Mine are wood painted white the same as the exteriors. If your exteriors are stained white oak, you could leave the interiors natural on the cabinets with the solid doors, and stained like the exteriors in the ones with the glass doors.

Mine are a light color (natural stained) wood, it kind of looks like maple to me, maybe ash?. I have yellow painted cabinets around my perimeter and nutmeg stained cherry on my fridge/pantry wall and island.

I love my melamine interiors , easy to clean look good

You do not want solid wood shelves in your cabinets unless you want to cover them with liner paper to protect from moisture.

Our cabinets were all custom allowing us to make them exactly what we wanted. On the back wall (stove area) we have white cabinets with walnut stained interiors on the lowers which are all drawers, the uppers have glass and are white inside. The bottoms of the uppers with glass are also white I really dislike seeing unfinished bottoms of the uppers. Our island is stained black with interiors in the walnut. It was a bit of an up charge we think they are beautiful and have no regrets.

Melamine contains formaldehyde, if that's the kind of poison you wan in your kitchen then knock yourself out but I wouldn't let it anywhere near the things I eat off of. Plain finished maple ftw

Laminate is the better product. Plenty of people live with laminate counters, eat off of Corelle dishes, and travel to work in vehicles with laminate trimmed interiors, and then sit at laminate desks for 10 hours a day.

I have a bit of both. My lowers are all white melamine on the inside, because I wanted the most durable, water-resistant finish in my lowers (especially under sinks). I totally agree with Sophie's comments about melamine. Drawers are light-colored birch plywood. My uppers are exactly the same on the inside as on the outside because I aesthetically prefer the look of "real" wood cabinets and don't expose my uppers to as much moisture.

I love the idea of glass doors with a splash of color inside the cabinets. I've seen some lovely examples on this site (though when I now try to search, I'm overwhelmed by thousands of useless photos instead of the gems I'm searching for).

As I posted, I can specify exactly what I want.

When I broached the subject of melamine, I was advised that it might be more susceptible to water damage because even a small disruption in the surface could cause it to be damaged from water.

My designer suggested having the interior painted - perhaps a blue that would pick up other colors in the kitchen. The paint would be done at the shop and be essentially the same type of finish as a painted door would have - i.e. be fairly resilient. I could then have the option of using clear liners in those shelves or drawers that might have some amount of moisture from plates or glasses that might be damp when put in.

I would think paint behind glass would be jarring so perhaps stained to match the exterior would make the most aesthetic sense. Durability would be less of an issue since I would be using those for display for the most part.

Aesthetically I am less concerned with the lower cabinets although the sink cabinet would be facing more potential issues from moisture as well as probably be subject to more potential issues from what is stored there.

The roll outs will be light maple.

Glass-front cabinets generally include a finished interior to match the exterior of the cabinets.

Wood effect Laminate on the inside a lot easier to clean

On the point about melamine and formaldehyde, I would just point out that, while formaldehyde is a poison, you can't escape its presence because the human body produces it. You can safely eat off melamine dishes, so its overkill to worry about cabinetry. Just dont put your melamine dishes (or cabinets) in the microwave.

Look at Wilsonart’s and Formica’s website for a hundred choices in a laminate color if you want color. Add Abet Laminati and Pionite/Nevamar if you want total overwhelm.

Painted interiors do not wear well. Stained interiors do not stand up well to damp coffee cups from the DW being slid across their surface.

I will always choose a laminate interior for cabinets of any kind. Many cabinet manufacturers coordinate exterior stains with laminate colors do that you can’t even tell the difference.

All laminates. All worthy of being a feature, actually. Not just an accent.

I am planning on laminate in most and conversion varnish matched to the interior laminate on others.

Is formica applied as a veneer to interiors in the same way that melamine would be?

Formica is melamine is laminate. Vacuum press application. Standard cabinet making techniques.

Laminate is produced at a higher pressure than cabinet melamine but they are the same substance.

I was initially wary of the wood grain melamine inside my Shiloh cabinets. But I'm now quite used to them and they are very easy to keep clean. The uppers with glass doors have matching color inside and look very nice.

The insides on the glass fronted cabinets should match the exterior finish so it doesn't look like you replaced your doors. (It's just more furniturey.)

If you paint the insides of your cabinets (the non-glass ones), keep in mind that a dark color will be...dark. It is a good place to be practical.

Also, don't get all spooked about the terrible things that can happen to wood. Nobody is harder on things than I am and my walnut plywood shelves are holding up just dandy. I've never had nasty goop in upper cabinets in my life except where the oils live, and I know how to handle that, as do you. If you've never worn out your shelves before, don't think you'll start now.

And lastly and unrelated but somehow part of the discussion, Corelle is ceramic, not plastic. :)

Fori - not sure where corelle got into the conversation, but actually, I believe it's glass, not ceramic. And it's completely different from melamine dishware, which is plastic.

"When I broached the subject of melamine, I was advised that it might be more susceptible to water damage because even a small disruption in the surface could cause it to be damaged from water."

This is true of any substance. If the finish is "disrupted", water can get into the wood/ply/MDF/particleboard underneath, and that is bad. However, melamine is very unlikely to get "disrupted", especially relative to thin veneer/laminate or any finish on actual wood (e.g., lacquer, varnish, poly, etc.). See Sophie's comments about the durability of melamine, above.

Thanks all for the input which was very helpful in terms of clarifying what to do

The glass doors will have glass shelves and stained wood interiors to match the exterior. These cabinets have lights for they are principally for display as they are in the dining area

The cabinet for the sink will be fully lined with laminate/formica

The shelves in cabinets will be clad in formica/laminate and the interior of the boxes will be painted

The rollouts and actual drawers are a light colored wood - I think that is fairly standard in all the cabinetry I've seen.

I will be painting the interior a color - probably tealish blue - that will pick up the color of the tile I am using and the formica/laminate will match the interior paint color.

Any additional thoughts on my configuration welcome.

Thanks