If it makes you feel any better, non-white kitchens get just as dirty, you just can't see it as well. Perhaps if you make sure to have an excellent fan that exhausts to the outside (try to find one that the screen is easier to wash and/or replace) and that will help. Also, depending on what is to either side of the main cooking surface -- wall cabinets (or not). Backsplash is also hard to keep clean -- I don't know how folks with tile and grout do it. I have a sheet glass backsplash, and that is hard enough to keep clean (but I use a razor scraper when necessary). So there are a number of surfaces and finishes to consider in order to keep it easy to clean. We had a white kitchen that was built in the late70s, and I think it was more of a formica like material for the cabinets -- something like that may be easier to clean than a wood cabinet (and hopefully there are higher quality finishes to choose from). Good luck! (Oh and open shelving is very trendy now but IMHO Its completely impractical -- there's constant dust and in the kitchen, cooking grease, so its REALLY hard to keep the shelves, and everything on them, clean).

Perhaps white is popular in North America because American/Canadian cooking isn't too heavy on foods that would stain? I cook a lot and have never used turmeric. Then again tomato stains so that's probably nonsense. It's probably just popular because it looks nice despite practicality. Having to clean 5 times is scary though. Maybe it was the finish on the cabinet itself - I don't know the right terminology for cabinets but there could be a more substantial "clear coat" to apply for stain resistance?

I hate open shelving as well. When I first moved into my own place, I was very enamored of it ... and I like espresso wood. DUST, DUST, DUST. Over the years I've replaced a lot of open shelving with door-ed furniture. I will say white furniture shows much less dust so there's a plus for white kitchens in that sense.

Have you thought about dark lower cabinets like the island and white uppers? That might be too trendy, though.

I love my white kitchen. We have white thermofoil doors, instead of wood. They are nicer than they used to be years ago and the major advantage is that they clean amazingly well. Our white kitchen is 6 years old now. Although I don't use a lot of tumeric, I do use tomatoes and I also color fondant. No staining issues. If you have trouble with the tumeric, try a little Clorox Cleanup. Works wonders for me.

Thanks H B. You make a very good point about the exhaust. We are planning to take a 42 inch Chimney hood that vents outside and there will be about 2 inch space between the hood and the cabinets on either sides.

Thanks Jocelyn D. Tomato sauce stains can also be a nightmare, especially pasta sauce with all its red rich color ;-). I need to talk to my KD about the "clear coat"/finish being stain resistant.

your comments and questions are very helpful! Thank you so much!

This doesn't apply to everyone but it is absolutely true that kitchens seem to be used much less for actual cooking than they used to be. I am a cook. I love to cook and I cook from scratch. I literally cook every single day. I know about 3 other people in my whole circle of friends and acquaintenances who cook regularly. It's not a judgment of anyone's habits, just observational. Take out, restaurants and convenience foods that just need to be nuked are extremely popular. Maybe it does have a little to do with the resurgence of the white kitchen...much easier to keep clean if there isn't much cooking going on.

Edited to add...I have cherry cabinets and white counters.

I love a white kitchen, although I lean to off-white. I'm on my second one in 22 years, but added in some green cabinets on this one.

The only time I've used turmeric was in making soap (for natural color) but that was in my kitchen, and no stains. I cook with chili powder, paprika, cumin, mustard, tomatoes, and every Thanksgiving I make a couple gallons of cranberry salad. I cook the cranberries, then whirl them in the blender--there are always splatters, but no stains. We make our own decorated cakes and cookies, with every shade of food coloring. No stains.

Just this morning I asked my (adult) daughter how a smear of tomato sauce ended up across the kitchen from the range, on an upper cabinet door--she had no explanation, but I'm pretty sure she thought her husband was the culprit, and he might have been--it was about 18" from the ceiling. ;)

I'm tired of them, and to me they say "this is old, I didn't want to replace it so I painted it for a new look." Stained is still very in in the high-end homes- it's a mix of painted or stained here- and I love stained. Maple with a red stain can give a very pretty medium color if you don't like the dark stains!

