9 Outdated Wood Finishes You Should Never Use In The Bathroom

It's no secret that a wood finish can make or break a room. When executed well, a tasteful wood stain can bring a room together and effortlessly be incorporated into your home's interior design. But choosing a fussy or tacky wood finish can harsh your home's ambiance and appear distracting or dated. Interior design trends have evolved over the years, and some styles of cabinetry that once were considered chic are now viewed as cliché or out of touch. If you feel like wood finishes are dating your home, it may be time to update the look. 

While it may be tempting to replicate the popular tried and true trends from years past, updating your bathroom's wood finishes can create a more modern, refined look. Swapping out loud or dark wood stains from pervious decades with fresher, more up-to-date cabinetry can go a long way. Here are nine outdated wood finishes you might want to avoid when renovating your bathroom if you want to keep up with interior design trends and make the most of your space. 

Cherry wood is one finish that interior design experts are tired of seeing in modern homes. While in the past, the dark red stain was considered sophisticated, the trend has long since passed and can now read as gaudy. There are ways to style cherry wood finish to look more subtle and laid back, but when used with lighter wall colors or busy tiling, the contrast can be a little too striking and disjointed. 

While in previous years, faux antique wood finishes were thought to bring a sort of historical charm to a home's design, some think this distressed trend isn't fooling anybody. The wear and tear aesthetic of fake antique finishes can make your bathroom look overly busy and scuffed up. Bathrooms can serve as a sort of sanctuary where you go to get clean and reset, but outdated rustic cabinets can draw away for that experience. 

Let's be honest, there is nothing exciting about plain white shelves or cabinetry. White wood finishes are commonly used in bathroom designs to exude a sleek or clean aesthetic, but unless you pair them with a bold paint color or vibrant tiling, they're pretty uninteresting and dull. This is why newer, rich color trends are set to dethrone white cabinets in modern interior designs. To give your bathroom more personality or character, go for a more exciting solid color to add contrast. 

Many designers consider mahogany to be an elegant wood stain with timeless appeal, but it may be better suited for other spaces in the home besides your bathroom. An intense mahogany stain can date your home and create too formal of an atmosphere in small bathrooms. While the warm hues and dark wood could work well in dining rooms or reading nooks, lighter, more natural-looking wood can create a more welcoming environment for a long soak in the tub. 

People were buzzing about dark, espresso-hued finishes during the early aughts, but they've had their time in the spotlight, and interior design trends have since moved on. The almost black tint has a tendency to hide the details and intricacies of natural wood and can make a room feel heavier. Modern design trends favor lighter, more airy bathrooms, and dark espresso wood finishes might actually create the opposite effect. Choosing a less intense finish can soften the contrast and make your bathroom feel more harmonious. 

While orange-tinted maple finishes were once all the rage, they've overstayed their welcome. The excessively warm undertones can feel more distracting than welcoming and inviting, especially in smaller bathrooms. Choosing a less aggressive, more natural-looking wood stain can achieve a much more seamless look. When in doubt, it's better to choose a more subtle, understated finish that can stand the test of time. 

Gray is another finish that can appear underwhelming and boring in bathrooms, especially when paired with other plain neutrals. One of the mistakes everyone makes when choosing gray cabinets is not choosing the correct shade. While warmer "greige" shades can seem a bit more approachable, stark, cool-toned grays can make bathrooms feel more sterile than relaxing. Too many gray finishes in a bathroom can suck the life out of the room's design. 

A glazed finish can make the details of wood stand out and add a touch of color, complexity, and depth to your cabinets. But they can lack longevity, so some experts recommend forgoing glazes all together. Over time, a once glossy, sheer glazed finish can turn yellow and make your bathroom look more aged than refined. Removing or refinishing a glazed surface can be costly and a headache, so it may be best to skip the glaze and go for a finish that will hold up better over time. 

Finally, honey oak is another wood finish that can make your bathroom look like it's stuck in the 1980s. The days of honey oak cabinets being trendy have long passed, and the cloyingly warm undertones will clash with sleek, modern design. A neutral wood finish that's less artificial in color is a better option if you're going for a more effortless and up-to-date ambiance.