Wow thanks for sharing! We are doing Ikea cabinets and it's nice to see a more high end looking kitchen.

Ikea for the win!

What makes this a "high end" kitchen? The distinctive wall?

^ I bet that marble backsplash, along with the very nice cooktop and hood? Plus the sink/faucet looks pricy as well.

What makes this a "high end" kitchen? The distinctive wall?

It is not a high end kitchen but a high end Ikea kitchen.

Whereas the typical Ikea kitchen is maybe a $15-20K job this looks like it doubles that.

That stone wall is expensive plus rangetop vs cheaper cooktop,more expensive zero radius corner sink,warming drawer,and if you look at the other pictures in the link a Viking fridge and beverage center.

The faucet and hood look nice but are probably cheapie Ikea versions. Then again maybe not.

I think the lighting budget is higher here than the typical Ikea job; then there is the custom laquer job on the cabinets.

Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to start a debate about what's "high-end"... I just meant that you normally don't see Ikea cabs paired with entire walls of Calacatta marble & Sub Zero fridges. I thought it was pretty interesting. I like Ikea cabinetry a lot, and had it in my last house. But there are some people here who dismiss it as low-budget only, and I thought it was interesting that this designer pairs it with other, obviously expensive materials that we normally only associate with high-budget kitchens.
Plus she thought the cabinetry itself is worth investing a other $4-$5k for a professional lacquer job.
I just thought it was interesting and wanted to share.
:)

An extra $4-5 THOUSAND for Lacquer on Ikea cabinets?!?!?

Ok, that designer is an IDIOT! The cabs themselves will not last more than 5-7 years (laminated particle board), and for the cost of cabs and lacquer they could have had a real custom cabinetmaker do it out of wood that will last 50 years.

This is why I totally disregard "Kitchen Designers." Just like appliances (and everything else) made nowadays - the whole point is to make you invest in something only to NEED to have it replaced in ten years. The owner of this kitchen just guaranteed the KD's job security!

I don't know what kind of abuse others are doing to their cabinets, because I don't understand how you could ruin a cabinet in 10 years or less.

We've had cheap cabinets in all of our houses and they still looked great (dated but great) over the years. I raised 4 kids, cooked extensively and drawers glided and doors held up nicely. We had a few sink bottoms we had to replace do to water issues but that's it.

Cabinets IMHO should last a lifetime if you take any kind of decent care of them. Personally I can't understand why anyone would waste their money on much more expensive cabinets, unless you can't find the right style.

It would be interestig to poll how many have done a kichen remodel because of how dated things looked and not because of cabinets falling apart.

I think Ikea has made huge improvements in the standard and durability of their products... I can see what you are referring to Staceyneil... it is not the usual Ikea illustration that we are used to. It just has a definite High End look to it. I think it is stunning. It goes to show you can use the IKEA base products and put your own touches to make the kitchen look more luxurious and unique. Not even consideriing cost, I love the look of IKEA kitchen cabinets.

I've been a fan of Canadian designer Carol Reed's blog for a while, and if I recall correctly, the painting for the cabinets (Tidaholm) was under $1,000.

I just checked her blog again, and in the comments she writes, "The white kitchen I did shown above was in the $8-900 range for all the spraying, plus paint cost. Its typically about $30 a door panel or set of drawers." And in fact she tells a blog reader who wrote in to say that "One guy extimated [sic] $5000 to paint the doors and trim", which Reed called " waaay off".

I also like her blog post, "Why I love Ikea kitchens".

Becky

Here is a link that might be useful: CREED's

Cabinets do receive a lot of abuse. In my case our cabinets are the original 1946 SOLID WOOD and they have been through HELL - slamming doors and kicking the cabinets, and still SOLID AS A ROCK!

The layout sucks, but I REFUSE to get any less in quality than what I already have - I've been inside enough "high-end" looking kitchens, opened the pretty cabinets only to realize they are no better than the Ikea cabinets I have in my basement - very LIGHTWEIGHT compared to mine. Please, that is what qualifies IMHO as requiring a GUT RENO - the owners should have just left the original cabinets and allowed the new buyer to work with the kitchen AFTER purchase.