Hi Mama Goose_gw zn6Oh,

It's very encouraging to see that you cook with all these colorful ingredients and yet have and love your white kitchen.

What do you use to maintain your kitchen cabinets? also do you know the finish on your cabinets?

Thanks!

Very well said, Russ!!! :-))

Thank you so much!

My first thought was what do your current cabinets look like? Are they full of stains? Probably not. I think everyone that starts with something dark and then considers white goes through the same questions. I have my first ever white kitchen and I love it. It's bright and cheery and clean. The plus being if there is anything on the cabinets (and for me it tends to be coffee around the dishwasher) it gets wiped off quickly (and easily).

I have a creamy white kitchen that doesn't feel old to me. It's white because that's what I wanted. I'm just cooking for one now, but I find it easy to keep clean. The best part is that when I drip coffee down the front of my lower cabinet, I can see it and wipe it off. On a stained cabinet, it might get overlooked and that's how you can get funky cabinets.

@sherri1058 & @Linelle - Thank you ladies!

what do you use to clean your white kitchen cabinets? Thanks!

Oh, get you some Magic Eraser pads from Mr. Clean. Those things ROCK for cleaning white cabinets. We use them at the ranch all the time.

I have white cabinets and cook a lot too. Even curry. We're starting to plan our new kitchen and even though we've considered other colors, we keep coming back to white. It's true white cabinets show every spill and splatter but that's part of the reason that I like them. I know when they are clean and I know when they need to be cleaned. However I plan to paint the cabinet under the coffee maker a bright color because my husband can't seem to make a cup of coffee without dripping down the cabinet front.

Our white cabinets were painted by the previous homeowner and we've been living with them for seven years. I also decorate cakes and still the only stain on them is from when I colored my daughters hair in the kitchen. LOL.

Do you regularly have Tumeric fights, flinging it wildly in the air? If not, then white cabinets should not really be a problem. Now your countertops are another matter altogether. I would strongly recommend white Corian. I cook with Tumeric and Curry all the time, and stains easily come up with Dawn and a scrubber.

I just use a damp microfibre cloth, or a microfibre cloth with a bit of dish soap. I am really glad that I took the plunge and went with white!

I have had white cabinets for 30 years. The first 25 years I painted them myself and whatever paint I used nothing stained and I cook from scratch every day. I use some curry and some tumeric but not much.

We redid our kitchen 6 years ago and the cabinets were painted off-site and seem to have some sort of a finish on them. They are so easy to keep clean and nothing stains.

I mostly just clean the cabinets with a damp cloth when I do dishes, and clean up the kitchen in general.

My
first off-white, bullet-proof, kitchen was painted with oil based paint
(22yrs ago), but then there was the big environmental thing about oil
based paint, and Lowe's stopped selling the oil paint in gallons. For
the new kitchen I bought their water based Kitchen and Bath paint in
soft gloss, and it's OK, but not as durable as the oil paint. They stopped
selling it a couple of years ago, so maybe it wasn't selling well.

Last
year I helped a friend paint her cabinets (untouched mid-century maple)
with the expensive Benjamin Moore cabinet paint, and she's very happy
with it. It's thinner than regular paint, so you have to be aware of
drips.

Some day I'm going to break out the epoxy. I once painted
tile, then used the left-over two-part epoxy on a bathroom vanity. I
loved the way it looked, but I had to work fast. The epoxy that Lowe's
sells now is mixed in the store and has a longer curing time.

I also have a few closet doors which were professionally sprayed with lacquer. They are durable and perfectly smooth--too perfect and plasticky for my taste--I like the hand painted brush marks.

I have natural wood kitchen and although I realize that my cabinets are still getting dirty as white or an any other color would, I don't feel like I have to wipe it all up as soon as it happens. I realize this is probably better but I schedule my cabinets wipe downs every two weeks and get it all in then. With wood you may be not as pressured to clean it up like you would with white.

I was recently in a Kitchen showroom and the designer said she wanted a white kitchen when she did her remodeled. she felt safe knowing the brands well which cabinets would hold up the best. At the point I saw her she said she is overwhelmed with keeping her white cabinets clean and touched up.

