Real wood or wood-look veneered cabinets?

8 years ago

We're just starting to shop for kitchen cabinets. I love the look of real wood veneered flat slab doors. We went with Semihandmade flat sawn walnut doors over Ikea cabinets in our master bath. The walnut is extremely warm and the horizontal grain matching adds a custom feel.

Now, we've moved on to the kitchen cabinets. Our kitchen designer is suggesting one of the wood look lines (similar to what you see in the high end European kitchen lines like Poggenpohl or Snaidero). She says that these engineered materials will hold up far better than a natural wood veneer, like walnut.

We have a toddler and a retriever, and my husband (the main cook) isn't exactly gentle in the kitchen, so durability is extremely important. We hope to use this kitchen for the next 20 years. But, we also don't have $50k to spend on cabinets alone.

I could settle for the wood look if it truly is more durable. What's the story? Does it depend on the quality of the materials, or is one generally better than the other?

(I Google searched for past threads on this topic, but mainly found solid door vs. veneer, not this topic. I expect that this has been discussed, but couldn't find anything on point.)

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (9)

PRO
Pallet & Palette
8 years ago
I have clients who have used both of the materials you described. No one has been unhappy with the performance of either option. Higher-quality manufacturing techniques are going to give you better long-lasting results either way. If you decide to go with the fake wood, you definitely want to get the cabinets where the possibility of delamination is covered under the warranty of a reputable firm.
chisue
8 years ago
I'm putting laminate 'bamboo' doors on our old kitchen cabinets at our vacation rental condo on Maui. They look *better* than real bamboo! Same surface both sides. I'm going with vertical striation, but horizontal looks good too.

This is a 9 X 9 "U" shaped kitchen with uppers on two walls. $3800 installed. I furnish door and drawer pulls. (Everything costs more on Maui.)
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RChicago
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, very helpful. Especially about noting the warranties.

We're looking at a custom guy, too, whose work I've seen and it's good -- but I'd be concerned about warranty issues down the road.

Given that we're going with flat slab doors, the kitchen designer will also price out a custom shop, as she thinks it may be price competitive given that we're going with such a simple design.

What I'm hearing, though, is that natural wood veneer shouldn't be more susceptible to delamination, chips, peeling, dents, etc. than the fake wood laminate?

On the more affordable end, I really like the look of Semihandmade and smile everytime I see my new bath cabinet. And I drool over online photos of Henrybuilt, Kerf, Build LLC's SPD, and others outside our price range. I don't have the same emotional response to the wood look cabinets. Just for ideas, I've been in several of the high end European showrooms, and while they're sleek and well done, it's not the same as real wood.

I was going to convince myself to go with the fake wood if it would be more durable, but if I can have real wood (probably walnut or teak, likely grainmatched vertically), that's my preference.

Would appreciate any other thoughts or advice, thanks.
Fori
8 years ago
Fake wood looks bad. :)

Think about your bathroom cabinet--don't you want something as lovely in your kitchen?
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
8 years ago
The problem with real wood is that it grows on trees. It has all kinds of knots and things that a picture of real wood doesn't have.

I've got some IKEA "Ebony" in my living room that looks better than the real thing.
ajc71
8 years ago
Can't beat real veneer, the important part is the edgebanding...we spec all our veneer doors with 2MM solid wood banding, instead of veneer edging

RChicago...just googled BuildLLC and spent 30 minutes reading their blog, absolutely fantastic! Now that is how a cabinet should be made....!!
Bunny
8 years ago
We went with Semihandmade flat sawn walnut doors over Ikea cabinets in our master bath.

How do you get the two materials' wood color the same? Do you have to stain the doors to match the Ikea cabinets?
RChicago
Original Author
8 years ago
We bought kitchen cabinets from Ikea for our bath -- with all Ikea components except for the doors and toe kick. The Semihandmade doors work with Ikea door and drawer hardware. We went with cut out notches in the doors rather than handles.

We've been extremely happy with the Semihandmade cabinets and they were easy to work with.
crl_
8 years ago
Linelle, ikea kitchen cabinets are frameless so the doors and drawers cover the cabinets completely when they are closed. (The cabinets actually only come in white and birch, at least they did when we last kitchen remodeled.) Ends would need to have a cover panel if exposed.

Real wood or wood-look veneered cabinets?

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Pallet & Palette

chisue

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Fori

Joseph Corlett, LLC

ajc71

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Real wood or wood-look veneered cabinets?

Comments (9)

Pallet & Palette

chisue

Related Discussions

RChicagoOriginal Author

Fori

Joseph Corlett, LLC

ajc71

Bunny

RChicagoOriginal Author

crl_

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RChicago
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RChicago
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