I forgot to attach the link

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA free standing kitchens

I don't really understand what you are asking. I don't see where you would have a problem using ikea cabinets if they are the same height.You could even float your countertop if you needed to with granite support brackets.

Oh, boy, I guess Quirk is not the only one posting under influence. :P

kaijutokusatsu,

It is not a techinical question but a design question.

We live in an up-scaled subdivision in a VERY traditional community. Most people have never seen a modern design and it would be a turn-off for them at re-sale.

I wish I could be sure we were staying in the house for another 15 or so years. While the probability of it is 80%-90%, there is also a 10%-20% chance we'll have to sell the house in a year or two, so I have to take the re-sale value into consideration.

Of course, I could just go with a "conventional" design but I don't want to NOT have what I want if we end up staying. I am really tired of "make do" as we have moved around a LOT and this is our first serious remodel.

Unfortunately, I cannot postpone the remodel till I know one way or the other b/c we won't be able to sell the house the way it is. The 20-year old kitchen has completely fallen apart and needs to be fixed, which - as we all know - takes several months. The other problems is that the house needs some other repairs which have taken a huge chunk out of my kitchen remodel budget. That is why i am considering IKEA cabinets.

TX!

Ikea cabinets are great for the budget challenged, but I guess I don't get what you are proposing to do either. The one bit I could glean was using a stone top on an unfitted cabinet. That's not the best idea, because a stone top will make a cabinet top heavy, and thus a safety hazard. Cabinets with stone tops should be fastened to the wall or floor to keep them from tipping.

You can do a great inexpensive kitchen with Ikea, but you first need to develop an overall plan for the whole space. And currently it sounds as though you are more in bandaid mode than surgery mode. Decisions that you make for renos like that can come back to haunt you if you are not very very careful. A "falling apart" kitchen needs surgery, not bandaids.

Post your layout and some pics as well as the budget you want to end up with and you'll get a lot more concrete useful suggestions and comments. Also, if your budget is limited, you need to ramp up your DIY skilset, so maybe think about small projects on the home that you can gain some experience doing. Anyone can paint, or do demolition (if you have safety glasses and gloves) and most people can learn to tile or swap out light fixtures. These are things that can help to stretch your budget and let that XX dollars go into higher quality materials rather than labor.

Greendesign,

What I like about these particluar IKEA cabinets is not only the looks (don't think a local cabinet-maker will make them better) but that the fact the level can be adjusted (the legs have screws).

I am not sure why they are unfit? Do you think they are too lightweight? I am going to put two rows of the cabinets on the peninsula by borrowing some space from the breakfast area, so they should be stable. The single row part is along the actual wall, so the stone could be "fastened" to wall somehow.

Yes, I see I need to post a drawing. I have not yet learned the software but will after the Tax day. :-)

"Unfit" does not mean "inadequate" in this context. (Green actually said "unfitted.") It means "not built in." I second Green's advice. Develop a diagram, budget, and list of desiderata.

Here is a link that might be useful: New to Kitchens? Scroll down for directions for layout advice

"Unfitted"=Free standing=not built in. An unfitted kitchen was the original mother of all kitchens and is still the most common type seen in lots of Europe. It was (and is) composed of different furniture pieces arranged in a space, not cabinets lining the walls and attached to them. Johnny Grey is well known for it. Ikea too. But you'll note that most of these kitchens have wood or laminate tops rather than stone. When something can be moved around, it shouldn't be constructed as a top heavy object.

Which is why I suggested you might float your countertop with support brackets.They come as long as 24". Then the wall would bear the weight and you needn't worry about tip over/top heavy issues with the cabinetry.

Here is a link that might be useful: granite support brace

Oh, I see. I did not understand that part. Thank you.

Also, I have found some pix of the IKEA free-standing cabinets installed IRL. They do not look nearly as good IRL as on the IKEA website, so I really need to think hard and long.

