Hi gang,
For my next project, I need to build a big executive style office desk. I'm planning on making the majority of the desk out of solid cherry. To give the desk a little pizazz, I wanted to use some figured wood for the panels (bookmatched?) and for the drawer fronts.

My initial thought was to use curly cherry, but I've been looking at pics on the internet and most of the stuff I'm seeing doesn't look like it has a huge ammount of curl to it, so I'm wondering if it's even going to stand out enough, to justify the cost. Even some of the private stock material from http://www.curlymaple.com/pvtstk/ps808c.jpg (although it looks nice) I just don't know if it will stand out enough against all of the other cherry, especially when you're approaching $30/foot.

And although I hate to admit it, I'm going to stain/dye the desk. I want a brownish/reddish color, similar to the Lockwood water-based dye middle color sample, on pg 114 of the latest FWW magazine. So I'm even wondering, if you guys suggest to go with some sort of figured maple, can I match the cherry and maple when dyed? I want the desk to have a uniform color.

Thanks in advance for any tips you may have.

Aaron