dianalo: Thanks for your questions. (1) Wearability/Finish: The cabinets will be two years old in May. They've held up beautifully. Not a mark on them (knock on wood). As a precaution, I had paint mixed to have on hand in case of scratches or mars, but have yet to use it. They wipe down with a clean sponge; I do dry them to prevent spotting or streaks. Once , while I left the door under the sink open, I banged the adjacent plate drawer into the sink cabinet handle; not a mark on the drawer front. (though if you choose large handles like mine, they do create some issues that you might want to consider in your planning). One minor issue with the finish: Ikea furnishes little self-adhesive cabinet door/drawer bumpers; they seem to move around over time on this slick lacquer finish; requires readjustment by just moving it to where it was originally. (2) Assembly: I'm a life-long stay-at-home wife who will never see 50 again. I assembled all the cabinets myself; though I did need help on the tall pantry cabinets (they are very heavy). I used a power screw driver when possible. It is a lot of screwing. I don't remember how long it took to assemble them; it does get very quick since it is just the same steps over and over once you learn the process. I know I was easily able to do several a day (3) Installation: My brother installed the cabinets for us. I was the helper, when necessary. He had never installed any kind of kitchen cabinets before (though he is a tile contractor and has installed bathroom vanity cabinets). He loved the Ikea mounting system. At the time, this kitchen was a big leap of faith, mainly because of the long distance aspect of using Ikea -- 5 hour drive one way. But in the end it was definitely worth it. Also, if you are considering an Ikea kitchen, you must visit the IkeaFans website; it was started by Ikea posters here and is invaluable for anyone considering Ikea. Best of luck.

Lorrie Kay, I was typing and missed yours. Do you have the filoli antique lace chip? It is very close to holmes cream and to blond wood. I could hardly tell the difference between Holmes and filoli on the chips. color charts lists both the valspar colors as excellent matches for blond wood. So I chose the filoli cream and in some lights it is just right, but in the room as a whole it is toooo yellow. I wonder if holmes cream would be enough different. My sister has a west BR painted in Churchill hotel wheat and it is really nice so that is why I tried it. This BR is west facing too. It tend to look a little green next to my fabric. So much of what I've tried is doing that, going a little green. This is a very WARM feeling fabric.

I am looking for a neutral brown match to go with our SW Compatible Cream and Flower Pot. The Compatible Cream is in our entryway and shows yellow. The Flower Pot is in our kitchen, which can be seen from the entryway. I am looking for a color to go with these for our living/dining which is one large open area to the right of our entryway. I tried SW Beach House, but it shows too cool. The floors are a warm maple wood with high ceilings. I like the darkness of Beach House, but not the cool tone. I tried samples of SW Bagel (way too peachy) and SW Dormer Brown (too dark grey). Latte and Nomadic Desert, but they don't match our wood at all. I'm looking now at Croissant, but would really appreciate advice. Thanks for any and all feedback.

I have that color in our kids' play room/sun room. I hadn't noticed it having any peachy tones to it. I don't have any pictures that I know if, but I can try to get one this evening if that would help (if you don't mind sorting through all the toys!). The only furniture in the room currently is a dark wooden entertainment center and a dark wooden frame futon. At one time we had a lot of our living room furniture in there while we were having the hard wood floors finished. The furniture is a light brown faux leather and I really liked how the neutral browns went with the wall color. I hoping I can get the room back and make it more of a sun room (there are a lot of windows) when my kids out grow so many toys (ages 5 and 7).