GreenDesign,

You are right, I am trying to use band-aids, but not too many of them. The floor-to-ceiling cabintes on one wall will be custom-made and "proper". I was thinking of using the IKEA ones mostly for the peninsula. And I was not sure if I actually wanted to get stone for it b/c it is not the "functional" part of the kitchen and I can replace it a few years down the road. Yes, I'd be losing $1K-$2K by re-doing it, but I simply cannot work in the current kitchen and need to "fix" the "functional" parts.

I'll post drawing after Tuesday.

Thank you, all!

If you are concerned about resale, I would have reservations about that Ikea. Also, you said it's an upscale neighborhood, and as many good things I've heard about Ikea cabinets, the specs say they are made of birch and particle board with melamine veneer. That just doesn't sound like the quality that people looking in that price range would expect to find.

That said, I've never seen a kitchen with Ikea cabinets in person, but I've seen pictures where they look very nice.

Marti,

I am not considering the "regular" IKEA cabinets, just the free-standing ones b/c they have a plywood "body". I am going to replace the melamine fronts/doors with wood. They will have particle board on the back only.

Yes, I know that IKEA does not classify as "high-end" but they surely look nice. Sigh.

plywood is not better. The other kind of wood body is the same quality.

Don't quotation mark in your next post. The same text without quotes reads the same.

"The other kind of wood body is the same quality."

You lost me. Could you explain what you mean by that?

Didn't you guys explain on the other thread that particle board is "dead" if soaked while plywood would hold up better?

It definitely has been my experience. All the particle board furniture pieces we'd ever had fell apart in record time. The cabinets in this house are made of plywood and the painted ones are as good as new, IMHO.

BTW, I put quotation marks to indicate that it was actually a quote, not something I subscribe to. To me, high end is about the style and function, not price-tag. I don't get all these - so called "high-end" - appliances working worse than old "cheapies".
(Mind you, it is again a quote, I did not invent the term, :-))

I have found some pix that are close to what I am trying to achieve. I need to re-learn to post pix on GW as it has been awhile since I knew how to do it. :-(

GreenDesign,
Those pix you posted are nice but more on the casual side.

Here is one showing how it can be made more "interesting" (for the lack of better word). I like what they did (though I wouldn't replicate it in my kitchen as I am not a fan of glass mosaic).

Here is a link that might be useful:

As long as you are "quoting" me from the other thread, this is what I said: "They [particle board and plywood] are both appropriate materials for frameless cabinets, with very slight relative advantages and disadvantages." That is likely close to what David meant.

Angie,

I was referring to this statement:

"Plywood has other attributes that compare favorably to particle board. It is a lot lighter, and it stands up better to water. (Neither will survive a flood, but plywood can survive a quick soak that might kill particle board.)"

DH drips water all over the cabinet doors every day when loading the DW and they are still relatively OK. I cannot imagine a particle board surviving that kind of abuse. I also despise how heavy particle boards are.

I would chose plywood over a particle board in a NY minute.

That is why the Varde cabinetry appeal to me more than any other IKEA cabinets.

I do not possess any in-depth knowledge of building materials and I might be totally wrong. If I understand you correctly, David and you are saying that the other IKEA cabinet lines are just of the same quality as Varde, right?

TX!

Yes, I know what I said, and I also prefer plywood. But you said that David "lost you" and asked for an explanation. I was trying to provide that explanation. What David and I are trying to say is that particleboard and plywood are both appropriate materials with which to build frameless cabs. As I said in my last post : They are both appropriate materials for frameless cabinets, with very slight relative advantages and disadvantages. You will have to weigh off the cost, weight, offgassing, stability, and water-resistant properties to decide. (I chose plywood.)

Okay, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Varde is NOT plywood. I am assuming you were thrown by their statement that Varde is "birch and birch veneer." "Veneer" does not imply plywood. It means a thin skin of wood over a different substrate. In this case, the substrate is particleboard.