Standard modern cabinets would NEVER be able to handle such abuse. True, the finish around the handles on some of my doors is worn, but that is to be expected (custom oil paint done in early 1980's).

There is a HUGE difference between wood - solid or 3/4" high-grade furniture quality plywood, and PARTICLE BOARD LAMINATED WITH MELAMINE! First, the melamine WILL eventually peel off the particleboard, and if particleboard (or MDF) gets wet it DISINTEGRATES! It is nothing more than wood chips and sawdust bound together with toxic resins.

My point is, if you are going to buy non-wood cabinets, just buy Ikea - because it is priced to only last about 7 years (average $7,000), DO NOT spend $20,000 or more on some other cabinets that are made of the same crap - they WILL NOT last any longer. But to buy Ikea cabinets and then spend $5,000 on lacquer makes you a Class A MORON! Especially considering the fact that the finish chosen is what makes two identical cabinets vary greatly in price. Conversion Varnish and real high-grade lacquer (she paid almost $1,000 per GALLON!) is only used on REAL WOOD custom furniture - for a reason: It's too bloody expensive to waste the time and money putting such a finish on cabinets that are guaranteed NOT to last a lifetime!
A real high quality lacquer or conversion varnish CAN last 50 years if maintained.

For $20,000 (just cabs - not appliances, counters), if you cannot find 3/4" furniture-grade plywood cabs with dovetailed drawer boxes and Blum glides, then do yourself a favor and go with stainless steel - takes abuse and never needs refinishing. Get outdoor stainless cabs and change the hardware to something that looks more kitchen-like.

Honestly, after reading the article, I have officially decided I HATE Kitchen Designers. It is quite apparent that THEY are the reason people BLINDLY go out and spend over $20,000 just on cabinets based on LOOKS alone!

Seriously! Why, and I am dead serious here, do people WILLINGLY spend close to a year's salary on a kitchen redo and SETTLE for cabinets that are NOT MADE TO LAST? Why do I feel like the ONLY person on the planet that finds the cost of crap cabinetry ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS?!?!?

In a kitchen it is imperative that Form follows FUNCTION. But for the cost of a typical kitchen remodel that FUNCTION should include cabinets that will last a lifetime!

It would be one thing if Kitchen Designers emphasized this very important fact, but they do not. Instead they lure you in with pretty pictures and get you to blow all your money on crap that will last 10 years at best, all so they can get a cut of said cabinets (they DO get a commission on the cabinets sold), knowing full-well that 10 years from now your cabinets will be all shoddy and falling apart and you will be right back on their showroom floor doing it all over again.

At that rate, save your money and go with Ikea. Or, design the kitchen yourself and hire a cabinetmaker, or pay a KD $500 bucks upfront if you really need a layout specialist for a functional design, then go work with a real quality cabinetmaker.

The HD, Lowes, Omega, whatever other "semi-custom" crap is just that - CRAP that costs you $20,000 - $30,000!

Think about it: Pay $7,000 for Ikea and do it again in 7-10 years, or pay $20,000-$30,000 for semi-custom (including 1/2 plywood cabs) and do it again in 10 years, or pay $30,000 and up (depends on how fancy your doors and finishes are) and NEVER DO IT AGAIN AS LONG AS YOU LIVE!

Which of these seems like the best investment decision? Ikea, if you have no choice or like to change designs every 5-10 years, CUSTOM if you have the money and want your investment to last. Semi-custom just makes NO SENSE!

I'm sorry that I have offended many people on this forum. You can hate me all you want. I do not blame YOU, the innocent person who just wants a nice new functional kitchen, for the position you are in. I blame American CONSUMERISM for brainwashing the masses into believing that an average kitchen should cost $40,000, and that such kitchen will NOT be made to last a lifetime as most kitchen cabinets made between the 1940's-1970's were.

And people wonder why we now have a "Service-based" economy vs. a "Manufacturing-based" economy! Personally, I'm boycotting the "service" side in my kitchen reno altogether. If I cannot afford to have custom cabinets made (because the cost of doing business in the USA is so high, and custom cabinetmakers have lost so much business to "semi-custom" assemby lines that they have to pass ALL the costs onto the few customers who know the value of true QUALITY), then I'll fork over for stainless base cabs and just build the uppers myself.

