I know some of their stuff is great and some of their stuff sucks. I opened and closed some drawers the last time we were there (we have to go to Charlotte for Ikea) and they seemed nice but can anybody speak to their durability?
I’ve always meant to do my own kitchen cabinets, but I’m also a realist and have noticed that none of that stuff in the garage has actually taken itself out of its boxes or gotten used since I bought it. (Very nice router, too.) My kitchen is awkward and I could be using the space a lot better, I think. Maybe this tax refund is the time to do it?
I like the look of some of the Ikea stuff, and the price is decent. Experiences?
We’ve got IKEA cabinets in our kitchen and all of our bathrooms. They’ve only been in use for a year, but then… it’s been a year, and they’re still in perfect condition. No nicks or scratches, no wobbliness, no worries at all.
We have the white Adel cabinets in our kitchen. They have some kind of smooth plastic or powder coating. As far as I can tell, they’re impervious to damage… and they’re really easy to wipe clean. All the hinges run smooth as silk. All the doors and drawers come with levelers, so we got the kitchen looking picture-perfect.
We have the brown-black Hemnes cabinets and Pax wardrobes in the master bathroom. Now these, you do need to be careful of. Our cabinets themselves are just fine (and oh, those dreamy wardrobes…) but the remodelers scratched the matching toilet seat, which leads me to believe that the rest of the stuff could be scratched, not in the normal adult course of things, but if you have toddlers playing around or you need to drag a ladder in and out of the room.
So for durability I recommend a solid color rather than a faux-wood finish. Also, if you buy any pieces that are shrink-wrapped rather than boxed, inspect them VERY carefully to make sure the wrap is intact and they still have all their hinges and fasteners. We initially bought a couple of hanging rods that had had their fasteners removed or lost.
If you go with them, keep the receipt. They have a nice warranty, but you need that receipt.
My cabinets have been in place for 5 years, and are still very solid, no structural issues to speak of.
From a finish standpoint, I have a yellow painted finish, it’s cracking and chipping in the corners. Not just around the sink, where you might assume moisture problems, but on all the cabinets. It’s a discontinued color, so I can’t get matching parts, and like a big dummy I can’t find the receipt. I’ll probably sand and paint them with a matching color.
We have the light brown wood - I think it was nexus? or something like that. I chose them because it was the only configuration that didn’t have white shelves, and because they were perfectly flat - no nooks or carving to gather dust. They’re beautiful. They’ve been in place for just under 5 years now and we’re very very happy. Part of that is because I managed to configure the kitchen with more storage space than we’ve ever used, but they’re easy to keep clean, not a single mark on them anywhere and I’ve reconfigured the shelf heights in several of them very easily.
We couldn’t afford the granite counters I wanted when we put the kitchen in so we chose the butcherblock tops from Ikea as well, expecting to replace them in a couple of years with granite. I love them. Sand and oil them a couple times a year, keep them dry and they’re great.
I was thinking of the Adel doors - either the birch or the beech. It’s quite a small kitchen, so I don’t want anything too dark. I should post some pictures and do a “help me fix my shitty kitchen!” thread. Thing is, I don’t really want to move appliances, so I only have so many choices.
The German IKEA at least tests their kitchen cabinets (and other items like couches and POÄNG sits) extensivly with robots simulating 50 000 times opening and closening the drawer with a weight inside, to see if it holds up. I only have one underneath cabinet and one hanging cabinet because my kitchen is so tiny, but they are … about 10 years old now at least and still holding nicely.
IKEA Germany also has a software to let you plan your kitchen. You measure it, and then you can try out different combinations, even with a 3D view.
Extra services are offered for extra money: you can pay, if you want, to
have IKEA people come and measure your kitchen exactly for you (if you are unsure you are doing it accurately enough)
have IKEA people load the packages into your car after the cashiers (ask at the wrapping counter; inside the warehouse, employees will help you freely to load the packages onto the trolley)
borrow a car/ bigger car/ hanger for transport of the packages
pay a transport company (usually a seperate counter near the wrapping counter) to transport the packages
have people come and assemble all the cabinets (if you don’t want to, or can’t understand the picture instruction)
I got no problem assembling (I kind of like assembling Ikea furniture, although anything with drawers gets old fast) but am not sure I want to do all the attaching to the wall and leveling stuff.
