A date with Ikea?

January 17, 2019 8:07 AM

I need to replace some cabinets as part of a kitchen damage control project that is already costing me a lot - Ikea? Other moderately-priced, not garbage options? I'm out of my depth here and need to figure this out shortly.

Ideally, I would be able to do part of the work now, and part of it later when more $ is available - so, bonus points for something likely to be in production for a while.

posted by reedbird_hill to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

We're still in the early stages of our kitchen remodel so I have no direct experience yet, but our contractor (who we've used before for other projects and is awesome) swears by RTA Cabinet Store for both quality and low cost.
posted by DrGail at 8:12 AM on January 17, 2019 [3 favorites]

We redid our kitchen with the cheapest option from Home Depot for cabinets (Hampton Bay, shaker). We've had them for nearly three years now, and we've been really happy with them, particularly for the cost.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 8:15 AM on January 17, 2019

We redid our kitchen with IKEA and I really like the new system in comparison to other systems (e.g. Home Depot.) I particularly like the feet, as opposed to just having particle board on the floor, and having uppers hanging from a steel rail that is secured to the studs rather than just drilling through cabinet carcasses. Also the hinge options, door/drawer adjustments and the soft closing dampers are inexpensive and work very well. Also, filler pieces are readily available in many sizes. You can also buy parts individually, e.g. just new door faces to refit built-in cabinets.

The downside to IKEA is that there are no non-90 degree components, and their corner cabinet offerings are quite limited, especially for base cabs. So if your kitchen isn't in a square room, or needs particularly efficient design because the room is small, you'll have a lot of hacking to do, and/or a lot of dead space.

The biggest upside is that all of their kitchen organizer solutions are designed to work with the cabs and drawers, so there's never a question of awkward design.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:23 AM on January 17, 2019 [4 favorites]

We had to gut our kitchen a few years back and went with IKEA. We are really pleased with it and you can always get custom knobs for the cabinets to make it more unique.

we have two dogs, a cat, and two young rambunctious kids. The cabinets clean easily and are holding up well.
posted by biggreenplant at 8:24 AM on January 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

We just did a total kitchen reno with Ikea cabinets and fixtures. They recently refreshed their system, so I don't think it's going to change again any time soon. I did not do the work myself but my impression is that a reasonably handy layman can do it with enough time and care.

I love love love my new kitchen. Everyone who comes into it, including the guys who came to install my countertops, is amazed that it's Ikea.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:27 AM on January 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I do about 10 small kitchen renovations per year, and I think the Ikea option is the best among the cheap options. It's better quality than everything in every price point at home Depot. It's not anything like cheap Ikea furniture. They use high quality hardware, and everything is very thoughtfully designed.
posted by twoplussix at 8:58 AM on January 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: We had builder-grade (read: cheapest possible) cabinets, probably from Home Depot, and partially replaced them with Ikea. The Ikea ones are better in virtually every possible way. They're made from a more-dense fiberboard substrate, the edge banding seems better and more durable, the hardware and hinges are nicer (and have optional soft-close things you can, and should, add), etc.

If you can make it fit into your space, which can be challenging, I would certainly recommend it. Are they the equal of actual hardwood custom cabinetry? No. But IMO given the frequency with which people redo kitchens as houses are bought and sold, custom cabinets are not a good investment.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:25 AM on January 17, 2019

We just did an Ikea kitchen and then found a local place that does custom cabinet faces for Ikea cabinets, so you could look into whether that's available if you're interested in something a little higher quality for the fronts. We're happy with the quality of the Ikea bases in general, though. Definitely seem as good or better as other cheap options.
posted by LKWorking at 9:35 AM on January 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

If you want solid wood cabinets -- which will last a _lot_ longer and are so much better than "composite" -- there are companies that will ship pre-cut and fitted cabinets to you, then you assemble them yourself. They are called RTA / Ready-to-Assemble cabinets.
posted by amtho at 10:17 AM on January 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

You might also hit up the Community Forklift over in Hyattsville - I don't know if you've seen my awesome cabinets, but that's where I got 'em. They pretty much always have nice old cabinets that are donated by contractors doing DC remodels. The millwork on '40s and '50s cabinetry is significantly nicer than most of the modern flat pack stuff, and you can get them for a song.
posted by aspersioncast at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Ikea works best, I found when the space is square as in consistent and straight. But I got the best pricing from a cabinetry shop. I had an odd shaped kitchen that required experienced installers for the inconsistent space. The cabinetry shop beat out the depot on kraftmaid and IKEA, too.
posted by jadepearl at 1:39 PM on January 17, 2019 [1 favorite]