What’s not to love when you see an all-white kitchen design? It speaks of class, elegance, style, and neatness.
Every part of an all-white kitchen is imbued with sleek aesthetics and a cool, majestic vibe. However, with its great power and excellent design, in this case, comes great responsibility.
If you are not careful and meticulous in maintaining your all-white kitchen, you could end up yellowing it.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Your white cabinets and countertops can turn yellow over time, especially if they get too much sunlight directly on them.
This is why you should try to take note of your kitchen and the amount of light it receives. Doing this will inform you of whether your kitchen is a good place for white cabinets and which part of your kitchen should house these cabinets.
Shades and curtains can also help you protect your white cabinet design.
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Factors To Consider Before Installing White Cabinets
White cabinets create an aesthetic wonder in your kitchen. However, that does not mean that they are a must-have.
In fact, you should consider their purpose and your need for them in your daily activities—that is, whether you will be able to care for them as you should.
Before you install white cabinets, consider the factors highlighted below:
Cost
The first question that should roll through your mind is how much all-white cabinets cost, and if you’re looking at an all-white kitchen, how much of your money will the project take?
White cabinets are great. If the wood is not excellent in quality, you will have issues with durability.
Therefore, you need to use quality wood. The finish of the cabinets will also add to the cost. Put these together and work with your budget.
Cooking Periods
How often do you cook, and do you cook oily meals most of the time? If yes, you might want to re-think your choice of white cabinets.
The chances of staining your cabinets increase with the intensity of your cooking. So, if you are not too big on take-outs and snacking, you might want another cabinet color.
Cleaning Periods
How often can you clean your cabinets? If regularly, then you might have a good chance of maintaining your cabinets.
However, if you cannot keep up with cleaning your all-white kitchen regularly, at least daily, you should re-think using white cabinets. It takes a lot of effort to maintain these cabinets.
Investment Period
White cabinets are investments for the long term, and you must be able to invest your money, time, and effort into making sure that your cabinets remain as beautiful as they came.
If you know that you cannot keep up with the consistent efforts to keep your cabinets white, don’t go for white cabinets.
How Can You Keep Your Cabinets White?
White cabinets have always been a trend in the interior decoration business because they always make almost all kitchen designs look fabulous.
White cabinets bring a neat, bright, and sophisticated allure to your kitchen, giving the room a welcoming appeal.
However, you must be ready to put in the work to ensure that your cabinets remain in good shape.
If not, they will lose their color and begin to turn yellow. So, how can you keep this from happening? Check out the tips below:
A. Keep Away from Direct Sunlight
It is no argument that a kitchen needs a lot of natural light to feel warm, useful, and inviting. Without natural light, your kitchen can lose its ability to inspire you to make the best diet possible.
However, the benefit of sunlight can become a nightmare for your white cabinets. When placed under direct sunlight, white cabinets tend to be yellow over time—a nasty hue of color that will irritate you.
Therefore, you should keep your cabinets away from the sunlight. But you do not want to block out all the light.
Instead, figure out a place in your kitchen that receives the least or no sunshine at all and install your cabinets there.
If the light is still too much, use drapes to shade them out and protect your cabinets.
B. Wipe Down Your Cabinets After Cooking
When you cook those tasty meals, your nose dances at the aroma that permeates the air, do you know, however, that the aroma you smell is actually a cloud of oil in gaseous form that will settle on the walls, cabinets, and open areas of your kitchen?
What does this mean? You should wipe down your cabinets and everything you cook. Doing this will help prevent the grease from turning your cabinets yellow and making them dirty.
C. Clean Your Cabinets Regularly
White cabinets will stay white when you clean them regularly. Hence, you should make it a habit to clean your kitchen cabinets immediately after you are done in the kitchen and at least once in a week.
Doing this regularly will help to keep your kitchen clean, beautiful, and white.
Read: How To Clean White Laminate Cabinets That Have Yellowed
What Can You Use to Clean Your White Cabinets?
Cleaning your white cabinets requires no magic formula. You only need to use the household items that have been sitting on your shelf for a long time: vinegar and baking soda, water, and a soft rag or microfiber cloth.
Mix the vinegar, baking soda, and warm water in a ratio of 1:1:2 respectively. Wipe down your cabinets with this mix using the soft rag.
After this initial cleaning, use another rag to wipe the cabinets clean. You can also use just baking soda and water.
Create a paste in the ratio 2:1 of baking soda to water. Apply the paste to discolored areas on your cabinet and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Use a rag and warm water to wipe the paste off. Vinegar alone is also a good alternative.
All these methods should help to take care of the grime and grease on your white cabinets while ensuring that it remains as white as they should.
An all-purpose cleaner or dish soap may do the trick. However, you should always double-check for abrasiveness.
You do not want your cabinets to suffer from harsh chemicals. Also, make sure that the sponge or rag you use is soft and gentle. Scouring sponges are not recommended.