting the curtains)?
2. For Cherry how do you prevent the doors from looking different than the wood underneath? Only flush mounts?

Living room - South facing large window
-Coffee table
-End table

Dining Room - South facing patio door
-Kitchen Table

Kitchen - sky light
-Cabinets

Any help is greatly appreciated.
-Jacob

[Bill White]

Walnut will get lighter, cherry will get darker. Just the nature of the wood, but direct sun is gonna be tough on any wood. Is the glass UV protected?
Bill

[Jacob Lundmark]

Walnut will get lighter, cherry will get darker. Just the nature of the wood, but direct sun is gonna be tough on any wood. Is the glass UV protected?
Bill

I believe it is UV protected.

[Richard Hash]

Install UV film on the windows, it works pretty well. It can be pricey however. I live south of Houston, and the back of our house is full of windows and faces due south. My wife originally objected to film on the windows (they are undeniably 'darker', something I don't mind at all), but after basically everything faded (furniture, carpet, you name it) in the intense sun over 4-5 years, we got film put on and it's been great. And the original double pane windows claimed some UV properties to begin with (better than plain glass, but not much IMO).

[Kent A Bathurst]

If you want to be sure that walnut and cherry never age, never change color....in effect, do not act like walnut and cherry....then maybe some high-quality interior latex paint? :p

Just having fun....seriously, though, it is what it is. Everything will age -- the stiles and rails partially covered by the drawer/door fronts [if they are overlay style].....I don't see the problem. The only time you will see a difference in color is when they are open, right? For 15 seconds? And eventually, they will all age the same.

But - you can certainly use inset doors [I think that is what you mean by flush mount?].

If you want furniture that looks like cherry, then use cherry, and watch nature take its course over the coming years............

EDIT: Jacob - - where do you live? general region or state is fine, if city is secret......

[Jacob Lundmark]

Minneapolis MN area.

How quickly will Cherry darken? Is it quick then slow? Reason I ask is that due to timing and that I am a one man crew. I might install the boxes before the doors. That would give them some time to darken before the doors go on. Or do you think that would make it worse?

[John TenEyck]

Just so you know, all woods lighten over time, even cherry. Cherry will definitely darken over the first few weeks, months, maybe even years, but given enough direct sunlight it will lighten. The sun bleaches everything. I've seen finished cherry wood that lightened substantially after 3 or 4 years and that looked as light as beech after 10 years. The best you can do is put UV film on your windows and use a finish with a UV stabilizer package in it. General Finishes and Sherwin Williams, and probably others, make products with excellent UV stabilizers in them. For general cabinet and furniture work General Finishes High Performance Poly works very well. For kitchen cabinets, tables, and other harder use applications, I would look at Sherwin Williams products.

John

[Jacob Lundmark]

John,

Thank you for the advice. I will look into those finishes.