Birch vs Maple Cabinets: A Complete Comparison

Kitchen remodeling is one of the most important parts of home renovation, and hence there has to be a detailed and concrete plan in place for that. One of the most important parts of this planning is buying appropriate cabinets for your kitchen.

Among all the materials for kitchen cabinets available in the market, maple and birch are the most popular, which gave rise to a birch vs maple cabinets debate. 

Both Birch and maple are widely used hardwoods with unique traits. Birch cabinets are more flexible and are very affordable. On the other hand, maple cabinets are stronger than birch ones, and they have a more polished look to them. Maple cabinets are also a bit more expensive than birch cabinets. 

Let’s take a detailed look at the differences between birch and maple kitchen cabinets.

Differences between Birch and Maple kitchen cabinets

Kitchen cabinets are one of the most important parts of your kitchen for both aesthetic and functional purposes. These cabinets provide much-needed storage space in the kitchen for you to keep your utensils and other stuff.

Also, the right type of kitchen cabinet is a must for a kitchen so that you don’t have to spend money on it every few years. 

On the aesthetic side of things, a good-looking kitchen cabinet only adds to the appeal of your kitchen, which in turn, improves your reputation. So, you have to make sure you choose the right material for your kitchen cabinet.

Two of the most used woods for making kitchen cabinets are birch and maple. Both birch and maple appeal to homeowners in different ways.

Let’s take a look at their comparison –

What is birch?

Birch trees can be found all over Canada and the northeastern USA. this hardwood is used to make a lot of things, including kitchen cabinets.

Let’s take a look at its pros and cons to understand how it will fit your kitchen. 

Pros

The advantages of birch kitchen cabinets are as follows: 

• Affordability: One of the biggest selling points of birch for cabinets is they are quite cheap. You can buy a birch kitchen cabinet for between $2000 to $4000, depending on the grade of the wood. Their cheap cost makes them the perfect kitchen cabinets for people with a lower budget. 

• Warp-resistance: Birch woods are not very susceptible to changes in temperature and moisture levels. As a result, they don’t warp easily. This makes them the best kitchen cabinet material for your kitchen where there is a lot of heat as well as moisture, which can easily damage the cabinets. 

• Versatility: One of the best qualities of birch wood is its versatility. While at the first glance, they might not look fit for some furniture, they can easily accommodate all the screws, etc that are needed to make them functional. This makes them extremely versatile and suited for your kitchen. 

Cons

Birch kitchen cabinets have some noticeable disadvantages as well, which are: 

• Harder to stain: Birch has a more porous, and coarse texture than a lot of other hardwoods. So, when you want to stain them, the work will not be as smooth as you want it to be. This makes them harder to stain. 

• Prone to scratching: Since birch wood is soft, you need to take special care when you clean them. Cleaning these cabinets roughly will make them scratch, which will hurt their aesthetics. 

What is Maple?

Maple is another kind of hardwood, that can be found all along the eastern seaboard as well as in Canada. Alongside Birch, these hardwoods are also very popular for making kitchen cabinets. 

Pros

Maple has been a very popular kitchen cabinet material for good reasons. They are 

• Strength: Maple is one of the strongest hardwoods in the world. This is why the cabinets made from these woods are also one of the strongest kitchen cabinets in the market. So, if you want a kitchen cabinet that can resist a lot of force, and is in a high-traffic kitchen, then you should go for maple plywood kitchen cabinets. 

• Readily available: One of the reasons maple is so popular among homeowners is its availability. Since they are so readily available, you can get your maple plywood cabinets made and installed quicker than most other hardwood. 

• Easy to stain: Maple cabinets have a more polished texture. This makes them easier to stain, which makes life easier for you if you want a different color and pattern on your cabinet. 

Cons

Despite their significant advantages, maple kitchen cabinets have some disadvantages as well. These are 

• Costly: Maple cabinets are more costly than birch ones, and there is a reason for this. In general, maple is a better type of wood than birch, which is a cause for their cost. So, if you have a low budget, then you should stay away from them, as maple kitchen cabinets cost anywhere between $2500 to $6000. 

• Not suitable for sun exposure: If your kitchen cabinets are supposed to be near your kitchen windows where sunlight is directly incident upon the cabinets, then you shouldn’t go for maple. Maple fades because of exposure to the sun, and hence shouldn’t be installed anywhere near the windows. 

Here are the key differences between birch and maple kitchen cabinets for your understanding

Birch Cabinets	Maple Cabinets
They are cheaper	They are costlier
They are harder to stain	They are easier to stain
They can withstand sunlight	They can’t withstand sunlight
They are weaker	They are stronger

Final Words

If there’s anything that is to be learned from the above comparison of birch vs maple cabinets is that these two cabinets are suited for different types of kitchens.

If you have a slightly higher budget and a high-traffic kitchen then you should go for maple cabinets. On the other hand, if you have a lower budget, and want wood that won’t fade after being exposed to sunlight, then birch cabinets are the way.

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