OT: Ikea Kitchen Cabinets Any Experience?

[pjmsj21]

My wife and I just purchased a beachfront home on Puget Sound with the idea of using it as a vacation rental and for our use as well to give us a good idea of whether we want to live there at retirement (3-4 years).

We are considering where to put our limited upgrade dollars into this house and are considering redoing the kitchen using Ikea cabinets. My expectations are that they will not be as nice as the custom cabinets in our primary home that we built 10 years ago. But at the same time I dont want to have to throw them out in three years either.

Thus I would appreciate any input or experience that you may have had.

TIA.

Pat Mc

[Ken Robb]

We gave them serious consideration when we did our kitchen a few years ago. They seem to be sturdy and have lots of neat modular interior components for varying uses in drawers and cabinets. Many of their designs use finishes that will not require special care so they would be suitable for a unit subjected to short-term rentals.

Ultimately went got a full-custom kitchen with pretty traditional cherry cabinets for not THAT much more $$$. i think the small price difference was due to surprisingly high labor charges of the installers recommended by IKEA. We also liked the idea of having one contractor do the whole job from floor to ceiling so there would be no finger-pointing if there was a problem.

Our kitchen is only 10'x10' so we really needed to use every square foot. When we used the IKEA on-line design software (good stuff) we saw that we would have to "waste" a few inches here and there because IKEA components are all built on the same modular dimensions. This is great for universal application of drawer inserts, etc.but not good for using every inch of wall space for cabinets.

If you can install the cabinets yourself following the good instructions provided by IKEA on line I can't imagine getting more bang-for-the-buck. Labor charges by local pros may also be better these days in your area than they were for us a few years ago too.

I think you should use IKEA software to lay out a kitchen in the space available and see how it works for you. In a bigger kitchen the modular limitation would probably be no problem and the IKEA price will give you a good point of comparison compared to other bids you may get.

I would think IKEA might be really good for your purposes.

[Bob Ross]

We went through a complete kitchen renovation a year-and-a-half ago. After looking at a lot of different cabinet options, my wife substantially preferred the aesthetics & functionality of Ikea cabinets over ones costing two and three times as much. So we spoke to a friend who's a custom cabinetmaker, and he said Ikea cabinets were "very well made for the money". Also checked out two kitchens in our co-op development that were done with Ikea cabinets (and installed by our co-op's "preferred general contractor", a phrase which reeks of kickbacks if ever there was one), and we were suitably impressed with the product.

So we went with Ikea cabinets. (And yes, we went with our co-op's "preferred general contractor", who turned out to be wonderful.)

Now a year-and-a-half later, I'm still impressed with how nice our kitchen looks, how functional it is, and how stupid-cheap it wound up being compared to many of the other quotes we'd received.

Yes, the fit of some cabinet doors is less precise than I wish it were. It's not something super-conspicuous, but it's annoying once you notice it...until I remember what we paid, and then it's fine. I would recommend them.

[AngryScientist]

look at the hardware


no direct experience, but have a good look at the hardware used, hinges, drawer sliders, and their attachment points to the cabinets themselves. these are the parts that will make-or-break the usability of the cabinets over thousands of cycles.

[54ny77]

years ago i had an entire ikea kitchen in my little shoebox of an nyc apartment and had no complaints whatsoever. it was plenty durable, very nice, and it just plain worked.

fast forward years later and during course of renovating our existing house we considered going all ikea, the stuff is really nice & well made, even much better than before. by the way, for the space-constrained, they have the nicest counter-depth appliances out there for the money.

like anything with remodel, the devil's in the install. custom cabinetry can look like crap too.

in the end we went with refinishing our existing, and it came out great. if you like your existing cabinetry in general, and just don't like the color/finish of doors, etc., definitely give that some thought. no having to mess with hanging new stuff, etc. etc.

[johnnymossville]

My wife is a kitchen designer, and both of us like Ikea's designs quite a bit. I often think it might be cool to keep my Wood-Mode cabinets, which I love, and re-face them with Ikea doors for an updated look.

