by Rockfish » Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:13 pm
Oak is certainly popular in the UK at the moment, with some stores offering mass-produced oak cabinets and a few doing custom-made ones. You can also get good quality solid pine cabinets; the important thing apart from structural strength is that it's been either clear lacquered or stained to make it more water resistant - but any wooden cabinet will have its limits in that regard if constantly exposed to damp conditions.
Some MDF cabinets can also be ok if they are higher-end quality. If the edges are properly sealed (like ABS plastic edging rather than just iron-on type edging) then they will be similar to the better quality kitchen worktop type boards, which are of course designed to take a fair amount of abuse.