david_cary - I think our houses have similar finish levels, so it is reassuring that you used IKEA in the laundry. If I had a passel of kiddos, I might not do it in the mudroom because I would want a more customized solution, but with the two of us & a pair of little dogs, IKEA should be fine there, as well.

In this whole building process, I'm trying to keep in mind that I should spend money on the things that really matter to me, and not overspend on what doesn't. We did a change order to put an octagonal vaulted bead board ceiling over our breakfast area. We're going to see and enjoy that every single day. I don't really give a rat's bottom about the laundry room & IKEA isn't trash, in any event.

Jo Ann

There are lots of folks with high end marble countertops on their IKEA cabinets :) I have thought about doing them for my pocket office. . . You may have seen this but here is a laundry room photo with IKEA. Not too shabby :)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1445711}}

I think I will do the same thing, but in my upstairs loft kitchenette area, and the lower rec. room bar/kitchenette area.

My cabinet maker was soooo slow, very good, but very slow. I told him just focus on getting the main floor done and I was going to hold off on the rest. While waiting on him, I noticed some of the IKEA stuff also, and I think it will work great and look nice.

Ikea cabinets and especially Ikea (Blum) hardware blow away most custom designed cabinets. Here in Dallas, every Parade-Of-Homes custom kitchen had inferior drawer slides and crappy tacked-on trim.

The best value is Ikea cabinets (ultra precise, mass manufactured - it's like comparing hand-soldered AM/FM radios with a mass produced iPod), Ikea hardware and custom doors for bragging purposes in "public" areas.

jrldh - while that isn't a bad idea (custom doors), there are still lots of issues with Ikea cabs. The biggest one being the drawers. While I don't doubt their durability, I don't like the material. My cabs (which use Blum guides also) have dovetailed wood drawers. Will Ikea's last longer - perhaps - but mine will look and feel better to me for a long time.

The next problem with Ikea is the lack of custom sizes. Sure you can cut things down like the Ikeafans do but that isn't really plug and play. And it isn't just a lack of custom sizes - they just don't have many things. I mean I probably had 1000 different cabs to choose from compared to 100 from Ikea. Try finding a 12 inch drawer base with 4 drawers - I haven't looked but I'm pretty sure Ikea doesn't carry it.

Ikea is great but in a highend custom kitchen even with custom doors does not cut it in my book. Your comparison with spec homes is absolutely true. But the reality is that better drawer slides are cheap in the grand scheme of things. Blum is very highly regarded but also pretty cheap. I think I can get full extension drawer glides with soft close for an average drawer for like $30. That doesn't mean a cabinet maker will sell them for that. Now - I don't know about crappy tacked-on trim....

I agree, Ikea kitchens aren't high-end custom. Didn't want to imply that. And I wouldn't put an Ikea drawer in a traditional kitchen (I would in a modern, though).

They are perfect for a Mudroom and Laundry room.

I've been thinking of Ikea for the mudroom and laundry, too. Actually for the kids' laundry upstairs I bought some great used cabinets off of Craigslist, but I haven't seen anything I like enough for the downstairs laundry that will also serve as my office. I really like the picture you linked to, Athens. Although, I can't imagine using marble in the laundry.

I'd love to see more pics of Ikea laundry rooms and heare what people have seen done for the mudroom cubbies using Ikea.

ok. first of all, don't worry about "ticking off" your cabinet maker. a budget is just that and everyone's got one! that said, i've seen the most amazing IKEA kitchens ...real, well designed, BEAUTIFUL kitchens! if they can outfit a kitchen i'm certain they could absolutely ROCK a mudroom!

i was trying to work out an IKEA plan for our laundry but i had the design already set in my mind and couldn't seem to make their pieces work. i found a discount wholesaler here in NJ and they quoted me a great price in schrock cabinets so i went with them. LR will be delivered wednesday. if all goes well i'll go back and have a couple of vanities made. our finish carpenter will handle everything else: mudroom, pantry, bookshelves for three rooms and my master closet.

i think if i had someone to work with who really knew the ins and outs of the IKEA cabinets it could have worked out. it just seemed like a daunting undertaking for the amount of items i needed to have made. just the thought of it made my head spin!

did you use their online design program? can we see it??? please?
best of luck whatever you decide. i definitely think IKEA is a great idea if you can pull it off.

Thanks for the feedback. Athens that laundry is beautiful & I would love to use the Domjo sink somewhere. Everything I've read says that it is so nice & a bargain compared to the "famous" brands.

