Hardwood
White Oak
The workhorse. Hard, stable, takes stain evenly, and looks right in both a 1920s bungalow and a new build.
White oak is the wood on most of the stairs and floors on this site. It is hard enough to take decades of foot traffic, it moves less with humidity than red oak or maple, and its closed grain means it does not soak up spills the way red oak does. Rift-sawn or quartersawn white oak shows a straight, tight grain that reads modern; plain-sawn shows the familiar cathedral figure.
In Colorado, the enemy is dry air. Winter humidity inside a heated house can drop below 20 percent, and every board shrinks. White oak shrinks less than most domestic hardwoods, and when it is acclimated in the house for a week before install and finished on all faces, gaps stay small.
Where it shows up in Luke’s work: the curved staircase, stair treads and railings, wine racking, slat walls, mantels, and as the flooring that cabinetry has to sit level on. It takes a natural matte finish beautifully and does not yellow the way it did with old oil-based finishes.
When to choose something else: if you want a dark, chocolate tone without stain, walnut. If it will be painted, maple or poplar. If it lives outside, cedar.
Care
Keep indoor humidity between 30 and 45 percent in winter if you can. Wipe spills promptly. Refinish floors and treads every 10 to 15 years; a matte water-based finish can be recoated without sanding to bare wood.