My sister has thermofoil in her kitchen. It's not my cup of tea, but they look as good today as the day she had them installed about 10 years ago.

As for cabinets yellowing: I'm a "pro" at having cabinets redone because of paint issues. Do NOT let anyone put oil polyurethane over lacquer. It WILL yellow. Furthermore, if the oils get into the substrate and the wood not primed, then the paint can 'BLUSH GREEN'. I know, I've paid THOUSANDS of dollars to have my cabinets repainted, only to realize that they needed to be completely stripped and start from scratch. (Which we had to do.)

Water base poly, tung oil, or Briwax finish. "Less" is more when working with waxes.

Here's a close up of what happens when doors are not primed (even though we paid to have them primed) and oils get into the substrate.

Nice shade of yellow first appeared, then a soft green, then deeper green is what we endured.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I love white kitchens, but not sure I would do one in a condo where lots of other people will be staying.

I am far from the Polynesian islands and have no idea what the trends are there. But if I had a place there...here's what I would envision.

A darker wood with some tropical flair (ie. plantation type shuttered doors, chunky island legs and maybe some bamoo) Bamboo is becoming big right now.

Here are a couple of inspiration photos:

The pix above are high end kitchens. If you budget is more middle of the road, see if you can get Medallion cabinetry. They came out with a plantation shutter doorstyle just last year.

Kompy

Here is a link that might be useful: shutter style

I represented clients whose white thermofoil cabinets yellowed within 3-5 years of installation because of a factory defect. Canac Kitchens (owned by Kohler?) acknowledged that there was a bad batch/bad mix (I'm not clear on the details). I'm not sure how often this occurs, but sherilynn's pic is similar.

I agonized over white or light maple cabs for a while and ultimately went with maple (and a contrasting blue granite countertop). I think Kompy has the perfect idea for a beach condo!

My suggestion, don't go with thermofoil! I had thermofoil cabinets instaled by the builder in my home 10 years ago. Within the first three years, the woodwork behind the cabinet doors (frames, etc) turned yellow. By the fourth year, the thermofoil begun to bubble and peel off. This has happened all over my house, both in the kitchen and the bathrooms. With thermofoil, there isn't even the option to repaint them, as paint will not adhere to the thermofoil. I am currently remodeling my kitchen and would never do white cabinets again. When done well, it can be beautiful, but my experience has not been great. With any white paint finish, you run the risk of some yellowing. But then again, this can happen with some woods as well.

I just moved into a house that was built in 1998. The kitchen cabinets are thermofoil, and except for a trim piece here or there (which I notice, but DH and anyone else doesn't), it looks great. I'd like to change or add to it, but I don't think a new cabinet (Merrilat) would match, as I'm sure it's faded a bit. Here is a pic (before I moved in in June)...

I'm enclosing some photos of my old kitchen in my Maui condo so you can see my space. It's very small and has no direct sunlight at the kitchen end of the room. Walls are painted a light yellow, floor will be a creamy tan colored 20"X20" tile that reminds me of a marble look. I am trying to decide between maple cabinets that are stained in a light to medium color or painting them white. Big concern with how well white will hold up since condo is located at the beach--there is always a film of dust and sand on everything. The white would be bright, clean looking, tropical. Wood stain is more rich looking, I think. Cabinet style I'm thinking of is a maple Shaker door with recessed panel. Clean, simple lines. Anything too ornate or with too many ridges will be too difficult to keep clean. Don't want anything too busy or heavy looking for my small space. We do let others use our condo when we aren't using it and they do not clean thoroughly, if at all! So this has to be factored into the equation.

I will be opening up the kitchen and reconfiguring the space to make it more of an L shape. Don't want my kitchen to be too dark so I keep going back and forth on the cabinet color--stain so you can see the wood or paint white??

Would love some opinions.

I also want to keep in mind what I've already got going so that the kitchen blends with the living room!

The photo of the white kitchen below is an "idea" of what I'm thinking. Just not sure of the cabinets or granite.
Remodeled Unit with L shaped kitchen and white cabinets:

If you have some ideas as to cabinets with granite color, or the lay out please feel free to give your input.(BTW-closet in kitchen contains washer/dryer and cannot be moved. Plumbing is located on that wall too.) Thanks for your help!
Barbara

I live at the beach and had white cabs where I was living before. They were quite old and they were fine. (I prefer white, myself, but that's just a taste thing. The suggestions here would work, too, especially with the rattan furniture.)

I don't have any suggestions for color here, but if you are planning to copy the floor plan in your last pic, they could have made much bette use of the fridge wall, IMHO. You could get a ton of storage along there, even with a small built-in desk.

I am not planning to copy the white remodeled kitchen design exactly, but in a small space there's only so many places you can put things. However, my fridge will go in the same spot as the remodeled white kitchen. It's not ideal but it does free up more space for cabinets in that spot. I would likely build cabinets above the fridge and put a side panel so you don't look at the refrigerator from the living room. I don't think I'd put in a desk--too much furniture in that little space is claustrophobic to me. Sometimes less is more!

I was "thinking" of a granite for the countertop in the green family--maybe Verde Buttefly, Uba Tuba, Green Pearl, or Peacock Green. This way it would tie into the colors in the living room furniture, stay in the tropical colors, and would go beautifully with white or stained maple cabinets. What do you think of that idea???????

The white cabinets in the remodeled unit do not seem to be holding up all that well when you see them up close and personal, in my opinion, and they are the thermofoil, which I would not be using. My cabinet maker warned me that white cabinets can turn yellow over time and that has been laying heavy on my mind. That's why I wondered about the experience of others on the forum who have had their white cabinets for awhile.

