White cabinets in a small rental kitchen?

Question

Hi All, We are renovating a kitchen in a small house that we are going to live in for a few years and then rent out.  The kitchen is small and we are trying to decide what finish to do the cabinets (they will be solid wood) that will help the kitchen to look bigger, but will also be durable enough for tenants.  Has your experience been that white cabinets age faster and/or show more wear and tear?  Thanks for your feedback!

Kathleen Leary · Answer

Here's a photo of the kitchen. It's not a fancy place, by any means, but you should've seen it before!

Mike Dymski · Answer

Looks like I will be in the minority here but I am not a fan of painted cabinets in rentals until they have to be painted.  Stained or just poly-ed cabinets hide imperfections much longer.

Painting cabinets is not expensive but it adds up and adds time to turns if you scale to more properties.

Ben Staples · Answer

Sue K. mainly those listed above: they will not hold up over time, harder to keep looking good, etc.

Account Closed · Answer

I LOVE this kitchen!

Account Closed · Answer

What was the cabinet guy's reason for not liking white cabinets?  I'm curious.

Matthew Augustine · Answer

Plus one for the white cabinets, for all the above reasons, particularly in a small space. Make sure it's a gloss and not a matte finish, as they will get dirty and will be much easier to clean.

Ben Staples · Answer

@Laura Levine @Kathleen Leary @Jeff Arndt Any updates and learnings on how the white cabinets turned out?  I'm rehabbing a buy and hold in Malden MA.  I was really excited to put some nice shaker style white cabinets in, but then my cabinets guy scared me off from it.

Kathleen Leary · Answer

Here in the Midwest, white cabinets & woodwork are pretty traditional. My personal thought is that light cabinets are nice in a small space - a good (note: GOOD!) paint job will hold up well over time if you don't have total monster-tenants.  It's also easy to touch up, whereas a damaged natural wood finish may be more of a problem. (I'm rehabbing a small rental right now & the cabinets will be white - maybe I'm just biased!)

Franklin Romine · Answer

I will paint existing cabinets white...If you are replacing the cabinets I would go with something with color a mocha or tan.  I've used cabinetstogo.com and GCB imports out of Las Vegas.

White cabinets in a small rental kitchen?

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