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White cabinet owners -- what is the interior material?

7 years ago

Hello White Cabinet Owners,

I just got a quote for painted white cabinets. It states that the interior will be white melamine. Is this standard? I'm pretty sure the white (painted) cabinets in my last house had wood interiors.

My current house has plasticky white builder cabinets with plasticky white interiors. I know the fronts will look better on the new ones but I don't want to be disappointed with the interiors!

Featured Answer

nicolenovember288

7 years ago

Kitchen designer here; good quality melamine interiors will hold up just as well as wood- if not better. Most that I've seen have been either white or a natural maple color. Some people request white as it matches the exterior of the cabinet. It's light and bright, and cleans easily.

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Comments (9)

Sasha Maclo
7 years ago
Ours are painted white outside and regular wood interiors. I think they look great. The wood inside looks nice and sturdy and clean.
amyfgib thanked Sasha Maclo
designsaavy
7 years ago
Our cabinet boxes are 3/4" wood and the doors are 3/4" wood with an MDF recessed center panel. Supposedly it helps to prevent the paint from cracking. Hopefully so.....so far, so good.

Shop around and compare quality.
amyfgib thanked designsaavy
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sjhockeyfan325
7 years ago
I love the melamine interiors in my cabinets - so easy to clean.
amyfgib thanked sjhockeyfan325
PRO
DETAILS design studio LLC
7 years ago
The standard really depends on the cabinet brand or maker. It can be either.

However, if you're calling your current cabinets "plasticky white" then maybe you should re-think the melamine. It sounds like you will be disappointed.

As far as quality, make sure it's a good drawer glide and box construction. The painted finish also needs to be done well.
amyfgib thanked DETAILS design studio LLC
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
We kept our 3/4 plywood interior naturally finished. We figured, if we or someone else wants to paint another color someday, the inside will look fine. I also like the look. I might paint white or some color if we had glass I think - but we don't so I didn't have to make that decision. Our cabinets are all hard maple, so someday we can refinish and stain too perhaps.
amyfgib thanked User
lharpie
7 years ago
We have naturally finished 3/4 ply as well. The glass fronted cabs have white painted interiors/shelves to match the exterior. The place where we got the cabs did actually recommend melamine in terms of better water resistance and cheaper price point, but I just don't like the feel of it either! You should be able to pay to upgrade if you prefer - I felt a little silly paying extra for this but am happy I did. It wasn't a very large difference.
amyfgib thanked lharpie
Stan B
7 years ago
I've lived in houses with cabinet interiors made of plywood, exposed MDF, and melamine over MDF. To be honest I found the melamine to be the easiest to wipe down and keep clean.
amyfgib thanked Stan B
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Anglophilia
7 years ago
I was a bit put off by the fact that Shiloah cabinets have a maple- look melamine interior. But I got over it when I found out that cabinets with glass doors, will be painted inside to match the cabinets,. I would have preferred clear birch but just not in my price range.
amyfgib thanked Anglophilia

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