I'm going with wood painted white. I don't like the thermofoil stuff. People seem to worry about the finish wearing over time, but I'm not concerned. I had white painted wood in the old kitchen, and the paint held up fine...the cabinets themselves, not so much.

Melamine or Thermofoil?

Melamine are usually slab and you can see the seams where the edges meet.

These beauties were melamine:

My Mom upgraded to Thermofoil (also known as a High Pressure Laminate (HPL), Rigid Thermal Foil (RTF)) in her new kitchen:

Thermo has its pros and cons and is done better by some manufacturers than others. I will say the concern about a plastic appearance is one that also extends to a lot of lacquer finishes (good thermo comes in a variety of sheens just like paint - and lacquer). Thermo like frameless construction is a bit more accepted in the Canadian marketplace and has less stigma attached to it. Low sheen paint\lacquer finishes are a higher end finish in NA. Good Luck!

Here are my old cabinets with new painted wood doors in my not quite finished diy kitchen.

I love, love, love, white cabinets. I have had Brazillian
cherry, bleached maple, honey oak, redish oak or maple
(can't remember the first cabs) and dark deep walnut. I
still love white. My cabs are those tacky thermofoil. I
would prefer a better quality wood painted white. But at
least they are white or really a creamy white.
White or creamy white gives off a clean fresh feeling.
White can be soft, warm. bright and white goes with any
color. You can turn your white kitchen into a cottage
country style, traditional, farmhouse, french, old world,
modern,... the possibiities.

Here is a picture of my own but please know the counters
are changing next month and the floors are being redone
to a slightly darker color. A work in progress.

{{!gwi}}

And here are my dream kitchens.....Photos from google that I have been searching for ideas. All public from the web.
If you see your kitch below please know I adore it.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

boxerpups - do you know what site you found the "love came quickly" photo at? I love that floor!

We have thermofoil at our beach house because we believed it would hold up better with the salt air and all the kid traffic. We have white wood painted cabs at our town home. The wood cabs are more warm in feel and creamier compared to the thermofoil. The thermofoil is holding up well. We paired the thermofoil with yellowish tile countertops and red accents that warm up the kitchen. I also know we spent less on the thermofoil. Good luck!

twogirlsbigtrouble: the 'love' kitchen is from the Swedish cabinet designers Kvänum Kok. It's from their Broby Pearl Green kitchen photos:

Here is a link that might be useful: Broby Pearl Green cabinets

Hi Twogirlsbigtrouble,

It was on a flick photo link. But it is also at
Bloomacious page 10.
Great ideas on this site. I wish I could
afford their work. This kitchen reminds me
of a horse farm house in Virginia.
Lovely

http://www.bloomacious.com/bloomacious/interiors/page/10/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23391235@N02/3178754384/

Thanks to all those who replied! Boxerpups, your kitchen has a fresh, airy feel it seems. Look forward to seeing the changes you make. I love white cabs with stainless steel appliances.

Maybe I could satisfy my small craving for white cabs by having a white vanity in the main bath.

Has anyone tried a brown/dark brown and plum color scheme with white cabs? I somehow got this color scheme in my head this weekend (for my main bath) and then started wondering what color cabs would work best with that...I am about to go slowly insane trying to decide on color schemes for the new house....LOL

Thanks again ladies!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Straycat,

Before renos we had dark plum/eggplant walls with dark wood furniture (in dining room) which opened onto kitchen with white cabinets. I had faux painted the floor to look like white tiles with plum inserts (was only supposed to be for a couple of years until we got hardwood- well- it took 12 years...)

I have a couple of bad photos of old DR that if you could place side by side, it would give you an idea...(sorry about the mess- old kitchen/DR was always cluttered)

Here is a link of creamy white cabinets with a brown antique granite. Beautiful!
It was here on our very Garden Kitchen forum.
Posted by chmpgntst on Mon, Nov 12, 07 at 20:43

{{!gwi}}

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/gal1120432823701.html

I am interested in anyone who has had experience with Thermofoil in white. Does it look/feel tacky or cheap? Or is it really a good substitute for painted white cabinets? Any recommendations on thermofoil vs. painted MDF vs. painted wood? I want to be cost effective, but not have buyer's remorse when it looks too "cheap"!

Hi dottyh,

I have thermofoil white by Yorktowne.
They are 13 years old and in the process of our
kitchen
reno we chose to keep them. We repainted them a creamy
softer white color. They were in great condition just
needed to be cleaned up. Painting over thermofoil is not
recommended.

Do I like Thermofoil? Not really. If I had the money
I would have replaced all the cabinets with solid
wood. Painted white of course. Thermofoil is a great
simple product but it makes me think of track housing.
Standard in every way. Boring. If you are going for
function and not beauty you might find this type of
cabinet great. Adding some details to the thermofoil
cabinets can dress them up.

It really comes down to what makes you happy. For me in
my reno saving money was a bigger priority making me
happy then shelling out $20,000. for new wood cabinets.

If you get a chance I would go to various kitchen design
stores or Home Depot or Lowes to look at all the options.
Feel the wood or themofoil. Close, open doors, drawers,
and discover what you like. In my kitchen cabinet search
I found that some of the wood cabinets were not wood
all around and in fact seemed an inferior quality to
what I already had. Getting the better cabinets was
going to cost me. I believe but could be wrong that
cabinets are at least 50% of the cost of a kitchen
renovation. It might be more. I am learning as I read
on GW.

Best of luck.
~boxerpups