Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Aug 23, 2010 10:03 am I am really torn on my kitchen cupboards. I have had a thing for white on white kitchens for some time (our current home that we built has birch laminate cupboards and black granite looking laminate benchtops, and I think it looks a little dated ). My DH thinks I'm crazy going for white cupboards with two kids (3 and 10 months). I was hoping since there are lots of white kitchens in here to get some feedback: - what finish are your cupboards - is gloss or matt finish easier to maintain? - how do you find your white cupboards with kids? If we don't go white I was either going a darker timber laminate or stipple seal, either option with ice snow caesarstone. Would they be a more practical option? I'm not the most organised Mum out there but I hate dirty cupboards!! I don't want to have to clean them every day, but am happy to wipe over when they need it. I wipe over my cupboards now probably weekly. Emma Building on an acre at Teviot Downs, Brisbane Building through Hallmark - Flair 253 with a few changes Mother of two gorgeous girls Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37178 Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 2Aug 23, 2010 10:17 am Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hi emlet01, We have a white poly gloss kitchen. 2 kids under 11. They cupboards are so easy to wipe over and keep clean in my opinion. I feel they always look fresh and clean BUT we have only been here 5 months ( 5 months already? gee). I don't need to wipe them any more than once a week unless there is a spill . Personally I am happy with our choice, but I think that the dark cupboards would be equally as lovely. I would be just as happy to have dark cupboards also. I don't think it matters too much as far as the kids are concerned, I guess you would wipe the cupboards, white or dark, the same. Go for what you really love and your cleaning will adjust to it, and the kids won't be that little for long but you will have those cupboards for a long time www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 3Aug 23, 2010 10:31 am Thank you!!! Everyone IRL has been cautioning me against white but there are so many white kitchens on here I thought I might get a better understanding/feedback from you guys. Another question - we have the option of routered doors (the ones with the square sections in them) or flat. We have the pattened ones now, but I didn't know if they are a bit out of date now? All the ones on here seem flat. Emma Building on an acre at Teviot Downs, Brisbane Building through Hallmark - Flair 253 with a few changes Mother of two gorgeous girls Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37178 Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 4Aug 23, 2010 11:13 am Personally I prefer a flat kitchen cupboard door. My friend has the routered doors and she says it is a pain to clean the grooves. Over time grease and airborne "stuff" filters through the air and will settle in the grooves. I just think it would be much easier to wipe over than have to get in to those damn grooves. If you prefer a modern look then I think a flat surfaced kitchen cupboard door would be preferrable but if you prefer a more traditional (can't think of another word to describe it, cottagey maybe? but you know what I mean) look then the routered door would be more suitable. There are plenty of kitchens to see on here so it will keep you busy for awhile and hopefully help you with your choice. www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 5Aug 23, 2010 11:20 am We have white on white, 2 Pac, high gloss and 2 kids under the age of 8. High gloss does not show the fingerprints as much as other finishes and the white helps in that regard too. Spills and other marks will show up more obviously but because they are so easy to see they are easy to clean. I'd rather clean food splatter than camouflage it. We have flat panels and no handles. Like others have said, easy to clean, I can wipe down the whole kitchen (22 drawers, 11 cabinet doors and pantry) in about 2 minutes. The flat panels and no handles are a far more modern look too IMHO. Would not hesitate to recommend while cabinetry but I would get something more camouflaging on the benchtop. In my experience, a white benchtop NEVER looks clean. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 6Aug 23, 2010 11:21 am White high gloss here and very easy to clean. I have no small children, just one messy husband and a 24yo son at home, they do more damage than any one small child could ever do I wish I was joking If there is ever a next time, I would have white high gloss again but maybe do another colour on the island. I like the flat look too. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 7Aug 23, 2010 11:38 am Hi Emlet, We have routered doors now and they are a bit of a pain to clean, to be honest. Nothing too difficult but still more work needed here if a spill occurs. We don't have them yet but we have designed the gloss white in our new kitchen. To break up the completely flat look, we have gone with a bevel around the edges so that the drawers and cupboards have a bit of depth, rather than the flat face. Just a personal choice. Here's a picture from the showroom to show what I mean. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Be interested in other opinions on these too. SK Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34120 Handover 23 Dec 11 Squatting 21 Dec 11 Fixed 12 Oct 11 Plastered 31 Aug 2011 Framed 7 June 2011 Site Start 7 Feb 2011 Land Titled 18 Jan 2010 Land Deposit 25 Jun 2009 Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 8Aug 23, 2010 11:58 am We renovated our kitchen and took out our 80's dated kitchen and put in a lovely white two pac gloss kitchen. To break it up a little I too had the bevel edge as Eskay has shown in the pictures above. Very, very easy to keep clean and I have three children (2 of them at the time were under the age of 3). I didn't find anything that didn't clean off easily, food spills, dirty hand prints and face/lick marks ... all wiped off with a damp cloth. I did have a dark benchtop which I won't get again as it drove me insane, I could see more marks/handprints on the dark surface than the light one. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/nic71/Home%20Renovations/kitchentwo.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/nic71/Home%20Renovations/kitchenthree.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/nic71/Home%20Renovations/kitchenone.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/nic71/Home%20Renovations/kitchenfour.jpg ~ trying to build our dream home by the sea ~ Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 9Aug 23, 2010 12:59 pm Hi rarygirl, was that a laminate benchtop or was it CS? Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34120 Handover 23 Dec 11 Squatting 21 Dec 11 Fixed 12 Oct 11 Plastered 31 Aug 2011 Framed 7 June 2011 Site Start 7 Feb 2011 Land Titled 18 Jan 2010 Land Deposit 25 Jun 2009 Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 10Aug 23, 2010 1:18 pm I have an 'almost' white (Alabaster) gloss 2 pac and I absolutely love it. I have 2 smallish kids (9 and almost 7) and it certainly doesn't take long to get the sticky marks off at all. I agree with Suh and reckon Husbands are the worst for making mess! He was dead against having a stark white kitchen, so we compromised and I chose an almost white kitchen with a warm off white that matches in with the splashback and wall colour. I also have the bevelled edge doors and CS Ice Snow. Love them both! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ That's the only pic I have at the moment, and I'm still in the middle of cleaning up all the icing sugar from 2 birthday parties on the weekend!! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 11Aug 23, 2010 1:20 pm Eskay40 Hi rarygirl, was that a laminate benchtop or was it CS? Only laminate ... I used all my budget up on the kitchen as it involved taking down a wall to double the size of the kitchen, so when it came to my benches my poor budget had a hissy fit at cs and would only accept laminate. ~ trying to build our dream home by the sea ~ Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 12Aug 23, 2010 1:34 pm Thanks Rarygirl, I'm going with Gobi Black stone for benchtops. I just love the black on white. Hoping it's not so bad on marks but, oh well. Stormy, love your kitchen and thanks for another look at bevelled doors and pot drawers. We're doing the same with one narrow and two deeper drawers with the handles nearer the top - love them more now I've seen yours. SK Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34120 Handover 23 Dec 11 Squatting 21 Dec 11 Fixed 12 Oct 11 Plastered 31 Aug 2011 Framed 7 June 2011 Site Start 7 Feb 2011 Land Titled 18 Jan 2010 Land Deposit 25 Jun 2009 Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 13Aug 23, 2010 1:57 pm I'm going to go against the grain here. I personally wouldn't have white even though I love how it looks. I haven't had a white kitchen myself, but have helped out with a friends home cleaning business and white kitchens were a PITA and always took that little longer to get looking really clean. I really did notice the difference when doing a number of kitchens a day, but if it was the only kitchen I was doing I'm not sure how much I'd notice that it took longer if that makes sense. If you love the look of white, I'd be doing something with just a very slight tinge to it (matching the rest of your selections) like Stormy's Alabaster. In my kitchen and laundry I have Rock Salt overheads and they are just that tiny bit more forgiving than white. White shows up everything I reckon. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 14Aug 23, 2010 2:09 pm joles and white kitchens were a PITA and always took that little longer to get looking really clean. . This is probably true because just about everything shows on white. But it sort of misses the point. Do you want a kitchen that looks clean or a kitchen that is clean? Because if you want a kitchen that is clean then white surfaces make that much easier because you can see the dirt. I hate the idea that as long as dirt is camouflaged it is OK. It's still dirty, you just can't see it. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 15Aug 23, 2010 2:16 pm Melrich joles and white kitchens were a PITA and always took that little longer to get looking really clean. . This is probably true because just about everything shows on white. But it sort of misses the point. Do you want a kitchen that looks clean or a kitchen that is clean? Because if you want a kitchen that is clean then white surfaces make that much easier because you can see the dirt. I hate the idea that as long as dirt is camouflaged it is OK. It's still dirty, you just can't see it. I was talking about things such as fingerprints etc that make things look dirty when they are not. I did my job properly when I cleaned other people's houses and my house is clean. My quote was looking really clean. Not getting really clean. Because even when a kitchen is clean, fingerprints and marks will make it look unclean even though it isn't. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 16Aug 23, 2010 3:14 pm I have flat white glossy cupboards in vinyl wrap and two kids aged 4 and 2. I wipe the cupboards down about once a week and find it really easy to keep clean. gloss is much easier to wipe down, and flat or bevelled much easier than with the grooved panels as themax said. My mum has the grooved panels in a vinyl wrap with a slight texture (ie not gloss) and heaps of bits of dirt get into the grains as well as the grooves so she has a double wammy! I have a whitish benchtop (CS Aurora Nova) and find the flecks are good for "looking" clean even when it isn't. sure I'd love a clean kitchen all the time but am not superwoman and happy to have a bit of camouflage help me out when visitors come over "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 17Aug 23, 2010 3:41 pm joles Melrich joles and white kitchens were a PITA and always took that little longer to get looking really clean. . This is probably true because just about everything shows on white. But it sort of misses the point. Do you want a kitchen that looks clean or a kitchen that is clean? Because if you want a kitchen that is clean then white surfaces make that much easier because you can see the dirt. I hate the idea that as long as dirt is camouflaged it is OK. It's still dirty, you just can't see it. I was talking about things such as fingerprints etc that make things look dirty when they are not. I did my job properly when I cleaned other people's houses and my house is clean. . In that case, white is the best color for disguising fingerprints. Dark colors show fingerprints and smudges far more than white sufaces, and matt finishes show them far more than gloss surfaces. Texture surfaces don't show them at all of course. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 18Aug 23, 2010 3:50 pm Melrich Texture surfaces don't show them at all of course. mmm I think this point might be debatable. but even if they don't show fingerprints the dirt still is harder to get off them than a flat glossy surface. IMHO "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 19Aug 24, 2010 8:49 am donuts Melrich Texture surfaces don't show them at all of course. mmm I think this point might be debatable. but even if they don't show fingerprints the dirt still is harder to get off them than a flat glossy surface. IMHO Yes that is true. I have to say, we put in white, high gloss 2 pac finish and my worry beforehand was cleaning. But we have found just the opposite. It does show fingermarks and smudges which are the things that build up really quickly and it is very easy to wipe down if something is spilt. We went with a speckled benctop because I do think pure white benchtops can be a PITA, everything shows on them. Re: Opinions on white cupboards please?! 20Aug 24, 2010 10:09 am Love love love our glossy white 2pak cupboards - very easy to wipe down. Previously in one of our rentals we put dark matt cupboards and they were a PITA to keep clean. Some things are worth waiting for. 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