Kitchen Cabinets

The majority of kitchen cabinets that you will find in RBS are sandwich wood covered with formica.  This is what every Kablan usually offers in a project.   They may only offer a few basic colors but for an added price you can choose something else.  There are a lot of choices when it comes to choosing the color and style of formica you want. Formica comes in shiny modern finishes, solid colors, wood grain imitations and funky finishes.  Sandwich wood is strong, durable and much less expensive than solid wood.  Here are a few pictures of formica colors, some from kitchens and others from closets.

whisky pear wood formica

A more creative design with Formica cabinetry

Glossy white formica with stainless steel edges

Light Pear wood pattern formica with milky frosted glass

Linear grain light wood formica

A funky grained shiny formica pattern

Even if you were to choose solid wood for your cabinetry the inner shelving would still be made from sandwich to keep costs down. Solid wood cabinets are thinner and lighter, and are built for years to come.

Solid wood mixed with some glass fronts

Dark chocolate wood cabinets

Pecan colored solid wood kitchen

 Wood veneer is another option where the sandwich wood is covered in a thin layer of  real wood rather than formica.  It looks beautiful and rich but is much more delicate than formica and it can get scratched easily.

With wood veneer you get a beautiful authentic solid wood look

Blonde wood veneer

If you want a 'frame' on your cabinet (shaker style) front but can't afford wood or painted MDF than you can always go for laminate (known here as polymer or formex). Laminate is basically a plastic covered MDF that has a form (different frame shapes and beadboard styles). It  comes in a few different colors and imitation wood grains. Price wise it runs higher than formica but much less than painted MDF (shyflack), wood veneer or wood.

white polymer

walnut wood pattern polymer

Dark brown black polymer

'Pear wood' Polymer with a curved frame at the top

Shlyflack is basically a painted (any paint color of your choice) wood or MDF cabinet using an expensive painting process (baking the paint on) for a smooth finish. You won't see the wood grain at all with this technique.  Shyflack can be done using MDF or wood (more expensive) and they look exactly the same.

Shyflack painted on MDF in a yellow tone

White MDF shyflack with a detailed border

With glass

After spending ages agonizing over which color formica to get in my previous kitchen, I realized that the best way to make a choice was to go and see other people's kitchens.  It is so much easier when you actually see the small sample of formica you have been pondering over on a larger scale.    My current kitchen has wood veneer on the bottom and wood Shlyflack on the top. I have noticed scratches on the veneer but it doesn't really bother me.

 Just as an added note,  I also want to mention that getting custom made utensil trays for your drawers are well worth the money, I can't imagine my utensil drawers without it.

These drawer inserts are made to size

If you have a cabinet choice that you love and want to share a picture please send it to me!