Plastic laminate is much more durable than wood veneer, no question.

I agree. But I have five kids and a 25 yr old kitchen (ours for 10 yrs) made of oak with oak veneers on the end panels and backside of the island that is looking much better than the 25 yr old laminate counters. The only place showing wear to the wood is where my 7 yr old uses the handles like a ladder to get up to the upper cabinets. If you were choosing for counters, I'd say go with laminate, but I'd not hesitate to go with the better looking wood over laminate for the cabinets. My doors are solid wood, so that might make a difference there.

I've struggled with similar issues, and can't get over the fact that the fake wood looks like fake wood. I've seen a few decent examples from Leicht and Poggenpohl, but it still lacks the warmth of real wood. And as I plan to use real wood in adjacent spaces, I was concerned that the fake wood would look cheap.

Our solution - solid color laminate drawer and door fronts with side panels in wood veneer with solid wood edgebanding. I get the warmth of the wood with the durability of laminate. A lot of folks have used white laminate in similar applications, but we're leaning toward blue. We're also using baltic birch plywood for the door and drawer fronts so we won't have to worry about peeling edge banding.

Good luck!

re:We're going for a contemporary, flat-panel oak (or oak-look) kitchen.

Oh, you HAVE to post pics when you're done! I'm looking to do oak slab myself, and there's not a lot on Google.

Sometimes the faux-wood look is what you want, but if you want a more genuine look, then I would get the veneer. It might be less durable than laminate, but how durable does it need to be? Your doors will get bumped, but far less than a countertop.

RChicago: Your solution sounds really interesting! I'd love to see pics, if you have any.

I second the opinion on the fake laminate wood looking cheap but maybe I've not seen all the options. We ended up going with birch veneered MDF slabs in our kitchen and I figure by the time they look beat it'll be time for a new kitchen anyway. You don't buy laminate furniture because of your kids, do you? Shouldn't be any different for the cabinets. They're just kitchen furniture!

RCChicago I'm confused and intrigued - your doors and drawers will be colored laminate, but the edgebanding will be solid wood? Do you have pictures of that?

I second RChicago's post...don't cheapen your kitchen with fake wood Formica. Get it in a compatible solid color.

There are come very nice looking textured melamines these days, that look anything but cheap when produced correctly....and much more durable then any wood veneer option

Thanks for all the feedback. It's definitely a tough choice, as I'd usually choose authenticity over durability, but the kitchen takes so much wear-and-tear that I'm torn.

@Hydragea, this is a photo of the kitchen that I'll be loosely emulating - this is the apartment kitchen of a family member that I helped choose finishes for. These cabinets are laminate, and I think they look very good, but I wouldn't be able to afford this exact finish as it's Siematic. If I chose to go with laminate I would however hold it to the same standard as these as far as realism. I'll post a follow-up with an up close photo. When you look more closely at the edges it's more obvious that they are laminate, but I would find that acceptable.

And apologies that both these images are sideways, I really have no idea how to post photos properly!

wow, does that ever look good!
Would your seams be light-colored? That's what it looks like in the pic. I think I'd want that.

babyraccoon-
Rotate the picture on your computer before posting it. There are many simple ways to do this. On my computer it's a menu option when you right click on an image, or you can open it in Windows Photo Gallery and use the rotation control that's visible at the bottom center and then a forward or backward arrow to save it.

The top kitchens like Siematic, Poggenpohl, etc. don't look or feel fake at all. Even the IKEA Rockhammar (foil, whatever that is) feels quite real.

RChicago-- what did u choose love the inspiration kitchen would like to see what you chose, please update.

Wow, those wood laminate cabinets looks really, really nice. A friend had laminate cabinets years ago, slab doors, white with green appliances and red counters, a real 1970's kitchen but those cabinets wore like iron, not a dent, scratch or nick. And they never peeled either. Much more durable than wood.

Is laminate the same as thermofoil? I have looked at some thermofoil that look great like the posters above but not sure if that is the same as laminate. What I saw looked exactly like wood but did feel plastic when you touched it. There were no edge seams either.

lisadews-

No...it is an entirely different material and much thinner than laminate: Thermofoil