Cherry is classic. In fact, I don’t think I’ve every heard anyone every say they didn’t like their cherry cabinets. One of the difficult children, but one you can’t help but love. It’s a softer wood with extremely pretty grain and of course that streak of sap wood that you will never be able to control. You can’t predict where it’s going to show up, if it shows up at all. I have cherry in my kitchen with a light brown stain and I love them. I really love them. It’s ok to mute the sap wood but you never want it to go away, otherwise it wouldn’t be cherry. And there would be less of it to love.