It's almost Valentine's Day, the most stupidly expensive overhyped day of the year. Well just between you and me, I don't need roses or fancy chocolates or build-a-bears in pink tutus to get me all hot and bothered. I need wood. Big strong wood. And I'm not talking cherry cabinets and glossy glazed finishes, here. I'm talking 'bout this:

Shut your mouth!

Or actually, please don't. Because we need to discuss the viagrability of kitchen wood.

Everything about this kitchen says elegant, thoughtful, and practical. Probably those aren't the precise words that come to mind when you want to get the sex on, but maybe "tactile" moves us closer to that end. These kitchens just seem like they would feel good.

To cook in.

I'm kind of obsessed. I like wood with white counters, I like wood with black counters. I even like wood with wood counters. I would like wood in my kitchen.

But I'm more than a little afraid it cannot be. I investigated the gel stain some of you suggested and it appears to kind of sit on the surface of wood, sort of like transparent paint. I don't know how I feel about that. Maybe I'm totally delusional about the quality/style of my cabinets, but what I reallllly want is a bare, matte finish -- something that looks more like old wood and less like plastic impregnated woodishness.

This is super gorge. Someday our floors might even look like this. Of course those cabinets are repurposed from an Edwardian era storefront so it's not like this can ever happen in our kitchen. Except maybe the hardware.

Sorry about the dumb picture, but I think this cabinet situation is about the best we could hope for.

What I need to know is, should I even go down this road? Is it worth it? Is gel stain the only viable option or should I actually take on the possibly sissyphean strip/stain/wax triumvirate?

I love the idea of durable, touchable, delicious wood, but am I headed for heartbreak? Is this going to triple our work load only to look crappy with our dumb cabinets?