resale value and new kitchen cabinet choice, white or wood stain?

[poohfriend]

We're re-doing our kitchen. Two years ago when we sold our house.

If you were shopping for a home, would you prefer your kitchen to have:

Bisque Painted cabinets with a chocolate glaze
Medium Maple cabinets with a chocolate glaze
Shaker cabinets with a honey-cherry finish (light finish with a red sheen)

We'll go with either solid-surface or granite (can't afford quartz).

We currently have oak wood floors in a medium finish. I was leaning toward the Medium Maple, but the kitchen is small so the white might make things bigger.

I like all three!

The DIS is the place I go for real information... I appreciate your opinions.

 

[meliss8599]

Can you post pictures? I'd like a better idea of what each will look like before I vote.

 

[MrsPete]

If the TV decorating shows are any indication, white cabinets are very much in style these days. I like them personally, but that may or may not fit into your whole house decor.

 

[delmar411]

I'd need pictures of the kitchen and the colors to make any type of decision.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Unless you're planning to sell soon, go with whatever you like the best. Decorating styles come and go out of fashion quickly. I loved the cabinets that we had installed when we had our house built 15 years ago but hated them by the time we redid the kitchen last year. And for every person who loves white cabinets, you'll find another who doesn't (like me...shows the dirt too easily).

 

[stitchlovestink]

If I were house shopping, I personally would 'probably' not consider a house w/ white or off-white cabinetry in the kitchen (unless it was a phenomenal price and everything else was just what I wanted). From the others I have seen, white tends to show dirt very quickly and I have teens (they're not so neat). Off white to me, already looks dirty. But that is just my opinion. I think if you are considering it for resale, I would pick something a little less trendy and more neutral. I have seen some beautiful maple cabinets (w/o the chocolate glaze). I think if you make it too trendy it dates itself very quickly. then the problem for resale becomes it's too good/new to replace, but do I want that for me (as in the buyer). Best of Luck w/ whatever decision you make. I'm just jealous, you're getting a kitchen remodel. I would love one, but cannot afford it right now.

 

[mandalyn]

I have shaker with a similar honey cherry finish so I'm kind of partial.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I have maple cabinets with chocolate glaze and absolutely LOVE them! We built our house 6 years ago, but I still see cabinets almost like ours in Southern Living and advertisements for kitchen supply companies/cabinet makers. They seem to be a more timeless style.

 

[loud-frog]

I just asked this same question at Home Depot last night. We are re-doing ours as well and I LOVE the maple w/ coffee finish. I asked the the cabinet guy if it was a "trend". He said the trends have been - Oak - then White - then Off-White and now the neutral wood tones. I think it's funny because they all have food name glazes - chocolate, coffee, toffee, mocha...... Sounds like a great candy bar. Anyway - I think if your going to be there for a while, get what you love! If your selling soon, go with a trend. And allmost all kitchen remodels have a good return in house value.

 

[rockyroad]

We have maple with a "toasted almond" glaze picked out.

I figure that in the future it will be possible to paint them white, but I've had white and really don't miss it at all, you know?

I don't know about countertops yet.
I wanted stilestone, but it will use up too much of the budget and I need to get as much bang for the buck as I can. And I can redo the adjoining family room floor with the same ceramic tile as the new kitchen floor for way less than a counter top downgrade.

It may just have to be laminate, but this is a horse property with no real comps so I don't think counter tops will make or break a deal if we should ever have to sell.

 

[D&DDisney]

When looking for houses we tended to avoid homes w/ painted cabinets or woodwork. Much prefer stain and that "real wood" look.
Good Luck whatever you choose.

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

I would definitely walk away from either of the chocolate glazes. Particulary on the white - it just looks dirty to me and I don't think it wears well.

 

[lindsmom]

we redid cabinets / kitchen about 18 months ago, and we have a fairly small space too. We went with a natural stain alder (light, like maple) to brighten up. It actually was bright enough that I was able to get away with half walls painted a dark pine green, and a dark brown marble pattern formica counter. I think the chocolate glaze will temper the brightness a bit, so keep that in mind. Also, IMO, the white cabinets (depending on style) can look very country, whether you're going for that or not.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Trends change so quickly, go with what you like. We have always built our homes. Our first one, built 12 years ago had white cabinets, with corian counters. We heard from realtor that it was out of date when we sold it 6 years later. Our next house was constructed of cherry cabinets with black granite countertops. Five years later we heard the kitchen was dated.

We now have a kitchen with Walnut cabinets and gold/beige granite counters. I bet the trend will change before we sell.

I am surprised that stainless steel is still in fashion. I bet years from now we will talk about the time we all had that hard to keep clean, industrial looking appliances.

It is so difficult to guess the trend of the future.

 

[clh2]

When looking for houses we tended to avoid homes w/ painted cabinets or woodwork. Much prefer stain and that "real wood" look.
Good Luck whatever you choose.

I would not buy a home with painted wood cabinets, unless I had money to immediately rennovate.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I would not buy a home with painted wood cabinets, unless I had money to immediately rennovate.

ITA!

 

[KristiKelly]

I didn't vote. We have fairly dark cherry cabinets - very traditional but they are beautiful. They were supposed to be maple w/ cherry finish but our cabinet guy didn't like how the maple stained so he upgraded us to cherry. I love them.

I (personally) would tend to steer away from trends and stick with something more traditional. Wood stain or white will always be in style. I think with the certain glaze finishes they will go out of style and in a few years will look "so 2009"KWIM. Cabinetry is a big expense so I would stick with something that will not go out of style for awhile. JMPO.

Good luck. Remodeling is a pain!!! I would love to see before & after pics.