I did a quick look on Ikea fans & found a mudroom with cubbies. That site is fabulous but overwhelming. I guess I'm going to get comfortable with it right quick.

The cabinetmaker has additionally ticked me off since my original post, so I think he has pretty much lost my business for the laundry & mudroom. Why should I pay twice as much and not even get the look I want? I'm not a fan of partial overlay cabinets - just a personal pref. To get full overlay in those rooms is a 15% upcharge. I can get Ikea frameless for much less & I there is one style that has a cottagey look that would be adorable.

My laundry is really straight forward so Ikea will fit beautifully. The mudroom (dogroom) is a little trickier, but the cabinetmaker's design wasn't exactly inspired. I did play around with the Ikea planner & it wasn't too hard to duplicate & improve on what I was given.

Kate - I don't want to have to design anything else. I'm tired of designing. I want the "experts" to take over & just do it. But ... I will now become addicted to Ikea fans, register with Ikea online so I can save my designs in order to have a better, cheaper set of utility cabinets. I'll have "pictures" for you soon. ;^)

Hauling DH off to Ikea, this weekend. He's never been. I love the place. DD says that when I hit the lighting section it is like engineering geek crack to me. Pfffttt!

Jo Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Fans Mudroom w/ Cubbies

We didn't do IKEA in the Laundry, but we used them in the garage. And the utilitarian drawers are perfect there. I used the pot drawer bases, so instead of bending over looking for stuff, I slide out a huge drawer.

The plastic adjustable feet are great on the concrete floor, and leaves some storage underneath for scrap wood. The laminated doors can take a real beating. I think they'd be great for mud and laundry rooms.

I think IKEA would be great for those spaces. We considered using them in our laundry room as well, but we needed so few cabinets in there, and our cabinet maker gave us such a great price on all of cabinets in total, it wasn't worth the effort to learn all the ins and outs of the IKEA cabinets. When we finish our basement one day, we are thinking of using them in the downstairs kitchenette and bathroom. We'll see. I hear you though about saving your budget for some of the more visible areas of the house. When it came to some of those areas, I'd say, just give me the cheapest of my options. Good luck!

Jo Ann - I hear you about the Ikea website. It totally overwhelms me. I also hear you about the designing thing - I think you have had the same experience with your architect as I have with mine ;/. Getting sick of being the idea person, and was looking foward to the experts taking over too!

Also, great thought about the garage!!! I have two large closets for storage and love the idea of the huge pot drawers in there for corralling stuff.

me too! got to chime in on that website: it's HORRIBLE. i've never really done a thorough look-see since it's completely overwhelming. i'm glad you mentioned this. i honestly thought i was ADD!

Yeah, not only is the website worthless, but you can't order cabinets on it anyway... or over the phone! I had to go into the maze of a store and order them... and the guy taking the order, ordered the wrong size doors. So after picking everything up, I had to take the doors back, get them refunded, go back through the maze and get someone else to re-order the right ones because the return desk can't order cabinets. Argh. I forgot all about that until the website bashing started.

Well, DH & I went to Ikea Houston on Sunday & he was blown away (1st time there). Not only does he want to do the laundry & mudroom in Ikea, but he wants to use the Pax system for the master closets and kit out his pocket office in Ikea. He figures there is no way he could build himself a desk, etc for the effort/cost of doing Ikea.

Also, he had a great time just watching me at Ikea. There's not much that is hyper about me, but I am a wild woman when I get to IKEA. I find it so incredibly stimulating to look at the set up rooms and get tons of ideas.

Agreed that the IKEA website stinks & the process of ordering something is a pain. I made sure that when I was in different sections of the store that I picked up the handouts for the various systems. That makes it much easier to reference than trying to go to the website.

The funny thing is that I love putting flatpack furniture together. I don't think I could make much of a retirement career out of it, but I find it so enjoyable. When DD got her 1st college apartment, she bought an IKEA loft bed which I had to assemble. DH couldn't travel to Austin with me to help, so he poured over the instruction pictographs, made notes & went over it with me. Amazing what a difference that made both assembling it then and putting it up & down in the years to come.

bdpeck-charlotte: How big is the IKEA in Charlotte? One floor or two? The Houston IKEA is two floors, but the one in Round Rock (near Austin) is only one. IKEA Charlotte is closest to Greenville, SC, but we may want to try Atlanta if that one is bigger (only 1/2 hr difference in travel time).

We've decided that we want the cabinetmaker to concentrate on what he would do best like the kitchen, banquette, built-ins & master bath. If I do IKEA in the laundry & mud room, then I can realize some savings and put part of the money to more bells & whistles in the kitchen, etc.

Jo Ann

Charlotte Ikea is 2 floors - I've been to the one in LI and one in NJ and I feel like all 3 are the same size.

We did the Pax for our master closet. It is awesome. It does start adding up although the prices are surely better than the other custom closets out there. Each piece seems really cheap but we wound up spending $2000 for laundry room + (very big) closet.

IÂm an IKEA fan too and just spent the weekend putting furniture together for my DDÂs room. I wanted to remind you that you can check store inventory right on line. This is very helpful if you have more than one IKEA you can drive to. We needed a drawer unit for the desk in DDÂs room and on Friday, they had 11 in stock. Saturday morning  they only had 8 according to the web site. When I arrived, there were indeed 8 on the shelf, so I think it is pretty accurate.

We are DIY and I have been looking at www.easyclosets.com. They have a great interactive tool to let you design your closet. If you check them out, will you tell me how they compare with the PAX system? I canÂt seem to wrap my head around the PAX system  I think it is the open drawers that I donÂt like. I want at least 2 hutches with the 19" deep base for deeper drawers (does that make sense?).

Another PAX fan here! The "open" drawers are the best thing about them. They hold so much stuff!

We used Easyclosets, but it adds up too. We spent $9K on our master. The room is 24x9, so it was a lot of units, including a packing island and extending from 8ft down to the floor.

The Pax system looks really nice. It does appear to be about 24 inches deep (cabinet depth), which would've been tough for our space, we'd have lost the island. But the sliding doors give a very clean look.

Both are fiber/particle board with laminate wood on top. Easy closets could customize sizes to fully utilize space. They also offer crown molding, but the Pax has some very neat organizer options that I don't think Easyclosets offers all of.

EasyClosets hangs on a rail (similar to Ikea cabinets), while it looks like the Pax sits on the floor and uses anti-tip brackets. Wouldn't matter on our hardwood floor, but if you have carpet, you might like the EasyCloset hanging rail system and not have them go to the floor. Leveling on carpet is not easy.

To help with budget comparison - our master has an island (just a dresser) and is about 12x16 - came to about $1500 + $250 shipping - all boxes are 8 feet tall and we have about 10 drawers + 8 on the dresser. We don't have the doors that cover the units as that would add another $1000 easily. But that sure beats $9k... There is definitely lost space due to having to use stock sizes unlike easyclosets.

easy closets isn't wood, is it? our finish carpenter is doing my closet (26' long wall, and odd shapes, dimensions on the other wall) for $2500 ...in paint grade maple. i was going to try to get him down a bit more but after reading this i think i'll live with it. our cabinet maker priced it out in melamine for $4800.

Kates - what you finish carpenter is doing is probably vastly different than what easyclosets or ikea is. Yes it's wood but does it have drawers, pant pull outs and adjustable shelves? not likely,

We have 35 drawers with full extension glides. The island is 8 ft long, and there are over 50 ft of wall units in the closet. I could've used Closetmaid's laminate for about $3,500, but it wouldn't have looked as nice as this.

I doubt I could get the lumber to make this closet (even ignoring drawers) for $2,500. 14" wide S4S lumber is expensive, no matter what the species and grade.

Confession time: I am a Philistine when it comes to closets. I think it is really neat when they are beautifully designed and well executed. But, I'm not willing to allocate enough budget to do that kind of job, so I am going for function over form.

When DD & I went to the Container Store, I fell in love with the pullout shoe racks & DH started to layout an Elfa system for the closet. However, when we went to IKEA & saw the pull out shoe racks with the PAX system, I think those are even better because they can be used with both heels & flats.

I honestly don't need a lot of drawers and such because I have my antique dresser in the bedroom and I hang just about everything else. I even hang my tee-shirts and arrange them by color (I wonder why many of you aren't surprised by that ;^P) I think what we will put together will be something of a hybrid. PAX carcasses where I want the Komplement bells & whistles and then just plan double and single hanging for most of the rest of the closet. Anyway, if a prospective buyer doesn't like what I've done, it will be very easy & inexpensive to change.

I'm glad IKEA has gotten such a good response. I think it is very clever stuff.

Jo Ann

I was looking for a temporary solution for our shoes until our closet is done. I had not seen the IKEA Shoe Organizer but did purchase the Revolving Shoe Tree. I like the tree very much and IÂm thinking of designing this into the closet  with shelves above for shoes that will stay in their boxes.