Please cast your vote as to which you think would look better in my small tropical space with what I've already got going:

#1 New maple cabinets painted white or
#2 New maple cabinets stained in light to medium color (what color stain?)

Ideas/thoughts for granite?????

Since I am wanting to have clean, simple lines, especially for ease of maintenance, do you think the Shaker style would look okay in my small tropical second home????

First of all you have a great condo! What a wonderful getaway for you and your family/friends!
I would not do white painted cabinets there. I have painted shaker style cabs in my kitchen and they have to be wiped down a lot to keep them looking good. The little lip on the inset doors collects lots of crumbs etc and a painted finish chips more easily than a stained finish.
I would go for a stained finish on the cabinets. It is easier to maintain and will hold up better over time.

Frankly, if I were going to do white cabinets (which I am) I would choose MDF in that situation because it is less affected by climate changes/humidity than wood is. Under paint, who can tell? Save a maple tree, unless you decide you want the wood finish.

I'm sorry, but what does MDF stand for?

barbaraz - I think I stayed in one of those condos when I was in Maui. I has the exact same set up.

How funny ;)

MDF is the manufactured material (medium density fiberboard) often used by cabinet makers because it is more stable than wood. It's a good surface for painting. This is not the same as particleboard, incidentally.

Jenellecal, maybe you stayed in my unit!! Wouldn't that be funny!

Your is much nicer ;), I'm sure it's the same condos though. Are you in Kihei, where the big wheel is?

Yes, I am in Kihei! I just love it there! Come see me next time you visit--I'll show you the new look of the kitchen!

If we can afford the airline tix I can be there in Sept. It's only about $3000 for the 3 of us (yikes!!!) The beach outside the condo is incredible. I want to go NOW!

Thanks for the invite ;)

Someone recently pointed out that with an L shaped kitchen in my space, guests as well as yourself will see the mess in the kitchen from the living area. I had not thought about that before. Would that be bothersome to you? It was suggested that keeping a peninsula with eating space around it and then getting rid of my dining table and chairs might be a better way to go in terms of the design for my tropical condo. I enclosed some photos of my space in an earlier post as well as an example of a remodeled white kitchen in an L shape to give you an idea of what the space could look like. Do you prefer bumping out the peninsula a bit more into the living room and incorporating the eating space there? Do you mind eating at a peninsula counter? Which is the better utilization of the space? Thanks for your help!

I have 2 designs I am going to post--#1 is an L shaped kitchen, #2 is with a peninsula.
There are pros and cons to each--#1 is more open and creates the "great room" with the kichen and living room essentially being one big room (see my first post for photos of the current space). With this design I would have a table and chairs for eating, which is very comfortable and conducive to talking because you can see each other. Messy kitchen can be very obvious to those in living room.

#2 Helps define the kitchen and living room as two separate spaces. Peninsula offers more prep space and a bit more storeage. Has the peninsula for eating and this would be in lieu of a dining table and chairs. There just isn't enough space for both, however I do have a big round table on my large lanai (patio) and since this is Maui, most times you can eat outside. Peninsulas are not as comfortable to many people for sitting at in comparison to a table/chairs. Conversations are more challenging since people typically sit in a row and can't see each other. Not so good for a more formal dinner. Stools can be upholstered with seats that match the sofa or chair, add some green granite to the counter and can tie the two spaces together.

What are your thoughts regarding the two designs and which would you prefer?

Design #1

I should add that the refrigerator will go in the spot where the utility cart is in the corner--you'll need to see the first photo in my earlier post with the photos of my condo to see where that is. It's also in the same place that the remodeled white kitchen has it that's also in my earlier post.

Design #2

Thanks for looking!

I like the way the upper cabinets look in Design #1 and would likely keep that even if I did Design #2--just add the peninsuls.

Can anyone comment on the pros/cons of the two kitchen layouts?

Your condo looks lovely. The colors you chose look so inviting. The cabinet color could be a little lighter than what you now have. I have white cabinets in my kitchen for 12 years that are not yellowed, and we cook a lot. They are painted wood.
I would opt to keep the dining table. It's good for more than eating, like board games or cards.
Good Luck.

Barbaraz,

I'm not a layout expert, but I did notice one thing I faced in my design process.

The dishwasher is very tight to the corner sink in both plans. If the dishwasher door is open, it would likely make it difficult to use the sink or "trap" the person who is standing at the sink. I had the same problem with one of my designs. My suggestion is to use newspaper to lay that area out on the floor, mimicking the d/w door being open and see if it's too tight. It was in my case.

You've mentioned that plumbing is on that wall, but I don't know if that prevents you from moving the d/w and/or sink to another area. In the picture of the "L-shaped kitchen" I noticed a small filler to the left of the d/w, maybe sliding the d/w all the way to the end of the stack would give you enough room to work at the sink with the d/w open.

Hope this helps!

PS---we live near the beach on the east coast---I've agonized over white vs. stained maple/cherry cabs. It's probably glazed white at this point, but I still have a few days to change my mind!

Loved my white kitchen for about 3 years and then the thermofoil yellowed. Meantime crown molding stayed white. Never again for a white kitchen

I have white Canac cabinets that were recalled. They turned yellow, and the thermofoil is peeling off many of the cabinets. When we bought the house, it was only six months old, and none of the warranties were transferred to us. We couldn't join the lawsuit, and now, with my husband passed away, I have cupboards that are literally falling apart. Unfortunately, I can't afford to replace them. I'm constantly monitoring buy/sell platforms in the hope of finding someone selling their old Canac cabinets in white. About half of my cabinets need replacement, so currently, some are white and some are yellow. Initially, I thought it was the sun playing tricks on my eyes, but then we learned about the lawsuit.