When it comes to designing your dream kitchen, choosing the right materials for your cabinet boxes and doors is important. With a plethora of options available, it can be overwhelming to determine which material is best suited for your needs. In this guide, MCK Kitchen & Bath, your premier kitchen and bath design experts in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, will explore the various types of materials used for kitchen cabinets and help you make an informed decision.

The cabinet doors and end panels are the essential exterior components of your kitchen. They are the visible portion that projects the colour, tone or pattern of the desired design.

Wood Doors

Wood cabinet doors have long been a popular choice for kitchens, thanks to their timeless elegance and durability. Options such as oak, maple, cherry, and walnut offer natural beauty and warmth that can enhance any kitchen design. Wood cabinets are known for their strength and resilience, making them an excellent long-term investment for your home. They are also among the most expensive options available and must be met with the understanding of natural characteristics. Clear finishes or stains can further enhance the natural wood grain patterns.

Painted Doors

Painted doors are not only on trend, but offer the widest options of customization and colour matching. Paint can be applied to solid wood doors or engineered wood panels. Nova Scotia has drastic humidity swings throughout the season’s and wood doors with paint tend to show the stress of that expansion and contraction that occurs.

Laminate Doors

Laminate is an industry catchphrase that covers engineered finishes that mimic wood and other textures. The technology available to panel producers today has produced some amazing results. Many of these options have superior technical performance characteristics over their traditional counterparts at a better price point. What this means is that the consumer can achieve premium esthetics while staying within budget.

What’s on the inside is also important. The cabinet boxes are the structure behind the doors, again with many construction options.

Cabinet boxes – Veneer Core plywood

In the 60’s, when solid wood construction became far out of reach of budget and available skill sets, veneer core plywood was the next logical choice. Multiple layers of peeled wood fiber are assembled using heat, pressure and glue with an outside decorative layer of wood veneer. Still used today in higher end cabinet construction, it offers the strongest box construction but comes with a premium price and requires a finish of some sort. Caution is needed however as there are import plywood products on the market that do not meet the same performance and environmental criteria that domestic panels must achieve.  

Composite Panels

A variety of engineered wood panels dominate the cabinet and furniture industry today and have come a long way from the “chip board’” products of old. Particleboard and MDF make up the majority of cabinet box construction nowadays for good reason. Beyond the superior stability and performance characteristics, the industry that produces these panels is governed on emissions, recycled content and sustainability. A cabinet box constructed of a melamine coated particleboard is the perfect blend of value, durability and performance. Modern production and installation techniques ensure this type of assembly can handle the abuse a typical kitchen experiences, along with the added weight of today’s stone countertops.

Conclusion: Choose Quality Cabinets with MCK Kitchen & Bath

When it comes to selecting the best material for your kitchen cabinets, it’s essential to consider your budget, style preferences, and lifestyle needs. At MCK Kitchen & Bath in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, we offer a wide range of high-quality cabinet materials and finishes to suit every taste and budget. Our team of experienced designers will work closely with you to select the perfect cabinets for your dream kitchen. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and take the first step towards creating the kitchen of your dreams with MCK Kitchen & Bath