Please ladies, enjoy your kitchens - you have to live with them all day every day. Unless you are thinking of selling in the really short term then have what you love - the next person will probably replace it all anyway, especially if you plan on being in your home for even 10 years. Kitchens are changing so much with all the new technology and products coming on the market. Mcctrish more photos of your kitchen would be helpful, I really can't comment too much with the photo you have provided, but I have just totally redone my kitchen (all for me) and I intended having a glass splashback but when the time came, I found it was just too plain and would do nothing for my kitchen. I think with the glass, you need to have a stunning feature colour to make it effective. That was my problem, there was no colour I could have to make it 'sing'. Look at photos on Houzz and you will see that glass splashbacks are the feature of kitchens. Start with the splashback before you decide anything else. Also, if you are just replacing your doors, are there any other fixed panels in the room that will be replaced also or will it be necessary for them to stay, which will then affect what you choose.

I took no offense to your comments at all. I'm not swayed either, nor biased by the laminex group. I'd myself go with the lexicon 1/4 to get that perfect match to your interior, polar white is very Starck, like paper, and I beleive is still in the core range??? As for the tab top handles, they are probably what your calling finger pull, if so they will be mounted on the top side of the door and you just use a finger to pull out the lip and they are almost invisible. THe next best thing to a shadow line or finger grip detail. If this is the case, that's why the warranty is void! The joiner will need to shave mm off and slightly rebate this handle to close properly. Any cutting not a vinyl panel voids it's warranty, as it's like cutting open vacuum sealed salami and returning it for refund! Anyway they can avoid this by excluding this handle from offer, or anticipating its selection in the process before ordering doors, so they can reduce the door height by 10mm to accomodate etc, etc. I'm not sure why the warranty is less than the vinyl door than the painted ones, I think your referring to colour tech painted doors? There is also crystal gloss wi a polyurethane finish. Lastly, albedor and tesrol are Australian made vinyl doors, albedor has an extensive profile range of doors, one of the largest, a strong reputation and their service reps are well informed so specifiers always have a great relationship with them. Tesrol I like because they have great provincial accents or accessories like their capping moulds and elements to make a traditional kitchen quite grand a scale, usually only an optin for cashed up kitchens. They are based in NSW, but even in Melbourne, they always met our needs, although slitly dearer. And laminex doors, take the lead off both of those companies, and made here also. They have a very strict quality control, and although vinyl is not their primary product, they do well for service. There are many more worth mentioning, but I myself always ask the joiner who they order through, and ask for their vinyl brochure to select from. If they are not made in oz, then ask for another product, or another joiner. No sense in saving cost on a product which relies heavily on warranty guarantee, replacement and service will be met easier and quicker locally than imported, and more important, our strict standards are regulated to monitor the use of arsenic and formaldehyde, and is not adhered to in many imported door ranges.

It's a tough question that you pose and one we get asked on a daily basis. If you're simply after a flat door (no profile shaping on the front) then you really can't go past laminate. The machine technology available these days is very good, in fact we have recently purchased one of the best edging machines in the industry and will start using it in the next few weeks. It uses a laser to seal the edges so that you almost can't see the glue line at all! This machine is new to the industry and we will be one of the first companies in Victoria to get one. Samples aren't available yet but our showrooms are otherwise well equipped to show different finishes. I would avoid gloss and matt if you're worried about scratches and showing up finger marks. A semi-gloss (for example Laminex Silk finish) is a great in between finish that is very user friendly. All the best!

Unless you are looking at flipping your house in the short term the question of what is in fashion today isn't really that important. What is important is the durability and lifespan of the finish, and how long until you can afford to renovate or resurface your kitchen doors. If you are planning on a renovation that has to last a long time then I would go for a product that has proven to be a durable long-stayer, that is not affected by heat and moisture. The cabinetwork doors are a key visual element of your kitchen so spend the money on making sure that they look good and last the distance. If vinyl wrap doors were less than half the price of a 2-pack finish it may be a different story, but as they are not I would go for the two-pack everytime, and get what you like, and not what fashion dictates. Today's on-trend fashionable kitchen is tomorrow's dated kitchen. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls