To add one additional thought to the excellent responses already in
this thread...

For cabinet sides that don't show, you can use cheaper plywood rather
than a hardwood ply like cherry (for example). This would be mostly
in areas of the base cabinets that have drawers top to bottom, under
the sink maybe 'cause you don't really store nice stuff down there,
and so on.

Upper cabinets are mostly visible inside (both due to their location
and contents) so you'd want to stick with the better ply.

I'm getting ready to start on mine as well. Have all the materials
but the hinges, door handles, and magic wand (to wave over the mass of
materiel in the basement and make it transform into the finished
products). But, since I just (well somewhat recently) moved to this
house, I gotta run power to the shop, rip out and redo the drywall
with mold that I found when I was making the outlet box holes, put
the fence back on the saw, and on and on and on...

'nuther couple of cents (or is that sense?) for your collection.
Renata

On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:53:39 -0500, "matthew silver"
wrote:

I've decided to redo our kitchen. (well, I had help making the decision

My initial thought was to use 3/4" plywood, but after looking at a number of
recently re-done kitchens, I notice they are all 5/8" melemine.
Is there a concensus on what cabinets should be made of ?
Plywood or Melemine ? 5/8" or 3/4" ?

Thanks in advance

Matt