The US Ikea has the online planner thing as well, FYI.
Why don’t you just take a door to a paint store and have them match the color?
We have custom cabinets, very high quality, in our kitchen and the paint on them isn’t perfect after a year, either. Paint isn’t bulletproof, and kitchen cabinets get a ton of abuse.
Ikea cabinets have an excellent reputation, and when we eventually build our house, that’s what we’ll be using. If you don’t love any of the door options, there are several companies that make custom doors to fit the ikea hardware. I can dig them up if anyone is interested.
You might also look over at gardenweb.com in the kitchen forum for discussions on Ikea cabs.
Attaching to the wall is easy, at least much easier than a traditional cabinet.
You attach a metal strip to the wall, which is easy to level. Once that is up, you put up hangers and bolts that will hold the cabinet, and hang the cabinet off of them. You probably want a second set of hands for that part. Tighten the bolts, double check level and the job is done. Once you get two cabinets together, they have connecting bolts that go through the sides to hold them tight.
Floor cabinets have legs and feet, which you level individually before securing to the wall. You then attach the toe kick panel, if you don’t want to see the legs.
ETA: I intend to get the color matched at a paint store, it’s just a matter of finding the time and energy to take down and repaint so many doors.
Oh sweetie. WAIT TILL YOU PUT TOGETHER AN IKEA KITCHEN DRAWER. It’ll take you about thirty minutes to figure out the first one… thirty seconds to do the rest.
We put in Ikea kitchen cabinets about 5 years ago and they’re still fine. I got the clear glass panels in the doors and I wish I had chosen something frosted or patterned, though.
We’ve had this house for five years going on six. The previous owner put in the bottom cabinets and we’ve put in the top ones. Aside from some moisture issues on one of them from a plumbing leak, they still look new. The drawers pull out nicely. I like that I can change the appearance of the cabinets if I ever want to relatively easily.
I love my Adel birch kitchen. I had some help with the install, but did the assembly myself, and yeah, love those drawers. The big drawers replaced almost all our lower cabinets, so much more useful. We also used the Ikea counter tops, we went with the faux concrete finish, which looks great with the cabinets. We also did a really nice tiled backsplash, which is multicoloured four inch tiles. We chose the colours by going to about six different Home Depots and buying a handful of their loose tiles. Each store carried a few different colours, so we have a nice mix of dark blue, dark green,brown, tan, gray and white. Looks really great with the cabinets, the avocado walls, and the dark counters.
A friend of mine installed Ikea cabinets in his kitchen, and is very happy with them.
Since particle board is not very water-resistant, and since water spills are going to be inevitable in a kitchen and the raw particle board is exposed on the cut ends of the cabinet pieces, he put latex caulk on all the adjoining surfaces as he assembled the cabinets. Now, true, he is a bit anal-retentive, but that sounded like a good precaution to me.
When I bought my new apartment six years ago, I looked at really expensive kitchen cabinetry at a bunch of places, but it looked like log cabin fittings next to the beautifully engineered stuff from Ikea. I put it in myself and six years later am still delighted with everything about it. Well, except that they discontinued my door color so I can’t buy a new shorter range without it looking funny.
I may be missing something, but it looks like she just painted the cabinets and installed new handles and light fixtures? Are there some photos with new cabinets I didn’t see?
How about frosted film against the windows? Takes ten minutes and under ten bucks.
My uncle, a plumber, has installed dozens of kitchens for a living. He was impressed with the quality of our Ikea kitchen. I say go for it. You can easily switch the fronts if you’re tired of the color.
I’ve never heard this. First, why? The normal connections of combined wooden plugs and screws work fine without glue. And second, using glue means you can never take them apart again for moving.