Birch is lovely. It is a hardwood, though many people are confused and say it is a softwood. It has a tight grain. There is both yellow and white birch, the things I said are true for both. It can be difficult to stain and to not look splothcy, since you are not DIY this is not a concern for you. Yellow birch is more likely to take on a yellow orange hue with aging and UV exposure.

We used Bertch Legacy cabinetry in a condo that we previously owned. The cabinet wood was birtch. They did not have any glaze on them and as I recall they were a natural finish. We were pleased with the quality of the cabinets. My daughter and her roommates lived there. When we sold the condo 5 years later, the cabinets where still as good as new. Here are a couple slightly distorted pictures from the realtors listing.

We are using stained birch in our kitchen. We compared maple and birch and preferred the way birch took a stain. Maple was muddled and blotchy looking to us.

Thanks so much for your responses, and for the great pictures! That really helps. I felt the same way about some of the maple stains, and they were a bit orangey for the room we're doing - though I do love the maple in one of my bathrooms. It's good to hear this is a good wood for cabinetry, and the vote of confidence for the cabinet company as well.

Natural red birch is gorgeous. It's what I have in my kitchen but I think it's considered a premium wood and more expensive than other birch.

Weissman, I love natural red birch - was one of my favorites, but the regular with the brown glaze does work better with my other pieces. But I loved the grain, so beautiful!