I have never used poplar for anything always thinking it was just too soft. I am now thinking of adding a 6' section of cabs in my kitchen that will be painted with a sand through. My understanding is that poplar takes paint well due to its closed grain and I have about 200 board feet of poplar that I ended up with at a great price, so I am wondering if using it is a good idea or a bad one. On the Janka scale it is a bit softer than alder, which I have always warned people about using.
What are your thoughts on using poplar in a kitchen where it will take a little bit of abuse? These cabs will be located away from most of the activity that goes on in a kitchen, but still it will be in the kitchen. We have young grandkids and likely will have more over the coming years.
The other option is to just use hard maple which is what I would use without question if I didn't have all this poplar sitting around.