Plane Till

[Mark Grotenhuis]

I'm about half way through this project, I still need build a door for the front and also build the drawers. Its built out of scrap birch plywood and pine. I have a lot of cherry I got for free so I want to build some cherry drawer fronts for the drawers. I was thinking about painting the cabinet but now I'm not sure it would look good with cherry drawers. Any suggestions? What color should I use?

[Robert Meyer]

Cherry trim about the edges then cherry doors and drawers .... it's to nice to paint ... unless you use multiple coats of milk paint (hunter green) with a clear topcoat.

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Well I would stain the cabinet but there are some spots where I sanded through the birch veneer (which is a millionth of an inch thick). So staining would look bad in those few spots. Painting is the only way I think It will look good, I just don't know what colors look good with natural cherry as an accent.

[Robert Meyer]

Since this is destined for your shop, perhaps something lighter than my original suggestion of hunter green would be better in the long run. You really need lighter colors in a shop where lighting is sometimes dim. Perhaps a light tan or grey would provide a good base. Why don't you complete a cherry door, finish it natural and then use it to color match paint samples with?

[Jim Becker]

Cherry drawer fronts would look very nice with a painted cabinet if you choose to go that way...I'm inclined to greens, but it's kind of a personal preference. If you do the cherry drawer fronts, I'll suggest you'll want some additional cherry highlights to provide balance.

Thanks for posting this project...one of which I need to think about one of these days with my growing stable of Neander tools.