What Wood is the Most Expensive for Kitchen Cabinets?

Designing a kitchen renovation is all about making practical yet stylish choices. But sometimes, you want to approach the whole idea from the other side: How much luxury can you get away with? 

From this perspective, you may want to look up the most expensive styles and materials you can choose from and find exactly your perfect level by exploring from there.

In the spirit of luxury kitchens and experimental design, today we're spotlighting the most beautiful and - more importantly - most expensive cabinet wood types that you can choose from.

Maybe you'll fall in love with one of these exotic woods and order custom cabinets, or perhaps you'll feel confident to choose a more costly traditional wood whose price and availability seem modest in comparison.

Tropical Ebony

Up to $100 per Board-Foot

Ebony grows in tropical regions The importance of ebony in our culture as a fine wood has existed for as long as we've had luxury items. We make black piano keys from ebony. Snow White's mother wished for a baby girl with hair as black as ebony.

Combs and knife handles made of ebony are considered extremely fine personal items. Likewise, furniture like kitchen cabinets made from ebony wood would be the height of luxury design.

Ebony costs close to $100 per board-foot making it the most expensive wood available for furniture crafting.

Brazilian Rosewood

Up to $70 a Board-Foot

Rosewood of the Brazillian forests gained its name from its unique purple hue and elegant grains. The rosewood itself is a heartwood, like ebony and amaranth, meaning that the wood around the edge is lighter than the deep purple wood in the core. Only the core can be used for Brazilian rosewood boards.

Brazilian rosewod costs up to $70 per board foot.

Hawaiian Koa

Up to $65 a Board-Foot

The traditional wood of the Hawaian islands is Koa, used to make everything from homes to bowls and wood jewelry. The most popular use for Koa is instruments.

However, considering the very small available growing region, Koa is rare and understandably costly. Koa has a beautiful golden to red-brown wood and vertical grains.

Koa boards cost up to $65 per board foot.

Central American Ziricote

Up to $60 a Board-Foot

In the forests of Mexico and Central America you can find the ziricote trees which grow a very heavy wood. Ziricote ranges from medium brown to dark brown with greenish and purple tinge. and is a highly favored wood for furniture and cabinets.

There are many ziricote instruments and it is also popular for gunstocks. Ziricote is known for being a heavy wood with unique decay-resistant features.

American White Holly

Up to $40 a Board-Foot

Holly trees grow a beautiful white wood popular in fine carvings and furniture. The pale wood is very responsive to stain but has also been prized for it's glow in white piano keys and polished jewelry boxes.

While Holly grows across America, it grows slowly and into small trees. Slow board harvesting increases ther rarity and value of pale Holly cabinetry.

American Holly sells at upwards of $40 per board foot.

African Rosewood Bubinga

Up to $20 per Board-Foot

Bubinga is a popular wood for cabinetry and is sometimes called Rosewood substitute (compared to Brazilian Rosewood) though they are truly two very different species of tree.

What Bubinga has in common with Brazilian Rosewood is it's pink to purple hue when carved into boards. Bubinga is uniquely easy to harvest, growing in massive trunks and producing unusually large slabs of wood when sliced into boards. Large slabs of wood with natural edges are available for rustic tables and artwork.

Caribbean Mahogany

Up to $15 per Board-Foot

To highlight the difference in price between these top-dollar wood types and typical fine solid wood cabinetry, let's take a look at mahogany.

This tree known for it's elegant dark wood furniture grows in Caribbean regions and is sometimes called Cuban Mohogany. It is a typical wood for cabinetry considered at the upper end of luxury and expense.

As such, the cost of cabinetry boards of mahogany cost as much as $15 per board foot.

Designing a Luxury Kitchen in Your Home

Are you considering just how luxurious your kitchen can be? We can help you lay out a beautiful design for your new kitchen with just the right amount of luxury, whether that's exotic woods from across the world or an expresso machine built into the countertop. Contact us today to consult on your luxury kitchen designs.