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!

Hi Fiona. Those boards were replaced after initial build (after installing new wider slider), so that’s why they were lighter. It was weathered and needing a clean and recoil there. I took cutek’s (expensive)advice and started with quik clean (loosens dirt which was evidently incorporated into my layers of oil), then followed with pro clean (timber brightener). I scrubbed my butt off and was still not happy with the result. It just didn’t evenly clean it up, and I used fairly concentrated doses, and got down on my knees to scrub, not just a brush on a long stick. I oiled with cutek extreme (instead of cd50). Some more pics, after scrubbing then after oiling (still dark). I did redo my handrail in johnstones deck oil, and it appears to be lasting well, no peeling... but I’m still a bit cautious about risking my deck with this finish (water based over oil). I think I’d prefer dirty weather deck than a peeling finish. Next house I’m only having timber deck if it’s entirely undercover!! Do you have a similar dilemma?

Hi Wren, what a lovely setting! I would be inclined to match the door colour in with the exterior wall colour. Include the casing, threshold and trims as well and this way you will end up with the timber, black and your main paint colour to give a better sense of balance. Good luck! Regards, Kathryn.

We are turning an old modified colonial with deep wrap around verandas into a modern farmhouse. We love the recent colour scheme we've seen emerging on old colonials and queenslanders of fresh white exteriors and interiors which really contrast stained honey coloured timber doors and windows and let them stand out and sing. But we're trying to nail down specific paints for walls and trims that do it. Has anyone done a similar colour and got advice? Cheers, hive-mind!