Painted cabinet doors are generally at the top of the price point, with polyurethane in either gloss, satin or Matt finishes being rather expensive, and hand painted doors even more so. Laminate on the other end of the scale are cheaper, but also only have the option of a flat door. If a profile is what you what, as most if not all painted doors are profiled, ( have a door shape), but the durability of laminate is wanted, then a vinyl door can provide both. Depending on your door provider, try to stick with Australian manufactured vinyl doors to ensure they meet our regulations, such as albedor or tesrol doors, and they will give you best of both worlds. Also, being that they are cheaper than painted timber doors, modern kitchen construction means replacing doors are as easy as clipping off hinges, and ordering new ones!

Thanks for your comments, my concern was more about scratches, than wipe off splashes etc. Actually if anything the kitchen will get too much light as it forms part of an extension in our reno which will see high rise windows go above normal wall height windows. Resulting in a 3.400m or 11' 15'' high ceiling! It's an open plan area which will have an adjoining dinning area. The colour of our cabinets is a taupe - a bit on the mauve side, called Kashmir, we have increased the tone because of the increase amount of light hitting the cabinets, so looking at a sample in our current low ceiling area is rather tricky. Prior to the colour and texture change we were looking at a Platine grey - neutral and pale, and a texture matt - actually velvety, rather nice. Below are the colours we are considering, Kashmir left, Platine right. A splash back and the island bench top of Quantum Quartz, Statuario Quartz, the dark colour to the far left is Anthracite to be used minimally on some tall cabinets and under the island bench, the ruler represent the aluminium kick board. The cement look grey floor tile our new floor through out the open plan area including entrance. We have also changed from having a white coloured bench top, in a virtual horse shoe shape around the island to it being a darker mushroom brown/dark taupe. (sorry no sample) So guess I am still questioning these 3 new changes: gloss finish for the main cabinet colour (anthracite cupds will remain the velvety texture, these will have most of the light hitting them), the colour of the main cupds Kashmir vs Platine, and the introduction of the darker bench top, which will have a tone of light hitting it - to the point I think sunglasses on certain days will be compulsory). We are use to having grey tones in our kitchen - its from the early 90's. you can see here behind the swatches the grey cabinetry work we have been used too and the mid-dark grey marble floor we have had too. We will offset theses grey tones with a wood ceiling, vic ash either left as natural as possible, varnished clear matt or possibly even limed a touch. (pet hate is timber where tone is beautiful and then goes darker or worse goes to a yellow tone), this wood will go out under our eaves and be repeated under an out door eating area. Plus we will have a lot of decking. Will definitely introduce some wood in floating shelves, chopping boards, some copper or brass. Possibly glassy/coppery pendants in kitchen and dinning area. Any thoughts on my second guessing? Thanks so much.

I would recommend a door that goes back into the sides of space. But sorry I can't think what they are called. Maybe retractable? This then allows for space to be completely open without doors or hinges in the way. The only negative is that they do take up extra space when retracted back into sides of cabinet. Having a study desk separate from the bedroom, in my experience is a good idea. The bedroom is for the children to relax and chill, but the study desk is for work and concentration. And when they have finished study for the day, the doors can be closed without having to pack books away.

Part of the appeal of the cupbaords in your photo is that the clever cabinetmaker has used real timber, possibly a timber veneer, to grain match the doors. This means that even though are a lot of doors the timber has come from the same tree, and the grain pattern is continuous across the doors. Not all kitchen cabinetmakers have this level of craftsmanship and such a good eye for detail, and such craftsmanship comes at a price. The products that you mention are good imitations of timber grain, but like a wallpaper have a "repeat". This means that it is next to impossible to get grain matching across doors. For some people this doesn't matter, but some people find mis-matched timber grain really annoying. You need to decide what type of person you are, and decide to spend big, or look at other options... The photo is of some mismatched, timber-look doors. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls