College Rental House - kitchen cabinets

[Mitzi Fant]

Hi - I'm new to the site and could really use some advice regarding a rental we have in a college town. Currently, we have a 4 bedroom home rented by college students, including our son. Since we purchased the house, we've used every summer to make upgrades, such as new bathrooms with tiled showers, etc. The home was older and needed updating, so we expected to do some work. This summer we're planning on refacing the kitchen cabinets, new counter tops and sink. My son will be graduating in June, so next Fall when this kitchen re-do will be complete will be the first year, our son isn't in the house. We've been pleasantly surprised by the level of care our current student renters have taken, aside from the their lack of housekeeping skills.

I was thinking of white cabinets as the house gets lots of natural light and for the overall investment of the home, they would work well. My concern is, are we nuts to place white kitchen cabinets in a college rental home? We'd like to keep the home as an investment for at least another 5 yrs.  Also, any suggestions for countertops?