Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

If you've had experience with both, does the wood wear better than the white colored wood Kitchen Cabinets?

I am in love with the style of the White Kitchen, but have always had wood, and I know it wears well. I am having second thoughts about our new kitchen cabinet color, as I am imagining that we'll be able to see dings, dents, spots & stains more, making it dingy before a wood one would.

Like wood would look worn & lived in a more natural way, while White in a few years may look old & ratty.

What do you think?

Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

Itcomes down to personal prefernece I think. I had a white one in my old house I did start to see a small amount of wear after a few years. I thought the kitchen looked really nice, and I think really helped sell the house.

in the new house we put a wood one in, I like it better. I felt it was more luxurious feeling as it seemed like every other white kitchen I saw was formica, not painted. The real white trend seemed to start big a few years ago in some parts of the country.

pick what you like and what you'll be happy with. I think wood might wear better, but if you always wanted white, get that and get some touch up paint from the manufactuerer

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

I love country white kitchens - so much more our style. The house we bought has a brand new cherry kitchen that most people would kill for, but it's not us so were not changing it any time soon, but I do think that white cabinets just need a little more maintenance to keep them clean, but nothing major.

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

Posted by Kitten1929

I love country white kitchens - so much more our style. The house we bought has a brand new cherry kitchen that most people would kill for, but it's not us so were not changing it any time soon, but I do think that white cabinets just need a little more maintenance to keep them clean, but nothing major.

Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

i'm picturing the kids ramming toys, and stuff into the cabinets, seeing the dents & rips on the white.

thinking the dents on a more natural wood color will look more "charming" than dents on white.

and i'm not such a great house-keeper :|

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

We have white cabinets and they're no more maintenance than any other cabinets we've ever had. I love them!

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

we have cream cabinets and 3 kids under 8 and have had no problems in the year and a half we have them. I wipe them down just like when I had wooden colored ones.

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

we just redid our kitchen in antique white cabinets and I absolutely love it. I do wipe them down every so often because you can easily see where water or something may have dripped from the counter top but I still love them. It really is personal preference though. I prefer a cottage-y, country feel which is why these were my top choice. DH was leaning more towards wood but is really happy we went with the antique white now that it's all done.

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

I DEFINITELY prefer the white cabinets to wood- we are re-doing our kitchen and are going with wood though.

We have three kids and I am just too afraid of the nicks, dents and stains.....

ETA: my understanding is that the white cabinets are painted- so the lady in home depot and another guy who works at a cabinet store told me they too felt they might not hold up as much.....

I'm disappointed- we have wood floors in our kitchen and I thought white cabinets against then would be so nice!

Message edited 8/12/2013 2:34:29 PM.

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

Pro's and Con's of each.

Wood (cherry or darker) show dings and scratches much more easily then white cabinets would.
However, white cabinets show dirt and finger prints much more easier then the "wood" colors.

In the end, I'd go with what you like.

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

we have white painted wood cabinets and i love them!!! Savannah line of American woodmark

I haven't noticed that the white shows anything more than my old cabinets...i wipe the cabinets down near the cooktop anyways.

Re: Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

my main cabinets are a light maple, my island is handpainted white.

Kitchen Cabinets: White or wood?

We just put in white cabinets- actually they are not pure white but more of a stain. The wood grain is slightly visible from up close. They are from Ikea- Ramsjo White. We haven't had them long so I can't speak to how well they hold up over time. But they do clean up really easily. I love them.