From ordinary to a notch up

While building our home, we had maple post and rails installed with a natural finish. On my constant search to bring the house up a notch, incorporating a different wood into the railing was the solution. We choose cherry wood since there was a cherry mantel in the great room just beyond. The process involved inserting 1/4" inlays into the recessed panels. Then sanding and finishing with a coat of satin polyurethane. The beauty of natural cherry is that as it ages it darkens to a deep brownish red. This was a nice contrast from the light maple. This is the before.

Before the inlays



This is the after the inlays.