I personally have never had a "new" white kitchen so I don't know first hand. All I know is with my husband and kids, I don't want to wipe down my cabinets everyday.

It's also about the quality of the finish on your cabinets. We had ours sprayed with lacquer on top of cabinets that had already been pained (we didn't know anything about lacquer) and it chips of so badly that we are in the beginning of a compete remodel right now. I have my samples from Wood Mode and the finish is so nice, it's baked on, I feel it's going to be very durable, white or not.

I'm currently obsessed with mixing white and wood tone cabinets like Christopher Peacock. Would you consider doing the stained cabinets on the bottom and the white cabinets on the top?

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/129619295504531670/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/129619295504531527/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/129619295505267199/

Just wanted to say, I love Indian food and cook with turmeric and other spices regularly. I've use 409 to get the yellow out-it works well for lots of stains. I have off-white cabinets and have no problem keeping them clean.

For cabinet finishes, I know that one of the things I've read here to look for is conversion varnish rather than paint. Conversion varnish is colored like paint, but the finish is harder and more durable, making it easier to clean.

With respect to countertops, which I think would take most of the abuse, we installed Neolith. It's basically a big porcelain sheet that comes in quite a few white/light finishes. When I was considering it, one of the things I specifically did was make a paste with turmeric and water and left it on samples overnight, along with some other things. It washed right off with 409. Neolith Torture. Whatever you're considering, I definitely recommend getting samples and putting them to the test.

Whether the front of your cabinets gets very dirty has a lot more to do with having children and pets. So you may want to make your lower cabinets a different and darker color than the upper cabinets. I used to have painted cabinets, the lower cabinets were a blue and the upper cabinets were white. I would frequently have to clean the lower cabinets (I have pets) the upper cabinets I had to clean much less often and they were only dusty.

The countertops are another issue. A friend of mine has tile and grout countertops which she's thoroughly sealed. She does a lot of Indian cooking and she was really concerned about staining before they moved into the house. Because of all the sealing, she has had no issues with staining. But she still really dislikes the cleaning aspect of the grout and wants to change the countertops as soon as they can afford it (the only moved in in the last year). She has been experimenting with different countertops and has found that quite a number of them will stain so I recommend that you get samples and experiment.

I've had my white(ish) conversion finish cabinets for 3 years now. We do use various spices, pepper concoctions, etc and my DD never notices her splatters and drips. I have had only a small amount of staining, once (IIRC) from a curry sauce which stained yellow, and a mystery stain that was tan. A quick dab of bleach on a sponge took care of both without harm.

Otherwise I wipe my cabinets, hood etc weekly with a dish-soapy sponge. Never a Magic Eraser, too abrasive! It would leave micro scratches that will eventually ruin the smooth finish.

I have had white cabinets for a year now (conversion varnish finish) and am happy with them. I cook daily and shudder to think of the food I DIDN'T see on the old oak cabinets. I wipe off food spots almost daily, but it is not the tedious job it was when I only did the cabinets once a year. Our cabinet maker gave us a bottle of Heirloom Essentials Furniture & Glass Cleaner that works very well. I also use a soapy dish cloth when I clean the counters at night.

Can't say how thankful I am to all of you! Posting on this forum is the best thing I have done!

So I confirmed that Ultracraft has the Conversion Varnish top coat. So looks like I am covered on the durability aspect. Also, all the feedback on cleaning and maintaining the white cabinets is very helpful.

I have decided to go for an off-white kitchen! yayyyyy!!!! am so happy :)

Specifically, its called the Melted Brie color by Ultracraft. Still have to decide on the Glaze - either nickel or mocha. And we will be going with the chocolate or Espresso stained island. Somewhat like this:

https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/traditional-transitional-kitchen-in-maple-melted-brie-and-vintage-truffl-transitional-kitchen-raleigh-phvw-vp~24017210

Thanks to all the contributors!!! :)

If they were so unpractical, how come they are so popular?

