Short answer: choose melamine when you want a lower price, an even colour and a surface that needs little care. Choose wood veneer when you want the grain of real wood on the faces people see and the budget allows it. Many projects use both: veneer on the visible fronts, melamine inside the cabinets and in the service rooms.

What is the difference between melamine and wood veneer?

Melamine is a printed decorative paper, soaked in resin and pressed onto the board in the factory. The colour or wood pattern is printed, so every panel looks the same.

Wood veneer is a thin sheet of real wood glued onto the board and then finished with lacquer. The grain is real, so no two panels are identical.

Both are faces on an engineered board.

How do melamine and wood veneer compare?

The price ranges are guide prices for kitchen cabinets and exclude worktops and appliances. The full table is on our published price ranges page.

When is melamine the better choice?

• Cabinet interiors: carcasses, shelves and the inside of wardrobes.
• Laundry, pantry, storage and utility rooms.
• Rental units and projects with many identical rooms, where every unit has to match.
• Any project where the budget decides the finish.

When is wood veneer the better choice?

• Kitchen fronts, islands and wardrobe doors in the main living spaces.
• Wall panels and doors that should read as one timber surface.
• Projects where the designer has specified a timber species, such as oak or walnut.

Can you mix melamine and wood veneer in one project?

Yes, and it is the usual way to control cost. Put veneer where it is seen and melamine where it is not. A melamine in a matching wood tone is often used for the cabinet interiors behind veneer doors.

Mark the finish room by room on your drawings, so the quote follows the same split.

How should you ask a factory to quote both options?

Ask for the same drawings priced twice: once in melamine, once in veneer. Keep everything else the same, including the board, the hardware and the trade term. Then the difference between the two totals is the finish and nothing else.

Our guide on how to compare cabinet quotes lists the other lines to hold constant.

What should you check on a sample before you decide?

• The edge. Look at the join between the face and the edge band. We use PUR glue for edge banding.
• The colour in your own light. Take the sample to the site and look at it in daylight and at night.
• For veneer, the range of grain and tone. Ask how much variation to expect across the order.
• The board behind the face. Our cabinet sides and shelves are 18mm, and door panels are 18mm or 22mm. Boards are ENF grade, with E0 and E1 also available.

See how material samples work before you approve a design.

How do you get a price for your own project?

Send your drawings and tell us which rooms you want in melamine, which in veneer, and which you want priced both ways. We accept DWG, PDF and 3D drawings. See what to send for a quote, or contact us on +86 13302428306.