It’s not a big surprise that our cabinets are made in China, but where the wood comes from may actually surprise people.  With the except of the bamboo cabinet lines, the majority of the cabinets that we manufacture have doors and face frames that are made of either Maple or Oak.  But where does this Maple and Oak come from?  Most of it doesn’t even come from China anymore.

In recent years the Chinese government has put increasing tighter restrictions on the clearing of Oak and Maple trees.   With these tighter restrictions, the manufacturers have been working with Russian land owners that are right on the border of China (and whose land has the same quality of oak and maple) to continue to supply the demand for the wood used in furniture and cabinetry.  While most of our maple lines do come from these forests…. would you be surprised to know that some of our cabinet lines use wood from the other side of the planet from China?  Believe it or not, our Marquis Cinnamon, Tuscany, Brandywine, and Harvest Maple cabinet lines actually are made from American Maple… yep, maple that is grown in the United States.  Why?  Because American maple is a softer maple and handles stain differently.  If you look at the grain pattern and finish on the Marquis, it is significantly different than say the Ginger Maple or Sunset.

So while our cabinets may not be made in the USA, some of the wood actually comes from here.  This is a little known fact about our cabinets that make them different.  The challenge for us, and other manufacturers in the coming years is how to supply the same all-wood, high quality products without the cost becoming too high and without damaging the growth of the forests. This is why conservation, new technologies, and newly used materials like bamboo are going to have an impact down the road.