Once the layout was finalized, it was time to choose wood and finishes. We took a drive to the cabinet builder's shop and looked at Alder, Cherry, Poplar and several other species, but ended up choosing this Rustic Hickory. The cabinet builder had a greyish green stain on hand, so for giggles, we tried some on a small piece of this wood to see how it looked. 'Wow' would be an understatement. It looked like it would complement the quartzite slabs we'd purchased and go well with the new flooring we'd chosen.