Personally, I don't see the point in paying for cabs that will last 50 yrs or so, ESPECIALLY in a high end kitchen. Statistically, kitchens are the most oft renovated room in homes, in all types of developments from top to bottom. In really high end neighbourhoods, the kitchen will likely be gutted and re-done by every new owner. At least, that's what happens where I live.

Oh, thanks Becky for pointing that out: When I read it I saw $3-4 THOUSAND dollars for paint and $900 labor - I saw Staceyneil's post, then when I read the article that is how I read it.

That cost is not bad for a professional paint job, but I really don't know how long the melamine paint will last on the cabinets.

Still, like I said, on a tight budget only Ikea cabinets pay, not the more expensive semi-custom stuff.

I actually do like the look of Ikea's high-gloss ultra-modern doors, but sadly NONE of them fit my kicthen specs - that is the big downside of Ikea.
They have new Turquoise glass doors that are EXACTLY what I want in my kitchen, and cost between $50-$100 each - SUPER CHEAP, but NONE of them fit my uppers :( And they are tempered, so they cannot be cut.

"That cost is not bad for a professional paint job, but I really don't know how long the melamine paint will last on the cabinets."

natschultz, from what I read in the blog post, it was $800-$900 to paint the solid oak Tidaholm doors and drawer fronts with lacquer, not melamine paint. The designer wrote,

"The lacquer is fairly expensive, it will cost about $3-400 for the lacquer and primer for an average size kitchen and the cost of spraying the white kitchen in these photos was about $900 for one coat primer 2 coats finish paint but I would use 3 coats if using a light colour. I use ProGlo paints in Toronto and they supply the primer, the lacquer and the melamine and ship directly to my refinisher."

Becky

natshultz,

Some folks are afraid of change, you learned how to use a computer maybe you can learn to embrace other new things. Maybe not, whose to say. I doubt your the first belligerent old man trapped in yesterday that most of us have encountered who wants to explain to us (women, young folks, immigrants et all) how things really work. In my experience your kind are pretty tireless so I'm going to do what I would do if I ran into you in real life, nod my head vigorously thank you profusely for you insight and run the other way if I ever see you again. Good luck and enjoy yourself.

Wow natschultz... What an incredible amount of judgment and hostility.

Cabinets do receive a lot of abuse. In my case our cabinets are the original 1946 SOLID WOOD and they have been through HELL - slamming doors and kicking the cabinets, and still SOLID AS A ROCK!

OK- so what you are saying is people should make no effort to take care of their things and subject them to abuse? Anything that doesn't stand up to being abused is automatically terrible?

There is a HUGE difference between wood - solid or 3/4" high-grade furniture quality plywood, and PARTICLE BOARD LAMINATED WITH MELAMINE! First, the melamine WILL eventually peel off the particleboard, and if particleboard (or MDF) gets wet it DISINTEGRATES! It is nothing more than wood chips and sawdust bound together with toxic resins.
OK. I'm not going to argue that 3/4" high grade plywood isn't better. However, not all melamine and particle board is the same and some is better than others and some is not bound together with toxic resins. Even some "high end" custom cabinet makers will use a MDF panel in the center doorway face of cabinets... not as a cost saving measure but because wood expands and contracts more and small cracks can develop around edges of panels in painted cabinets... MDF allows for this to be avoided.

My point is, if you are going to buy non-wood cabinets, just buy Ikea - because it is priced to only last about 7 years (average $7,000), DO NOT spend $20,000 or more on some other cabinets that are made of the same crap - they WILL NOT last any longer. But to buy Ikea cabinets and then spend $5,000 on lacquer makes you a Class A MORON! Especially considering the fact that the finish chosen is what makes two identical cabinets vary greatly in price. Conversion Varnish and real high-grade lacquer (she paid almost $1,000 per GALLON!) is only used on REAL WOOD custom furniture - for a reason: It's too bloody expensive to waste the time and money putting such a finish on cabinets that are guaranteed NOT to last a lifetime!
A real high quality lacquer or conversion varnish CAN last 50 years if maintained.
Maybe these people LIKED the look of ikea cabinets and the functionality and style of them, and they wanted to spend $5,000 on varnish. Although from what a poster above stated, she did NOT spend that much. Even if she did, why is it inherently wrong to buy something more inexpensive and then make it work for your purposes. Maybe they liked the look of the lacquer but don't WANT to keep their same cabinets for 50 years and so they reached a compromise with their budget and their cabinets that will allow them to be happy with the look that they have now at a price point they are comfortable with.

For $20,000 (just cabs - not appliances, counters), if you cannot find 3/4" furniture-grade plywood cabs with dovetailed drawer boxes and Blum glides, then do yourself a favor and go with stainless steel - takes abuse and never needs refinishing. Get outdoor stainless cabs and change the hardware to something that looks more kitchen-like.
Completely disregards the size of the kitchen, the value of the house, the style of the person decorating the kitchen. If you have 40 linear feet that needs cabinets, you aren't going to find that for $20,000. Sorry. And the premise of going with stainless steel cabs is just ridiculous if that isn't your aesthetic... People should spend $20,000 on something they don't want, that doesn't look nice in their house, that doesn't give them the feel or style that they want, just so that they can be stuck with it forever. That's smart. Not to mention, ikea cabinets USE blum glides.

Honestly, after reading the article, I have officially decided I HATE Kitchen Designers. It is quite apparent that THEY are the reason people BLINDLY go out and spend over $20,000 just on cabinets based on LOOKS alone!
Right. Magazines, the Internet, real estate trends, HGTV, personal preference, increased incomes due to 2 working adults, and the desire to have a room that people actually like and feel comfortable in when they have their morning coffee has nothing to d with it. We all just blindly follow kitchen designers.

Seriously! Why, and I am dead serious here, do people WILLINGLY spend close to a year's salary on a kitchen redo and SETTLE for cabinets that are NOT MADE TO LAST? Why do I feel like the ONLY person on the planet that finds the cost of crap cabinetry ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS?!?!?
Maybe because for some people $20,000 is a lot less than what they make in a year and they can afford to. Maybe because that is all some people can afford to spend and they want something that will look nice and make them happy instead of being forced to buy stainless steel per your directive above. Maybe because people don't feel like they need to buy a kitchen that will last until they are dead, but they want something they are going to like and be happy with now. Why do people willingly spend money on a nice car that isn't going to last until they are dead? Why do people buy clothes that aren't going to last for 90 years? Because there is something to be said for being happy in the moment, for spending your money on things that bring you happiness and enjoyment. Maybe because not everyone feels that these cabinets are crap and demands a kitchen that can stand up to being totally abused and not cared for at all, and because people can create a beautiful kitchen with Ikea or Lowes and all the cabinets you are deriding and make it last by, you know, not kicking their cabinets!

In a kitchen it is imperative that Form follows FUNCTION. But for the cost of a typical kitchen remodel that FUNCTION should include cabinets that will last a lifetime!
So every single thing that is functional must last a lifetime? Should my refrigerator and oven also last a lifetime too? If not, I guess I better not buy them and I'll start keeping my food in the icebox and cooking over a fire...

It would be one thing if Kitchen Designers emphasized this very important fact, but they do not. Instead they lure you in with pretty pictures and get you to blow all your money on crap that will last 10 years at best, all so they can get a cut of said cabinets (they DO get a commission on the cabinets sold), knowing full-well that 10 years from now your cabinets will be all shoddy and falling apart and you will be right back on their showroom floor doing it all over again.
Blanket stereotypical statement.

The HD, Lowes, Omega, whatever other "semi-custom" crap is just that - CRAP that costs you $20,000 - $30,000!

Think about it: Pay $7,000 for Ikea and do it again in 7-10 years, or pay $20,000-$30,000 for semi-custom (including 1/2 plywood cabs) and do it again in 10 years, or pay $30,000 and up (depends on how fancy your doors and finishes are) and NEVER DO IT AGAIN AS LONG AS YOU LIVE!

What if you LIKE those $20,000-$30,000 semi-custom cabinets more? What if you feel like it is a fine investment for you to get 10 years of enjoyment out of those cabinets? What if you take care of your cabinets and they last more than 10 years regardless of which ones you buy? What if you don't want to have the same kitchen until you die??

I blame American CONSUMERISM for brainwashing the masses into believing that an average kitchen should cost $40,000, and that such kitchen will NOT be made to last a lifetime as most kitchen cabinets made between the 1940's-1970's were.
How many of those 1940's-1970's kitchens that were made to last a lifetime are torn out because of poor layout design choices, updated trends or being outdated. Did it do those kitchens a lot of good that they were made to last a lifetime?

And people wonder why we now have a "Service-based" economy vs. a "Manufacturing-based" economy! Personally, I'm boycotting the "service" side in my kitchen reno altogether. If I cannot afford to have custom cabinets made (because the cost of doing business in the USA is so high, and custom cabinetmakers have lost so much business to "semi-custom" assemby lines that they have to pass ALL the costs onto the few customers who know the value of true QUALITY), then I'll fork over for stainless base cabs and just build the uppers myself.
Blanket, stereotypical statement. There are plenty of custom cabinet makers, just look at how many people here have used ones. We got price quotes from about 8 different custom cabinet makers w/in 25 miles of our house. Our custom cabinet maker cost less than some of the semi-custom lines and we're getting furniture grade cabinets. Does that make my kitchen inherently better than anyone else's here? Of course not. People come from different places, have different budgets, different needs and different expectations from their kitchens. Some people might consider it MORONIC to spend $20,000 on stainless steel base cabinets with outdoor stainless steel to put in an indoor kitchen that should be a warm and welcoming place to spend time. (I'm not deriding stainless... but it obviously isn't for everyone)

Yeah, she used lacquer on the wood doors, and matching melamine paint on the cabinets and end panels. Those were done at the house, not the paint shop.

I knew my post would offend some people, that's why I apologized at the end of it.

Beagle's, my post actually defended Ikea as the best choice for a person on a tight budget or who intends to change the look of their kitchen within 10 years.

I agree that HGTV is part of the problem - paint is that 'magic' that can hide all sins, all the time. This is also why sellers feel compelled to gut an original solid wood kitchen before sale and replace it with crap - because it "looks" good to buyers. As a buyer I look for good BONES and QUALITY - not superficial stuff than can be fixed after sale.

Old kitchen layouts - I agree - BUT just tossing those cabinets out is a MAJOR WASTE! They are still VERY USEFUL - in fact I plan to re-use many of mine in my new island - much cheaper to buy new drawers and doors than all new low-quality cabinets. Yeah, the layout sucks for modern life, but that is why I still stand by what I said about lifetime quality - if you are going to spend a LOT of money now - make sure those cabinets will LAST! Because, as long as the layout is truly functional you can get a whole new look with some new doors and a new finish - MUCH cheaper in the long run.

Again, this is not compared to Ikea (low budget kitchen re-do), but compared to semi-custom that cost almost as much as custom (and last and can be re-faced to look brand-new in the future).

Comparing cabinets to appliances and cars is ridiculous. I NEVER did that - I only focused on the cost of cabinets in my post. Nobody expects their appliances to last forever (unless it's a vintage appliance that WAS made to last forever), but again, you cannot compare a $500 range to a $10,000 and up range either. Nobody spends $500 on a floor model and expects it to last more than 5-10 years, but if they invest in a Sub Zero or Wolf or Aga they do. Farmgirl just posted her new kitchen - she brought her AGA stove from a previous house and has had her Sub Zero Fridge for ten years and did NOT replace it when she re-did her kitchen. So, in the long-run FarmGirl actually SAVED money by investing in QUALITY pieces long ago.
And, appliances are easy to replace, so saving money there and putting it towards better cabinets is a much better investment in the long run. Buy the floor model today and upgrade to a Viking when you have more money in the future.

My whole point was based on basic economics - from a cost / benefit analysis only Ikea (short-term) or custom high-quality wood (long-term) make financial sense.
And if you ARE lucky enough to have the original solid wood cabs, you CAN re-use them in your new layout, benefit from the great quality and get new solid wood doors and dovetailed Blum drawers for LESS than the cost of semi-custom cabinets.

