"We are building a new home that will be our last (next stop will be the old folks home)."

Design space for an in-home caretaker.

In Canada, just 4.5% of over 65s live in long term care facilities; 2.5% in the US. Assisted living/retirement homes not included. I'm now past the average lifespan and hoping to finish this sentenc.....

Our stained cabinets are knotty alder and the trash pull out is already showing wear in the stain (2.5 years). We chose a dark stain so that's part of the problem. But our last house had painted white cabinets and the same thing happened to the trash drawer. So I say get what you want.

Very interesting point by Minardi. I've never looked at it that way before.

We had cherry cabinets for 27 years and renovated the kitchen just because. The cabinets looked amazing and are in a friend's kitchen now. Our painted cabinets are 10 years old and look beautiful, with some chips here and there, because I am fastidious and take very good care of my things. I like the contrast between the painted cabinets and the brown oak floor.

Interestingly, my master bathroom is 15 years old with painted vanity cabinets. My vanity looks perfect. My husband's vanity is another story. Lots of water damage and paint chips. So yes, do what you want.

Put a clear plastic channel over doors to the trash cabinet, and sink cabinets, and you have eliminated 90% of the problems of wear and tear. Tugaizi 12 Pcs Rigid Vinyl Clear Plastic Slip On Cabinet Door Protector Plastic Edge Guard for Protecting Cabinet Bar Stool Foot Rails Chair Rung from Chipping Suit for Thickness Less Than 3/4” - Amazon.com

Thanks everyone for their thoughts. @Mark Bischak, you are correct and we have designed the house to age in place with separate living quarters for help (if there is any money left over for help, after paying for the house and these lovely interest rates.

We have friends who have just been in their new home a year and they mentioned the same thing with their painted cabinet pull out for the garbage. I do like the idea of "getting what I want". Thanks again.

I have designed three assisted living facilities and even resided in one of them for two months. As nice as they are, there is no place like home.

I’m not an expert in coatings, so if someone more knowledgeable is and says the coatings are equivalent, perhaps they are. In my experience stained cabinets can take use and show very little evidence of it. Painted finishes, even factory painted finishes, cannot. If you love the look of painted cabinets absolutely get them anyway, but if you are open to it, consider painted uppers over stained lowers. The look is beautiful, and it keeps the painted surfaces up higher, where they will be treated more gently.

My experience....

My old Kitchen had painted cabinets and the paint started chipping a few years in. We had them 13 years and they looked beat-up by the time we remodeled.

Our "new" Kitchen is now 16 years old with stained cherry wood cabinets and they still look great. (I've even had people think the Kitchen is new b/c the cabinets look so good.) We're not hard or easy on cabinets -- I'd say we're "average". Yes, there are a couple of nicks here & there, but there aren't any paint chips that expand over time. Think about it...once a chip in paint occurs, the chip can get bigger as the paint around the perimeter of the original chip starts flaking/chipping away as well.

And, as mentioned above, the nicks are not as noticeable as wood/material under the paint would be (unless the paint is the same color as the wood).

I'll never have painted cabinets again!

We are in a similar spot. It isn’t an option I prefer, but I did note that the cabinet companies will pre-distress cabinets for customers, presumably in part so that wear and tear blends in.

It depends on the finish. Nowadays there are choices that the finish won’t chip and they don’t have seams!

I have Dura Supreme and yes they chip a little. Nothing drastic after 15 years. I happen to see this brand in a showroom and the finish is different now.

We also helped our DD out in a kitchen. We lucked out. Showroom was around the corner.

Finish is perfect, no seams. It's now going on 7 years.

Do some research and look in the showrooms.

It's all personal.

I happen to like hardwood in my kitchen but don’t like the look hardwood with wood cabinets.

Alder is a softwood with Janka hardness of590. Oak is 1360. European Oak q. robur is 1120. You can find many sources for European Oak engineered flooring. It's being produced in Asia. Cabinets are more difficult to find in the US. Ikea has Vendamn.