Metal kitchen cabinets - yes or no?
There was a time when metal kitchen cabinets were widely used in our homes and offices. With the 1950s, and the huge movements of people and rising economies which cam after the War, they became less popular and now while there is something of a resurgence in these practical, attractive cabinets, you would have to say the uptake is cautious and small.
However, our grandparents found they were a good buy. And that at a time when real wood was readily available at modest prices and they would have easily been able to fit out their kitchens with wood cabinets.
For one thing metal kitchen cabinets look good, can come in any color, are low cost (something our grandmothers would have appreciated about their kitchen), resistant to stains and chemical corrosion, and easy to care for and clean. Scratches were never a problem: they could be rubbed off with the right abrasive.
But there are some downsides. I know about this from personal experience in homes and offices I have used in the Middle East, where I lived with my family for a while.
A metal cabinet is less solid and substantial, to the eye and touch, than a wooden kitchen cabinet. The doors, in particular, are light and easily flexed and bent.
Then, they make more noise than a wooden cabinet. In the kitchen, which is usually small and might be tiled, this can be magnified into a distraction.
Metal kitchen cabinets are difficult to work with if a plumber is installing pipes around your kitchen. A dishwasher that is going in next to an existing metal cabinet, for example, will need perfectly drilled holes for the water piles and electric cables to pass. Easy with wooden cabinets, but demanding and costly with metal.