--

And again, I want to KNOW if I'm the ONLY person who thinks that the cost of kitchen renovations today is obscene?

'The cabs themselves will not last more than 5-7 years'

I don't buy into that and think most here won't either. What do you DO to your cabinets? I guess if you're a hot head like the guy who lived in my new place before me and tend to kick and / or punch cabinets and walls they might not last. but then, the walls won't either. I had a lot of repair to have done on the walls - and had to replace a bedroom door that had been mutilated. hopefully, most people don't do that.

I do agree that the cost of a kitchen redo these days IS obscene tho.

I also agree that reusing good, solid cabinet boxes is a good idea - refinish and replace doors/ drawer fronts. they can usually be changed around and added to if necessary.

I hate seeing the tv shows trashing cabinets that look to be still good - just outdated (maybe they aren't that good IRL tho). I keep screaming at the tv - "NO! I'll take those cabs!" It seems so wasteful to me.

Have you ever seen two teenage siblings fighting in a kitchen? Yeah, cabinets get kicked and doors get slammed ;)

As for walls, yes, you can put your foot through drywall. But I have solid 1" thick plaster on rock lath in the original part of my house - I couldn't put a hole in that with a sledge hammer (no joke - only an angle grinder cuts through that stuff).

I agree - if I didn't have enough old wood cabs to fit into my new kitchen I would look for someone else's! Actually I have been looking for vintage metal ones, but it's proven impossible to make them fit my layout and they can't be cut to fit :(

staceyneil lots of people like it.

a couple nerds didn't get it.
then, some people reacted to them.
So now the thread is about TWO subjects, not one.

(Diego posted to say it is high end, but not like ya know hey "high end" in the sense of what he thinks high end could mean...)
((then natshcultz posted about his/her situation, (totally un-asked for) i.e. "In my case our cabinets are the original 1946 .... and they have been through HELL - slamming doors and kicking the cabinets, and still...")

Some people know what they know: natschultz knows a lot about things that are no longer necessary in the modern world, and also knows a fair amount about other topics. None of it is appropriate in a thread that asks to appreciate the kitchen you posted. It's diarrhea of the mind, to post writings that could go on another thread about another topic only slightly related to the admiration of one nice kitchen.

None of it is appropriate in a thread that asks one to appreciate the kitchen you posted.

--

I think people will like the article you posted and will admire this kitchen, and i thank you for posting the link.

I always admire what you admire.

I always enjoy what you enjoy.

I always find your questions and findings to be instructive and useful.

There is more I could say that is positive to you and appreciative.

--

so far, i hven't waded through all of the long post from natschultz and the long response. I'm posting my initial response now because i may not have the time to read them all slowly and carefully. I also have to read the article you posted, slowly and carefully, before considering revising my position.

if natschultz posted the same thoughts in a brand new thread, those thoughts could stand on their own as a topic to discuss.

if the moderators deleted from this thread everything natschultz wrote and deleted the ensuing responses, the thread would stand on its own and would deal with the subject you asked for it to deal with.

-

Well, I enjoyed the link, staceyneil, so thanks for posting it.

I have a couple of reasons for liking ikea that haven't been mentioned in this thread: their interior organization is to die for, and I personally would rather see America's last few surviving old growth maple forests have a different fate than being chopped down for kitchen cabinets which will surely be replaced in less than fifty years, no matter what their construction.

stacey, I like the link, the kitchen, and the blog : ) . Thanks for posting. It was a good reminder to catch up at Carol's blog. By the way, that was her own kitchen, though she has since sold that condo.

My own responses to nat were intended to clarify his misunderstandings about the Ikea cabs and the cost of their painting, which was nowhere near as expensive as he had thought. An Ikea kitchen, which we are considering -- in part because we live in a very rural area without too many other options (and we already have the two Ikea farmhouse sinks -- is a very reasonable, good quality option, even with custom painting, as Carol Reed points out in both of her posts.

There have been lots of posts here at GW about the quality of Ikea cabs, from many who've had them for years, so no-one here really has to apologize for them.

Parenthetically, I'm mystified by the idea of teenagers fighting in a kitchen, so much so that cabinets would be a casualty.