[old_fat_and_slow]

.

[stephenmarklay]

In my last smaller ranch home we did one. We used the design tool they have. It took a really long day at Ikea to get everything figured out and organize shipping to our house. We were about 4 hours away.

It went without a hitch and the quality was great for the price.

I was turned onto them at one point reading consumers reports. They said good things.

[Rueda Tropical]

hardware is really high quality -hinges, fittings, inserts, etc., are incredible for the price. What you will get on some much more expensive alternatives is a better finish. If you look at an angle on IKEA stuff you will see orange peel in the lacquer. If you want to spend several times IKEA prices you could get glass smooth finishes. Most people would not see the difference on the flat doors.

Also be aware that only on white and the light blond wood will the box match the front doors. You will see lighter color peeking through unless you glue strips of edge trim tape.

We are very happy with our IKEA kitchen we installed last year. I also got the grey lacquer kitchen cabinets for the garage.

[zennmotion]

We finished a very small (approx 9'X13') kitchen remodel on a tight budget a couple of years ago using Ikea cabinets. Very very happy with the results. Complete kitchen remodel- EVERYTHING, granite counters, new plumbing, electric, appliances, floor etc for less than $15K. There are just two of us, but it's a hard working kitchen, we like to cook, take-out and restaurants are rare for us. We splurged on what's important to us- high end Blue Star stove with super high heat burners for wok cooking, and a second small prep sink that allows both of us in the tiny kitchen at once and keep the veggies away from the dirty pots. Everything else including the cabinets we were very budget conscious (Plan A was a nightmare of a contractor who quit right after he finished the demolition, effectively tied up much of our original budget, another story... we said eff it we'll be our own contractors, took much longer on the learning curve but everything done right and to code) Turns out that dabbling with bicycle frame building is also a useful skill for sweating copper pipe in small spaces.

Ikea Pros: modest cost, solid HW doors in warm light birch color, good for small space. We found the Ikea staff "designers" in the kitchen section really good at suggestions and knew the stock well- what would fit where, ideas etc. A nice bonus- the Ikea folks were much better than the several kitchen specialist guys at both Home Depots and Lowes we talked to while planning. For our small kitchen, we have a LOT of stuff (like I said we really cook- lots of specialized tools, cookware and ingredients) so we really were attracted to some of the very clever space saving gizmos and features that Ikea is known for- European living spaces are generally much smaller than what we're used to in the US. Hardware was solid, easy to install, and is holding up well over time. Hardware is easy to buy extras, and remains consistent over time- styles of doors and such change sometimes but the hardware does not.

Ikea cons: not much really. As was mentioned before, the sizing increments (3 inches for most cabinets) are fewer than other manufacturers. This was a concern in the beginning for us, since we were working with a tight space and every inch counts for storage. But we were able to cut down a few pieces in order to fit- investment in a cheap Sears table saw and a dado blade really paid off, it wasn't difficult and I am no woodworker. There is NO wasted space- corner cabinets remain useful and easy to access. On the other hand, I was not impressed with Ikea faucets and plumbing- I researched solid mid-priced stuff and found deals on Ebay. Ebay is great for stuff like that if you know what you're looking for. We got a great new $900 stove hood that was a little dented on the wall side where you don't see it for 40 bucks shipped. Another source for cheap materials is Habitat for Humanity Restore if there's one near you- recycled and surplus building materials if you have time and patience to explore their warehouse- we got beautiful pressed bamboo composite flooring still in original boxes for 10cents/sq ft- enough to do our entire finished basement, clicks in place.