Lots of popular things aren't 'specially practical! High heels and sports cars, for example. Going to see your team play at the stadium isn't as easy or cheap as watching them on TV in your comfortable living room ... ditto for going to a concert. Going out to eat is more expensive than cooking at home, and it's a fleeting pleasure for the money --not 'specially practical. The list could go on. Practical and popular don't necessarily gang together.

Are white kitchens one of those things? Depends. Are you the type of housekeeper who likes white because it'll allow you to see the dirt ... or would you welcome stain because it would hide the dirt?

Something I don't think has been mentioned yet: White is more expensive than stained cabinets. And painted cabinets have a shorter lifespan than stained cabinets. So, yeah, from a value point of view, maybe they aren't the most practical option.

My suggestion: Go to Pinterest and make a new folder. Go through and click every kitchen that really "speaks to you" ... don't stop to consider what you like, just click ... then go back and count how many are white vs. how many are stained.

Something I don't think has been mentioned yet: White is more expensive than stained cabinets.

Not in my area. I had quotes on both white and stained, and the stained was more expensive. You really need to get both quotes if you are concerned about the price.

I've only priced at lowes so far. A painted finish is more expensive than stained. I was going to go with IKEA because we are doing the install ourselves and the rail system is supposed to make it so much easier. But wanted white painted wood doors, not thermofoil off white. We considered getting the same style in an un stained wood and having them painted by a professional. Then we wised up and just went and looked at lowes. Cuz nothing but white would do.

I went from a stained wood kitchen (90's oak) to a white kitchen. I agree with the others that stated they would rather see a spill or a drip . When I cleaned the oak cabinets, prior to my brother picking them up to reuse for his kitchen reno, I was surprised at how much non-visible grime was on those cabinets.

That is a very pretty kitchen.

I would be thinking about what backsplash you want because that will determine whether your glaze should be mocha (yellow, green (some) and creamy colors) or nickel (blue, gray, green (some) and greig colors)

I also like the medium tone floors in the picture -- not too dark not too light.

I do not like that they have moved the sink forward a couple of inches (or that it appears to be unusually narrow) it makes the area available for your use to the right and left of the sink smaller (the length of your arm while you're standing at the sink) or you have to step to the side to access additional space. A lot of people like to keep a mat right at the sink/prep area and they prefer to stand on it while they do all of their prep work.

I would not use a Magic Eraser on wood cabinets. It’s abrasive.

I only clean my painted white cabs with a spritz of water that has a tsp of Dawn, wiped down with a microfiber cloth from the Auto Zone. It’s all it takes. On white cabs stuff doesn’t lurk undetected and take up residence. I’m not a “messy cook” but I’m human.

I'm of the "I'd like to KNOW if it's dirty" school, but many today are not.

Just watched a video on Facebook - it was a tour of the kitchen and an interview with the Executive Chef at the famous French Laundry restaurant (3 Michelin stars!). He talked about cleaning up as one goes along. He said they regularly yell "Housekeeping" in the restaurant kitchen and people get things wiped up and cleaned. He also said that when he cooks for a dinner party or just for himself, all the pots are washed and put away by the time the meal is served - only plates and silverware to be washed afterwards.

This is how my mother taught me to cook and I have continued to do so to this day. If one gets in the habit, it's amazing how easy it is. We've had comments on GW about not wanting to eat in a house where dogs or cats are allowed in the kitchen; I wouldn't want to eat in a house where spilled marinara sauce was allowed to stay on the countertop for more than 30 seconds, let alone overnight!!! YUCK!

I have white with espresso island... and honestly the island often looks more dirty than the white because of dust. We got the highest powered fan vented outside, double blower, and it makes a huge difference. Also, even more than the cabinets is your countertop choice. I originally wanted a light flowy marble - but the dark (antique brown leathered) on the sides and the alpine on the island are brilliant. My island is covered with cooking and crafts all the time... and after it's cleared it never looks dirtly, although it's been filthy. So i'd make sure your countertop choice can put up with tumeric. I use a lot of tumeric also - so stains so far!