Schüller Salona Kitchen

Salona is the matt laminate slab front with an anti-fingerprint surface, sitting at price group 3 and available handled or handleless. It is the practical middle ground of the Schueller catalogue: more finish quality than Nova, less outlay than the lacquer programmes, and an AFP coating that makes it viable in the darker colours where a standard matt would struggle.

Six colours are offered, running Crystal White and Seashell White at the pale end, Sand Grey and Pebble Grey through the middle and Lava Black at the dark end. It is a deliberately tonal palette designed to be used across a whole kitchen or split two-tone within the same range, and the greys are the strongest part of it. Pebble Grey in particular is one of those colours that changes usefully through the day, reading almost warm in evening light and cleanly neutral under daylight.

The reason to pick Salona over a lacquer front is straightforward durability. A matt laminate is harder-wearing than a lacquer at the edges and around the handle zone, it is completely unaffected by steam, and it takes cleaning products that would eventually dull a painted surface. In a household with young children or in a rental property being fitted to last, that is the right trade. The AFP coating means Lava Black stays looking flat and even rather than showing every hand mark, which is the usual failure of dark matt kitchens. As a slab it works with recessed grip rails, J profiles, handleless systems or conventional bar handles. Rigid built cabinets, fully assembled, soft-close hardware throughout and the 5 year Schueller guarantee.