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Would prefer lighter colour - is maple the one to go for?
Maple is a lovely hardwearing timber, with awesome grain details. However dont overlook beech, that can have some nice colours and grain. Dont forget the oil will slightly darken it, but will bring out grain detail.
Marcel.
Ours is beech, really nice and matches the floor (also solid Beech):
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3202/5759641316_4d06844b93_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3202/5759641316_4d06844b93_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/9LXEGC ]Kitchen[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people// ]brf[/url], on Flickr
You could also look at ash if you're looking for something a bit different, grain patterns are similar(ish) to oak, but it's a creamier colour.
If I wanted a light coloured worktop, I'd go with oak and lime it or bleach it, and find an oil that wouldn't colour it down too much when applied. Beech and maple (while being hard wearing) are a bit passé these days with iroko, walnut and oak being the more popular choices.
What DD said. Oak doesn't need to be dark and looks nice with some light oil. It is pretty personal though. I'm not a fan of beech, to me it looks a bit dated these days.
Osmo top oil on our oak worktop is pretty light.
Zebrano. Just fitted one for a customer - beautiful grain amazing when oiled but accept not as light as ash and oak etc.
Zebrano?? As beautiful as it is, I'm gonna take a punt and say it's probably not what the OP is looking for... 🙂
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Iroko is listed as a vulnerable species due to over harvesting.