From a page about their sink cabinet (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19821391/):
Product description
Sink cabinet:
Main parts: Solid birch, Clear amino resin lacquer
Side panels: Particleboard, Birch veneer, Clear acrylic lacquer
Back: Fiberboard, Melamine foil
Door: Particleboard, Melamine foil

Use "OSB" as key word to go web searching for more knowledge.

Or, use the fact that millions of OSB kitchen cabinets are sold, and nobody complains. Deduce from it that things are fine with OSB.

Sheesh. Eleena, please use the Ikea planner to draw a diagram and post that. Some good practical details to feed into the mill will produce some useful results for you to consider.

BTW, that cabinet does look nice, but since unfitted could quickly replaced with something else--including part of original cabinetry--if you put the house on the market. Of course, anybody viewing the house would want the storage you plan.

I'm guessing you live in a hot humid climate? If so, a little lightening and "lifting" (quotes!) up of heavy "European" (again!) -inspired styles can be a real relief. I'm sure it could be done in a manner that would please you, and future owners if it came to that.

I have the Varde base cabinet sitting in my kitchen. It was borrowed from my SIL, as temporary storage when we set up a makeshift kitchen in the dining area, but we haven't returned it yet. Since, I am on vacation right now, I can't actually take a look at it, but I don't think it has adjustable legs, the legs are solid wood. The regular Ikea cabinets do have adjustable legs. However, the Varde feels really solid, so if you were to replace the top with soapstone I would imagine that would be doable.

Btw, we have a regular Ikea cabinets we used to build an 8 ft island, that has a marble counter with an unsupported overhang and is not yet anchored to the floor. The installer did not see any problems with the cabinets supporting the marble top on those plastic feet, but indicated that industry guidelines recommend that we eventually have some sort of additional support.

kitokeefe,

Yes, all Varde cabinets have adjustable legs, at least, according to their website that says:

"- Adjustable legs; stands steady on uneven surfaces."

David,

I had never heard of OSB and it would have never occurred to me to search for it, thanks for the info! However, nowhere on the IKEA site it says that they use OSB. They do say it is either Particleboard or Fiberboard. I am not sure what the difference is. According to Wikipedia, "particle board usually refers to low-density fiberboard".

Angie,

Yes, you are right, it is not plywood but ACTUAL wood, which is even better:

"Main parts: Solid birch, Clear amino resin lacquer"

You could tell just by looking at the pix that it is not a particle board.
Rosie,

Yes, I live in - hot and humid - Sough-East. And yes, I am going to use IKEA planner or another software to draw the kitchen plan - after I finish my taxes (I won't be seen much on GW till Tuesday, LOL).

BTW, for anyone interested, I have found a picture of a very contemporary free-standing kitchen in a 1880 house with elaborate wood work all around.

So, I guess the answer is that it CAN be done!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Freestanding Kitchen

eleena,

I have the Varde cabinet with the drawer fronts. The legs are NOT adjustable in the sense that you could raise or lower them. What they do have is a metal outer leg surround which rides up and down on the wooden leg so that even if the floors are somewhat uneven, the metal leg surround would sit directly on the floor. It's really more decorative than functional. If the floor was really out of whack, the VARDE would not sit flat, unlike the line of kitchen cabs which have independently adjustable legs.

Helene

Some freestanding kitchen islands are sold with stone tops on them and lots of furniture pieces have stone tops. Have not ever worried about them tipping over. I don't really see how a kitchen island/cabinet could tip over if it is sitting on top of a full base. If it were on a pedestal type of base then of course but not with four legs and a full underlay of support. My cabinet bases are particle board with full overlay solid wood doors and drawers, have never had a problem, they are 15 years old. Good luck with your new kitchen and your taxes!!

Thank you!

I couldn't help checking back and posting a Q for Varde owners.

Bad behavior! :-)

OK, back to taxes. :-(