I vote #1 because after a while if you want them dark you can stain again but can’t do it the other way around. Can go from light to dark pretty easily but dark to light would be more difficult, I would think. More on reddit.com

Why do people insist on solid wood as if it’s better. I’m not trying to be critical, but maybe as an industry we just haven’t helped clients fully see the downsides of working with solid materials for large dimension applications. It’s so difficult to keep wood stable without notable expanding, contracting, bowing, twisting etc. More on reddit.com

I'd use a catalyzed lacquer. More on reddit.com

Veneer is real wood. It's thin slices of real wood glued to a backing panel. The best logs get sliced into veneer. When you use veneer, you can make a whole kitchen from one log, and it will all match perfectly. Lesser quality logs get made into boards. When you make a whole kitchen from boards, they will come from many different logs, and won't match as well as veneer. Some people like that variation, some don't. Veneer on plywood or MDF is more dimensionally stable than solid wood. It will warp and twist less. You can make slab doors from veneered panels. A lot of MCM designs use slab doors. Solid wood is not good for slab doors. They would warp too much. You'll need 5-piece frame and panel doors if you go with solid wood. The frame and panel construction keeps the door flat. Laminate is not real wood. It's resin impregnated paper, that sometimes has patterns printed on it. Nothing wrong with laminate. It's more durable than veneer. But woodgrain laminate is just resin impregnated paper with a picture of wood grain printed on it More on reddit.com