white kitchen with a brown island

DESIGN NOTES

How To Choose The Right Kitchen Cabinet Materials For Your Project

Many elements have to come together in a successful kitchen remodel to transform this room into the one envisioned by the homeowner. One of these is undoubtedly the cabinetry. They take up a large portion of the space in a kitchen and typically a hefty chunk of the budget as well.

At Walker Woodworking, our custom cabinetry craftsmen know that one of the most basic decisions about your kitchen cabinet is the material from which they are constructed. You certainly have several popular choices for this decision.

Your Cabinet Material

As appealing as solid wood may sound for some applications, it’s not a favorite for kitchen cabinets. There can be quite a bit of moisture in this room over time, with steam rising from cooking pots and from hot water at the sink, and everyone knows that solid wood can contract and expand in reaction to moisture and temperature. The most popular choices in material for this part of your kitchen are medium-density fiberboard (MDF), plywood, particleboard with melamine, and possibly stainless steel.

  • Homeowners appreciate Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) because of how well it stands up to cracking and peeling. It’s also smoother than plywood and is easy to cover with a coat of any color paint you’d like for your cabinets to make them match the rest of your kitchen décor.
  • Plywood: This is a popular material for manufacturers of cabinetry, given its relatively low cost as well as its stability and resistance to moisture. When used in cabinets, the outer layer of particleboard will typically be covered in wood veneer or plastic laminate to provide superior durability and protection.
  • Particleboard: This material is not typically used in high-end kitchen remodeling projects. It consists of wood chips that have been glued together and fused into flat panels. It has the least structural strength of all the options.
  • Stainless Steel: While appliances made of this material are frequently all the rage, using it for cabinetry is an area of personal taste. Many people consider that there’s nothing quite like wood or at least wood-derived products like some mentioned above when it comes to a warm, natural-looking kitchen.
white kitchen with tile backsplash

Choosing The Right Material For Your Kitchen

Several factors may go into your final choice of material for your kitchen cabinets. You want them to blend in well with other design elements you already have, and budget will undoubtedly be a concern for some. You might even end up with a different material for the doors than the cabinet box. The doors are, after all, the most visible and style-setting part. If you’re looking for a natural wood look, you may not want to choose MDF since it can’t be stained. Solid wood might work well for doors that need to have a natural look to match the rest of your kitchen. See what Bob Vila has to say about kitchen cabinet materials.

Custom Cabinetry In The Foothills Of North Carolina

If you’re looking for kitchen cabinetry that stands out from the crowd, our artisans at Walker Woodworking have been crafting custom creations since 1999. We can help guide you concerning design, materials, and layout of the cabinetry in your kitchen remodel. If you need a custom fit for unique spaces or a one-of-a-kind look for refined interiors, we’ve got you covered. Whatever your custom cabinetry needs, please view the before and after gallery on our website to see what we can do for you, and then give us a call to see how we can help you realize your kitchen cabinetry goals with the material and design of your choice.

/onApril 21, 2019/updatedNovember 9, 2025/inDesign Notes

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