Advice on accent wood for cherry bathroom vanity

[Eric Arnsdorff]

I’m starting an 8’ long bathroom vanity with some cabinetry on top as well.
I’m planning on making it from Cherry but I’d like to add some accents in and would like to know what has worked well from others. Possibly some walnut and or maple. We have a wood supply house (Jefferies woodworks) that stocks and can get most any wood including a lot of exotic woods so sourcing it shouldn’t be a problem.
I’m not sure what would look good. Let me know your thoughts. TIY!

[Jim Becker]

If you want the accent contrast to remain long term, the maple will be a better choice than the walnut. Walnut gets lighter over time and cherry gets darker. After a few years, they are very similar in contrast. I know that from experience. If you want dark, go with an accent that's from something that is truly dark and will stay that way, including ebonizing something in-house.

[Neil Gaskin]

I think both Cherry and Maple make good contrasting accents with Walnut.

My personal preference is Cherry but I agree the difference can become more subtle overtime. I built a bedroom set for my son roughly 4 years ago combining Cherry and Walnut, you can still see the difference fairly distinctly today though the Cherry has deepened.

[Frank Drackman]

I use cherry & maple together very frequently. I love the contrast.

[Jim Dwight]

I like black, ebonized, wood with cherry. I plan a softwood black base with a cherry top for my dining table I keep talking about building. My current favorite way to get a really black color is with ink. I bought a pint of it when I was doing my mobile base and under extension storage for my SawStop and I just used a bit of it on a little gun stock project. You could blacken about any wood with ink.

[Jamie Buxton]

When you say accents, I'm thinking pulls and knobs and the like. That is, not very big pieces of wood. I'd use something dark. Wenge maybe, or one of the ebony woods. Yes, those are all expensive per board foot, but you're not using much. For a few knobs and pulls, you might spend twenty bucks on wenge.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Thanks for the input everyone!!
I am referring to adding the wood into the build and not just pulls (although that is likely an area where I'd add it as well). I'll design it in. The next step I'll do is draw a solid model of it and see how it looks. I can use the solid model to get an idea of the color contrast but the actual wood makes such a big difference as you know.
I hadn't considered ink before. I've not tried to "ebonize" anything before but I think I'll test out some pieces to see how that goes.
I'm glad to hear maple and cherry seem to be a good option. That was one of the first combinations that went through my head.
I really like walnut but I have a lot of cherry that I want to use for the build.
I'm not familiar with Wenge but I'll go see if the wood supply house has some.
Thanks again all! If anyone has any pics of some contrasting wood they'd like to show off please post those as well.

[glenn bradley]

I do like cherry and walnut . . .

Niki CT Dresser (157).jpgMedia Cabinet (174).jpg

Cherry and maple would be my choice for a bathroom project though.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

That looks sharp Glenn!
It is looking like cherry and maple then throw in some walnut for a little extra contrast.
I wasn't sure if I was overlooking some other potential woods but these sound like good options. I'm still going to investigate the ebonizing options to see what that looks like.

[Orlyn Gaddis]

This is a pair of nightstands that I just finished. The cherry has not had time to darken yet. The drawer fronts are pau ferro (morado). I was initially skeptical about the combination of cherry and pau ferro and also concerned about the match after the cherry darkened. However, I'm very pleased with the way the combination turned out and I think it will be even better as the cherry darkens. The lighter colors in the pau ferro seem to compliment the color of the cherry. I have previously built a cherry quilt cabinet with birds-eye maple panels in the doors. As the cherry darkened I didn't really care for the combination. I think the reverse, a light cabinet with dark panels
would have worked out better.
Nightstand- Cherry & Pau Ferro Resize.jpg

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Orlyn those look terrific!
I'm still a week or 2 from starting my project (finishing up some things around the house and other things that must happen) so this is very helpful.
Interestingly, I had started thinking to go with just the dark wood with the cherry. I'll get down to the wood supply house in the next week and will see if they have some pau ferro.
Thanks!

[Brad Shipton]

There is a good article in Fine woodworking about contrast. Make sure to do some mockups showing the scale of the piece with the different woods. I have done projects where I have grown to dislike the contrast years down the road. Case in point, Cherry passage doors with Makore panels. They will be rebuilt one day. The cherry and walnut looks nice.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2010...o-use-contrast

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Thanks Brad! Great article!! I even subscribed.
That helps a lot. The cherry with walnut is sounding like a good option with possibly some small ebony pieces may work looking at this. I'll check out the pau ferro in place of walnut to see what that may look like.