Timber vs MDF Kitchen Door/Drawer Fronts

[MJNewton]

We are in the middle of designing a kitchen from DIY Kitchens and have decided to have shaker-style door/drawer fronts. They have five options available varying in price and material:

Malton (from £24) - Foil wrap MDF, 22mm
Clayton (from £29)- Painted MDF, 22mm
Stanbury (from £32) - Lacquered MDF, 19mm
Linwood (from £50) - Solid timber with veneer panel, 20mm
Norton (from £52) - Solid timber with veneer panel, 20mm

Having received a sample of each our preferred (well, my wife's - they're all starting to look pretty much the same to me) is the Norton. I don't have issues with it being the most expensive, particularly if there are some benefits to it (aesthetics, feel, longevity etc), but I am concerned about the any drawbacks such as structural stability, warping etc with it being timber. Should I be at all worried?

We have an MVHR system and the kitchen is part of a family room and so we strive to maintain decent air quality and so don't anticipate an overly humid environment if that helps mitigate the risks.

Any comments (concerns/reassurances)?

Edited by MJNewton on Wednesday 4th December 23:43

[singlecoil]

The main one to avoid is the foil-wrapped.

Painted MDF is what I would go for out of that lot.

[Blakeatron]

On the flipside i would go solid timber veneered panel!

Also agree foil wrapped are the budget choice.

[singlecoil]

There's no doubt that the solid timber is to be preferred but budget is clearly an issue and with so much of this type of kitchen being chipboard and MDF anyway, regardless of the door choice, it makes sense not to pay any more than is necessary for the doors.

[rsbmw]

We just did a DIY kitchen in Linwood, it’s very good and I would certainly suggest it over the alternatives

[singlecoil]

rsbmw said:

We just did a DIY kitchen in Linwood, it’s very good and I would certainly suggest it over the alternatives

What did you find was the main difference between the Linwood and the one with the MDF doors?

[rsbmw]

The door frames being solid ash and thus having a prominent grain was the clear difference over MDF. We took the trip over to DIY kitchens and looked at all the options.

[Pheo]

Likewise just done the same (Linwood). Can’t see the cost benefit to the other one. Wouldn’t go Foil Wrapped. Had painted MDF in the last house and it was fine, from DIY, but for a shaker you want the wood grain.

Have also just fitted a Howdens unit to the utility, Fairford which is one of their cheaper ones, but I must say it’s carp compared to DIY - the back of the unit is already warped out, the panels are thin. I really don’t think the prices were hugely different either (although definitely cheaper, my wife used to work there and they’re still kind to me for discount!). Burford which is their wood range is very nice though.

[MJNewton]

Thanks everyone for the input.

I think the main aspect pushing us towards the timber options was the grain. Whilst one of the MDF options had a fake grain we figured if we liked the grain then we may as well go for the real thing. The non-grained MDF options looked slightly 'plastic' in finish given how perfectly smooth they were which some might really like - particularly for a modern look - but it wasn't working for us.

Regarding the difference between Linwood and Norton this was just a subjective preference between the former having grooved joints and the latter being flush.

Nice kitchen by the way rsbmw. Is that Dove Grey for the perimeter units? (It's what we're going for) Also, what is the worktop? We've currently got our eye on the 'Innova Unique Marble' quartz which I believe might be an exclusive (or at least exclusively-named!) one for DIY Kitchens from Silestone.

[Daaaveee]

rsbmw said:

We just did a DIY kitchen in Linwood, it’s very good and I would certainly suggest it over the alternatives

We will be ordering Linwood in carbon and dove grey or normal grey soon, so also wondering which grey this is? Thanks.

[SEDon]

We've ordered Clayton bespoke painted, decided it looked better without the grain in the dark navy colour we went for

[singlecoil]

MJNewton said:

I think the main aspect pushing us towards the timber options was the grain. Whilst one of the MDF options had a fake grain we figured if we liked the grain then we may as well go for the real thing. The non-grained MDF options looked slightly 'plastic' in finish given how perfectly smooth they were which some might really like - particularly for a modern look - but it wasn't working for us.

It's funny how tastes vary. I recently lost a sale because I couldn't offer the smooth look that she wanted.

[MJNewton]

You can't win sometimes!

[sgtBerbatov]

I'd use MDF sparingly, and go for good ol' timber.

[rsbmw]

This is dove grey, from the sample I thought it was too light although we loved it in the store. Once in however it’s perfect.

Walls are Dulux white cotton which is a slight grey white, more contrast Vs kitchen than appears in that photo

[MJNewton]

Okay thanks!

[lewisf182]

rsbmw said:

We just did a DIY kitchen in Linwood, it’s very good and I would certainly suggest it over the alternatives

That looks bloody lovely! Very similar to what I want except i’ve binned the quartz silestone worktop as it basically doubled the cost of the kitchen and going with solid wood instead. Your worktop looks very similar is it quartz?

[rsbmw]

lewisf182 said:

That looks bloody lovely! Very similar to what I want except i’ve binned the quartz silestone worktop as it basically doubled the cost of the kitchen and going with solid wood instead. Your worktop looks very similar is it quartz?

Quartz yes. We were set on statuario quartz but when we actually looked at slabs we didn't really like it. Started looking for a pure white quartz but the supplier we ended up using talked us out of it and into what they called "white frost". Basically a white sparkle quartz but much finer particles than most of the similar thing we'd seen. Couldn't be happier really, it was a great decision.

Once we've actually got the skirtings on and finished off properly I'll take some decent pics. Need to update my build thread really too!

Should add that instead of cornice and pelmet, which I always think looks a bit lame, we used tall filler panels top and bottom to create an inframe effect, looks great.

Edited by rsbmw on Thursday 5th December 22:59

[Djcappleby]

What colour is the island please?

[Pheo]

Here are some rubbish photos of ours. Excuse the mess we’ve just had a baby so everything is all over the place! Island is custom painted in RAL6005 - British Racing Green. Dining room walls painted to match. Grey I believe is the dove although it came up on DIY as light grey.

Hope that helps! Fitted some more Howdens Fairford today, not a patch on Linwood or the old Alabaster painted Matt MDF doors we had from DIY in the last place. Cabinet backs are carp in comparison too.