White Kitchens - Maintenance and Upkeep

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of planning for a kitchen renovation and I would love to go with an all white kitchen. I know this is very basic, but I like it and think they look very classic. My one concern is whether it is difficult to keep the white cabinets clean. Am I overthinking this or do white cabinets easily show dirt with children's grubby handprints, cooking grease, etc. Does it depend on the quality of the paint? Also - any thoughts on good white paint colors? In practice, should I be looking for an off-white?

[Anonymous]

I have an all white kitchen that I love. Carter’s marble (would NOT do this again) and creamy off white cabinets and walls. Marble backsplash. Stainless appliances.

The cabinets are easy to keep clean - just wipe them down regularly the same way you would anything. I think they show less dust and fingerprints than wood. The main problem with painted cabinets - even high quality, factory shellacked wood, is that you’ll get paint warping and peeling in areas where you get moisture. We mainly have this near the handle on our trash drawer. Really annoyed and I’m not sure how you fix…

In terms of countertops, do NOT do marble. I cannot stress this enough. They are impossible to keep looking good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an all white kitchen that I love. Carter’s marble (would NOT do this again) and creamy off white cabinets and walls. Marble backsplash. Stainless appliances.

The cabinets are easy to keep clean - just wipe them down regularly the same way you would anything. I think they show less dust and fingerprints than wood. The main problem with painted cabinets - even high quality, factory shellacked wood, is that you’ll get paint warping and peeling in areas where you get moisture. We mainly have this near the handle on our trash drawer. Really annoyed and I’m not sure how you fix…

In terms of countertops, do NOT do marble. I cannot stress this enough. They are impossible to keep looking good.

Do you mean Carrara marble? Did you get them honed or polished? What does looking good mean to you? Etching is inevitable with marble, so yes, if you cant handle that, do not get marble. We have one section of marble in our kitchen and I absolutely love it. But they definitely do not look pristine. Also, honed finish should hide the imperfections better than polished.

[Anonymous]

You need to be careful with belts or buttons that may hit cabinet fronts and chip the paint. Also, some people cause damage near handles/knobs just by using their hand to open the door.

Otherwise, we just wiped our cabinets clean.

[Anonymous]

You want your cabinets to be painted for you, to order, with a paint you can buy again. When the inevitable happens, you take off that door and the painter takes it to be stripped and resprayed with the same paint.

If you get a factory finish that’s not a paint you can buy again, you’ll never be able to match it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You want your cabinets to be painted for you, to order, with a paint you can buy again. When the inevitable happens, you take off that door and the painter takes it to be stripped and resprayed with the same paint.

If you get a factory finish that’s not a paint you can buy again, you’ll never be able to match it.

If someone was to do a remodel, are you saying to get them hand painted instead of factory finished?

[Anonymous]

Can you do a light oak wood on the bottom cabinets with everything else white? It would still look airy and brighter but may hold up more to dirt/children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you do a light oak wood on the bottom cabinets with everything else white? It would still look airy and brighter but may hold up more to dirt/children

That is what we did-

[Anonymous]

I have a knotty pine kitchen. I only need to wipe my cabinets when something spills on them. No chipping finish, even though it’s decades old.

White kitchens are beautiful, but it sounds like they are slightly more work. Only you know how much you’re willing to do.