# Colours & Finishes — kitchen guides for Auckland 17 guides from the MTN Kitchens & Joinery workshop team on colours & finishes. 23+ years in trade · 2,000+ kitchens supplied & installed across Auckland · Laminex NZ fabricator. - [Standard Kitchen Sizes and Layouts for NZ Townhouse Developments](/blog/standard-kitchen-sizes-nz-townhouse) — Standard NZ kitchen cabinet sizes, bench heights and townhouse layouts, and why locking the spec early cuts cost and protects the programme across Auckland multi-unit developments. - [The Best Rental Kitchen Materials for Low Maintenance](/blog/best-rental-kitchen-materials-low-maintenance) — How to spec a low-maintenance rental kitchen in Auckland: forgiving finishes, durable benchtops and hardware that survives tenants and turns over fast. - [Kitchen Cabinet Finishes Explained: Lacquer, Melamine, Timber](/blog/kitchen-cabinet-finishes-explained) — Auckland trade guide to kitchen cabinet finishes: 2-pac lacquer, melamine and timber veneer compared on cost, durability and volume fit-out. - [Designing a Small Kitchen That Feels Bigger](/blog/designing-small-kitchen-feels-bigger) — How to make small Auckland townhouse and apartment kitchens feel bigger: layout, storage, colour, light and finish decisions, built for developers and renovators working to programme and budget. - [Custom Kitchen vs Flat-Pack: Which Is Right for You?](/blog/custom-kitchen-vs-flat-pack-which-is-right) — An honest Auckland take on custom versus flat-pack kitchens: cost, fit, lead time, finishes, and where trade-built supply-and-install lands for a single kitchen. - [Choosing a Benchtop Colour That Lasts](/blog/choosing-a-benchtop-colour-that-lasts) — An Auckland kitchen maker on choosing a benchtop colour that still looks right in ten years: light vs dark, veined vs plain, matching cabinetry and floor, resale-safe picks, what dates fastest, and maintenance by colour. - [Kitchen Lighting: Task, Ambient and Under-Cabinet](/blog/kitchen-lighting-task-ambient-under-cabinet) — A practical Auckland guide to layering kitchen light - task, ambient and under-cabinet LED, pendant heights over the island, colour temperature, dimming and exactly what to wire before the GIB goes on. - [Two-Tone Kitchen Design, Done Right](/blog/two-tone-kitchen-design-done-right) — How to combine two colours or finishes in a kitchen without dating it. Where to split, which combinations last, the traps to avoid, and how to spec it at trade pricing in Auckland. - [Sustainable and Low-VOC Kitchen Materials in NZ](/blog/sustainable-low-voc-kitchen-materials-nz) — A straight-talking Auckland guide to low-VOC boards and finishes, FSC and recycled options, real durability versus greenwash, and exactly what to ask your kitchen supplier for in NZ. - [Can You Paint Melamine Kitchen Cabinets?](/blog/can-you-paint-melamine-kitchen-cabinets-nz) — Painting melamine kitchen cabinets in NZ: what paint actually holds, the prep that makes or breaks it, and when new doors or resurfacing beat a repaint. - [Do Matte Kitchen Cabinets Show Fingerprints? (Dark Ones Do)](/blog/matte-kitchen-cabinets-fingerprints-nz) — Less than gloss — but a dark flat matte will surprise you. Why smudges show, which colours hide them, and the anti-fingerprint mattes worth paying for. - [Why White Melamine Is the Default NZ Kitchen (and When Not)](/blog/white-melamine-kitchen-nz-default) — Why NZ kitchens default to white melamine: cost, light, resale and easy repairs, what it costs against 2-pac, and cheap ways to break from white well. - [Replacing One Kitchen Cabinet Door: A Part, Not a Project](/blog/replace-one-kitchen-door-or-panel) — How to replace a single kitchen cabinet door: measure width, height, hinge cups and overlay, match the colour, and know when one door should become the run. - [Matching a Discontinued Melteca Colour: The Real Options](/blog/matching-discontinued-melteca-colour) — Discontinued Melteca colour match: the closest current decor, re-facing the visible run, going two-tone, and why wrap or paint rarely saves one door. - [Repainting Occupied Homes and Rentals Without the Disruption](/blog/repainting-occupied-homes-and-rentals-nz) — How we repaint occupied homes, rentals and village units with low-VOC systems and a room-by-room plan, so residents keep living there and each room is back in use the same evening. - [Where the Old Kitchen Goes: Recycling, Lead Paint, Asbestos](/blog/recycling-lead-paint-and-asbestos-on-a-strip-out-nz) — What responsible strip-out and disposal looks like on older NZ buildings: sorting and recycling materials, handling lead-based paint safely, surveying for asbestos before demolition, and documenting it for reporting. - [No Showroom? How to Choose a Kitchen You Can Actually Touch](/blog/choosing-a-kitchen-without-a-showroom-nz) — We don't run a showroom, but you still see and feel everything: real door, benchtop and hardware samples brought to your home and chosen in your own light, before a single thing is made. [All kitchen guides](/blog) · [Get a quote](/#quote) · [Areas we serve](/kitchens)