IKEA kitchen cabinets

[Sgt Beavis]

Hiya fellas,

Long story short. The wife wants her kitchen remodeled. Since this is prime sandwich making territory, I'm keen to make it happen.

I have been informed that IKEA cabinets are not the crap that I have previously thought they were. After a closer examination I have started to give this line of thought some credibility. However, before I part with the cash for buying and the time for assembly and installation, I thought I would ask the brain trust that is DFWM.

Now you fellas know how important it is to give your SO a proper environment for sandwich making. The one we have was built in the 1990's and the builder was still stuck in the 1980s. Honey oak cabinets, sea foam green Corian counter tops and back splash, and the ugliest blue/green/red slate tile I've ever seen. The cabinets themselves look every bit of their 22 years of age. I won't be refacing or paint them. Time for new stuff. Here are pics of the current kitchen. Note the lack of sandwich making space..




The previous owner installed new appliances but I'm keen to replace those as well. I'm going to put in a gas stove and oven. I'll probably keep our fridge as it is only a couple of years old and in excellent condition..

So my questions:
1. What are your real world perceptions of IKEA cabinet quality?
2. Will non-IKEA appliances fit in these cabinets?
3. Any suggestions for the layout I've started designing?

BTW, the colors, counter tops, and floors are not final. I'm just looking to get the layout right at the moment. Everything else is the responsibility of the sandwich maker.

[ELVIS]

To be honest, that's one of the coolest tile jobs I've seen. Then again, I ain't making your sandwiches!

God bless.

[Sgt Beavis]

meh, I'm ok with the tiles but my wife absolutely hates it. It was popular in the '80s. We are leaning towards wood look tiles. Black slate tiles are the 2nd choice.

[GrayStangGT]

I like the tiles too, just needs different cabinets and counter tops. However as a single guy I'm probably not the person to listen to in the situation.

[BMCSean]

From what I have seen their cabinets seem pretty decent, better than their furniture. The layout looks good, but the cabinets look extra tall, probably just the rendering.

[CJ-95GT]

Put in the least amount of effort while still looking like a rock star to your wife. IMO, you should just change up your current cabinets. Also, I noticed you planned to remove half of them. That friend might be a deal breaker for any potential future buyers.

[Sgt Beavis]

Put in the least amount of effort while still looking like a rock star to your wife. IMO, you should just change up your current cabinets. Also, I noticed you planned to remove half of them. That friend might be a deal breaker for any potential future buyers.

I'm removing a few above the stove top but that's it. Also, all the wall cabinets on the sink side are now going all the way up to the ceiling. So I'm adding a crap load of cabinets..

[8mpg]

Im actually putting in a partial ikea kitchen. Im using the cabinet boxes and interior hardware (almost all drawers) and building my own doors. We are dead set on shaker style doors but ikea doesnt have a good one in white. They only have their adel which is a cheap fiber door, not wood.

I think though the boxes are particle board, they are quality. They assemble easily with an electric screwdriver (drill). If you are doing the whole kitchen, I would suggest getting a brad nailer to put the backs on the cabinets. It will be worth the $50 or so and save you a ton of time.

Aftermarket appliances fit in ikea cabinets. I would however look at some other countertops. Have a marble or granite fabricator put down some counters. The Ikea ones are not that cheap and you can have a much nicer custom job. Check out ikeafans.com for some good info. They have lots of great "ikea hacks" to re-purpose cabinets by stacking, changing door heights, etc.

One last thing... if you are not in a hurry, wait for the 20% off sale. They do it 2-3 times per year. I think its $3500 minimum which isnt hard

[UserX]

What's on the opposite wall behind the microwave/oven? Any chance to open up the kitchen to the rest of the house?

[03mustangdude]

How much room between the cabinets? if its more than 6ft you could throw in an island.

Ikea quality is about the same as lowes/home depot prebuilt quality they just look nicer.

Once you go in though you have to use the software instore and they will help you with ordering everything expect a 1-2 week turnaround to get it shipped to store.

Have someone else install a different countertop instead of the butcher block, those only look good on an island.

Wood look tile ftw almost ready to install mine.

[Sgt Beavis]

Im actually putting in a partial ikea kitchen. Im using the cabinet boxes and interior hardware (almost all drawers) and building my own doors. We are dead set on shaker style doors but ikea doesnt have a good one in white. They only have their adel which is a cheap fiber door, not wood.

I think though the boxes are particle board, they are quality. They assemble easily with an electric screwdriver (drill). If you are doing the whole kitchen, I would suggest getting a brad nailer to put the backs on the cabinets. It will be worth the $50 or so and save you a ton of time.