[Polyglot]

I used to work for an Italian company that supplied kitchen makers throughout the world with doors, drawer fronts and carcasses (the cabinetry upon which you install the hinges, doors, work tops...) I sold product to all the top European manufacturers as well as to many top American and other overseas companies. I was the one who concluded the sale of the Abstrakt line of cabinet doors to Ikea (18 years ago now). I can only say positive things about Ikea and their kitchens. Since returning to the US, I have used the Ikea kitchen lay-out software to design a small kitchen from my parent's pied-à-terre in Brooklyn (they love their kitchen and have stated that in many ways the quality is better than the $70K kitchen in their main home), for a slightly larger kitchen in an investment property that I have since sold next door to my own house (the new owners, my neighbors, are super pleased with the kitchen), for an even larger kitchen for my sister's home (she too loves it). There are so many options that you can add into the design that if you are not happy, something is wrong.

The hinges are top-rate and have nothing to envy when compared to others. They are quick-mount and are fully adjustable in 3D, so if you have sufficient patience and technical skill, you cannot get it wrong (Bob Ross, get your installer to get it right, because there is no excuse for them not being absolutely perfect). Likewise the drawers are top-notch and made of highly durable materials. They are also mostly self closing with a special soft touch meaning that you do not have doors or drawers slamming closed.

As far as counter tops go, they have a very good selection in house, ranging from laminates for the cost conscious (quality wise there is nothing bad about laminates, and they have seemingly earned a bad rap in North America), to Corian or other synthetics, to Natural stones. For counter tops I would suggest consulting some companies that don't do anything other than countertops, as they will be able to even be competitive with Ikea on prices and can often help you.

Another factor that gets a thumbs up from me is the environmental stewardship espoused by Ikea. They avoid the use of the most damaging chemical elements often used in kitchens. The particle board, the MDF and the parts used are all low-impact versions of what is available. There is likewise no PVC and many other items commonly used in kitchen construction. This explains why Rueda Tropical sees some orange peel. Likewise everything is packed in almost completely recyclable packaging.

A few hints, as a rule it is very difficult for somebody who has spent a considerable amount of time in a kitchen to be able to design a kitchen well (ie most men). If you do design your own kitchen from Ikea, do consult a few of the Ikea kitchen designers or consultants to make sure that you haven't made some silly errors such as fitting doors backwards or not leaving enough space for doors and drawers opening simultaneously, or not being able to install water lines for dishwasher or fridge...

[pjmsj21]

Thanks for all of the great input. It looks as if we are going to give serious consideration to IKEA with the idea that perhaps we sub out the counter tops as that may be the most challenging installation area.

[Hardlyrob]

Yes - sub out your counter tops! I haven't used IKEA, but I've done three kitchens in the last 15 years, and I'm starting on a fourth.

The best counter top guys will come out after the cabinets are installed and make a full size template that takes into account all the little irregularities in the walls and the cabinet install. Then make the tops to match the template. When they do this, the counter tops just drop into place with no fussing. Literally a 15 to 20 minute install.

New kitchens are fun!

Cheers!

Rob

[Plum Hill]

I'll third the recommendations to deal directly with the countertop people. Although I got my Corian throught the cabinet maker I dealt with, they gave me the tops at their cost (i.e. no markup), $2K. The other cabinet quotes I received wanted $3K for the tops. Being Corian, all tops came out of the same shop.

Can someone tell me where IKEA sources their cabinets from (domestic or imported)?

[echelon_john]

swedish company; sources globally; definitely not made in US, if that's what you mean

[tiretrax]

I know several people who installed Ikea cabinets in their remodels and still love them years later, with no major problems to report. I have custom cabinets in my current house, and I have had to repair joints, requiring lots of sanding and repainting. I will probably use Ikea cabinets when I build a house.

[binouye]

When we lived in Sweden our apartment had an Ikea kitchen (and most of the rest of the furniture too). It was functional, seemed to have held up well, nothing broke while we lived there. I'd consider them seriously.
But back in the US we used a local custom cabinet builder, since its 5 hours to the nearest Ikea and we wanted some unusual pieces to fit the funny kitchen space we have. Its nice to have built in stuff that fits the spaces perfectly.