I hired a woodworker to make custom cabinets throughout our home.  After 2.5 years the job was still only 1/4 complete so we parted ways.

I’ve now hired another cabinet maker to pick up where the first left off.  Unfortunately, the cabinetry the initial maker did finish was the larger, complex items – more monolithic furniture type built-ins.  A large refrigerator surround, a 12′ tall double-oven corner cabinet, and a large circular window seat are all complete.  If it were just door and drawer fronts, I’d throw it out and start over, but I’ve got a lot of cost into what’s there now.  

This work was completed over two years ago now and has turned a very golden-red-honey color.   

The remaining work to be done is the upper and lower cabinet wall boxes, drawer and door fronts.

The new maker has provided a sample door that seems quite a bit blacker than what I recall the original cabinets looking like when they were first made.  And of course, in terms of color, the new darker walnut sample is nothing at all like the 2 year old walnut of the existing cabinets.    

I suspect there may be a difference in the walnut variety, but I don’t know for sure whether the original cabinet maker used walnut, black walnut, or claro.  

I actually wouldn’t care, except for not knowing what I can expect things to look like a year down the road.  With the radical difference in color, the room is going to look a bit odd for a while.  I’m hoping the new walnut will age to match the settled color of the original walnut.

So my question is, even if the varieties are different, do all walnuts mature to a similar golden-red-honey color?