Aftermarket appliances fit in ikea cabinets. I would however look at some other countertops. Have a marble or granite fabricator put down some counters. The Ikea ones are not that cheap and you can have a much nicer custom job. Check out ikeafans.com for some good info. They have lots of great "ikea hacks" to re-purpose cabinets by stacking, changing door heights, etc.

One last thing... if you are not in a hurry, wait for the 20% off sale. They do it 2-3 times per year. I think its $3500 minimum which isnt hard

Good information there.. thanks. Yea, I was planning on aftermarket countertops anyways. They have quartz and granite at the store but it looked a bit more pricey than what I've seen elsewhere. I have a brad nailer too..

What's on the opposite wall behind the microwave/oven? Any chance to open up the kitchen to the rest of the house?

No can do. The entire kitchen is two feet lower than the room on other side of that wall. The other side is the living room fireplace and built in book case. The wall is also load bearing.

How much room between the cabinets? if its more than 6ft you could throw in an island.

Ikea quality is about the same as lowes/home depot prebuilt quality they just look nicer.

Once you go in though you have to use the software instore and they will help you with ordering everything expect a 1-2 week turnaround to get it shipped to store.

Have someone else install a different countertop instead of the butcher block, those only look good on an island.

Wood look tile ftw almost ready to install mine.

Unfortunately the kitchen is too narrow for an island.

[8mpg]

couple more things... Like 03mustangdude said, they will help you with the order. The list you have just never seems to be right. The instore people are pretty good.

They have to pull your order for you. This is totally worth $50 delivery fee if you were wondering. I was planning on taking it home with the truck and trailer to find out there were something like 275 items and the total weight with no doors was 3500lbs. My order was ready in 2 days. If they dont have something in stock, they can mail it to you for a modest shipping charge.

Those cabinet doors in the picture look like adel white.. in my opinion, they suck and are the reason Im doing custom made doors. There are companies out there like Scherrs that makes custom doors specifically for Ikea. They are nice because you tell them the cabinet size and they should already have the measurements and the drill hole locations (its all metric). Apparently the prices arent that much more than Ikea.

[CJ-95GT]

Eh, I'm not a fan but its your kitchen. One of the issues you mentioned above is sammich making space which you hope to resolve with the little added lip on the end. IMO, the additional space won't help and it closes the kitchen off a bit. I'm all for new counters, backsplash, and tile work. Also, do you already have gas going into the wall? I'm a fan of the glass top that you have since it's easy to clean up. Also looks like you're ditching the microwave. To each their own. Good luck with this project.

[Sgt Beavis]

couple more things... Like 03mustangdude said, they will help you with the order. The list you have just never seems to be right. The instore people are pretty good.

They have to pull your order for you. This is totally worth $50 delivery fee if you were wondering. I was planning on taking it home with the truck and trailer to find out there were something like 275 items and the total weight with no doors was 3500lbs. My order was ready in 2 days. If they dont have something in stock, they can mail it to you for a modest shipping charge.

Those cabinet doors in the picture look like adel white.. in my opinion, they suck and are the reason Im doing custom made doors. There are companies out there like Scherrs that makes custom doors specifically for Ikea. They are nice because you tell them the cabinet size and they should already have the measurements and the drill hole locations (its all metric). Apparently the prices arent that much more than Ikea.

Thanks for the info on Scherrs. I hadn't even considered using a 3rd party vendor for the doors. I'll definitely look into that.

Eh, I'm not a fan but its your kitchen. One of the issues you mentioned above is sammich making space which you hope to resolve with the little added lip on the end. IMO, the additional space won't help and it closes the kitchen off a bit. I'm all for new counters, backsplash, and tile work. Also, do you already have gas going into the wall? I'm a fan of the glass top that you have since it's easy to clean up. Also looks like you're ditching the microwave. To each their own. Good luck with this project.

Yes, I do have a gas line behind my current range top. Wife wants gas, so I will give her gas..

The Microwave is being moved. It is the unit above the oven. We have no need for a double oven. We are considering a full blown Wolf range/oven instead of the setup you see in the drawings.

[8mpg]

Thanks for the info on Scherrs. I hadn't even considered using a 3rd party vendor for the doors. I'll definitely look into that.



Yes, I do have a gas line behind my current range top. Wife wants gas, so I will give her gas..

The Microwave is being moved. It is the unit above the oven. We have no need for a double oven. We are considering a full blown Wolf range/oven instead of the setup you see in the drawings.

You are a wood worker....build your own doors. Thats my plan as of right now. Router table, chop saw and small table saw.