White kitchen cabinets: yay or nay?

[artvandalay]

We are replacing our kitchen cabinets. I've always liked the look of white kitchen cabinets. Our kitchen has wood floors. Our current cabinets are oak and they look a little off with our wood floors (which are not oak).

Also, our kitchen isn't as bright as I'd like. I wish we had a larger window. So I think white cabinets might make for a brighter kitchen.

Also do you think they would be hard to keep clean? Any other thoughts/opinions? Should I stick to just regular wood cabinets even though I have wood floors?

[Melaine]

I know that it depends on the finish and/or paint, but I would kill to magically change my white cabinets to wood finish of any kind. They always look dirty and dingy and worn no matter what and I think wood would hide it much better.

[crl]

I've changed wood cabinets to white ones in both of my kitchen remodels to date (as well as having them in various rentals). I love white cabinets! I think they look classic and brighten a kitchen immeasurably. I also like how they look with white appliances. I don't find them all that hard to keep clean and I do cook on a regular basis and am not a great housekeeper.

If I ever do another kitchen remodel I will definitely consider white again.

Catherine

[happymom]

I think white wood cabinets are bright and beautiful. Sounds like they would be perfect in your kitchen. You probably have to wipe them down from time to time, but I do that with my wood cabinets anyways. I say go for it!

[lowrioh]

I had the White Adel Ikea cabinets in my old house and loved, loved, loved them.
We have older white cabinets in this new house and they are eh.
My friend has the Ikea LIDINGÖ and they look fabulous.

[erosenst]

We have them...and I like them. Mostly.

Good news is that do look crisp (?) and bright. It also helps our house feel a little less traditional than wood cabinets with wood floors would look.

BUT:

* On really bright sunny days, I always find dirty spots that I've missed - not a huge deal, but kinda constant. I have a few friends that say the same, and all of us are pretty good about keeping things clean usually.

* We built our house, and the finish on the cabinets isn't right. We had most of them redone once (at their cost) and it's better...but still chips much more easily than it should. I'm not sure how much 'normal' ones would, but in high use areas like a pullout trash drawer I'm guessing it would be an issue. Make sure to get touchup paint if you can.

[wellyes]

White from the start is nice.
Wood cabinets painted white -- no matter how carefully scraped and sanded and layered -- are more challenging.

[Melaine]

Wood cabinets painted white -- no matter how carefully scraped and sanded and layered -- are more challenging.

I think that may be our issue. Our cabinets are old and need to be re-painted desperately.

[artvandalay]

I also forgot to add: We have stainless steel appliances and white trim in the kitchen

[artvandalay]

I had the White Adel Ikea cabinets in my old house and loved, loved, loved them.
We have older white cabinets in this new house and they are eh.
My friend has the Ikea LIDINGÖ and they look fabulous.

oh good...we may look into Ikea... glad you like them!