Becky

Stacyeyneil. I admit I was sidetracked too and forgot to mention my thoughts on your IKEA kitchen.

It looks fabulous, as do all the IKEA kitchens I see on GW. I think IKEA consumers (and I hope to become one when they open up this fall) are concerned more about value. Pairing carrara marble seems completely plausible to me as though expensive brings value to the homeowner in enjoyment. Decorative items aren't about function usually be enjoyment.

I was originally going to reuse my melamine white cabinets that are in excellent condition for a kitchen remodel being done for function and openess. After many months of lurking on GW though, we decided to reuse the kitchen cabinets for our HUGE laundry room and get new for the kitchen. It seemed crazy to purchase new for the laundry (which currently has none) and keep old ones for the kitchen remodel.

As I said we plan to use IKEA. Realizing that I like to change things out, I love the idea of just changing the drawer and door fronts for a whole new look for a fraction of the cost. I'm going after a high end modern look which I'm sure I'll be able to succeed.

staceyneil, thank you for posting that. I liked it also, though it's too late for my kitchen. I like the IKEA cabinets and would have gladly gone that route. It also helps that I live 10 minutes from one of their stores. I never thought about having the oak door professionally painted. I think it looks great in white. If I had seen this a year ago, I probably would have an IKEA kitchen now.

Could anyone tell me if there is a different name for a paint shop? How do I find one in my area by googling? Would a paint shop be the same as a shop that paints cars?

Me too, love it although it's also too late for us. I'd wanted to do Ikea cabs but I live in Colorado and we do not have an Ikea here. Isn't that nuts??? Boo hoo.

So on HGTV I watch some of Sarah Richardson's shows and she frequently uses Ikea cabs in her kitchens, having them sprayed, and they look fabulous!

I've played that dangerous game of trying to unring the bell, go back in time and "what if" our situation. Truthfully, I never win playing that game! I have thought "what if I'd driven to Utah's Ikea and purchased cabs and rented a truck and driven across the Rocky Mtns with a newborn and a toddler and my broken foot? Think of all the money I would've saved" on cabinets. On therapy costs and medication costs for the insanity I would've caused us we would've spent more than we did ....

But I have always been a fan of Ikea cabs, never seen them so glam as in the pic you posted (LOVE IT!). Thanks for sharing!

I looked at the kitchen and loved it! It is a high-end kitchen IMO. (Just realized that high-end is a subjective term). If your definition of Ikea is cheap and therefore anything ikea into a space automatically degrades the space in your mind, then obviously you will not agree that it's a high end kitchen; but it looks classy, stunning and well-executed.

Thanks for posting. CREED is an incredible site with amazing pictures and I'm glad I discovered it!!!

Thanks again.

Stacy - I like the kitchen! Thanks for the link.

beckysharp - I agree on the fighting. properly brought up teens will take their knock-down drag-out battles to the driveway where the blood can be hosed off.

natschultz ... Blasting an entire profession, an industry, and a bunch of homeowners, calling them Grade A morons, then sticking a "notpology" at the end of the tirade does nothing to bring people around to your viewpoint.

Here is a link that might be useful: notpology

"Have you ever seen two teenage siblings fighting in a kitchen? Yeah, cabinets get kicked and doors get slammed "

yes, I survived 4 of them and so did my cabinets without any damage.

btw, I forgot to add this - my kids kicking and damaging a cabinet (or anything) would have only happened ONCE at our house. They would have paid for the repair/replacement also.

Stacey - that kitchen is stunning no matter what the cabs or how much was spent. Maybe the only way they could afford that luscious marble was to use Ikea cabs, which have a 25 year warranty, BTW. We had more room in our budget because we ended up using Ikea than if we hadn't. We had gone into the project with much more planned for the cab portion of our budget and thankfully, we didn't have to as other parts of the reno/extension snatched up the extra leeway quite quickly.

I firmly believe that you don't always get what you pay for by spending a lot or a little. I had priced out similar cabs to what we got from Ikea and the price difference was more than 3x at most places and almost 10x at a high end kitchen place that used the same brand as the 3x places. We went with Ikea and love them. I have seen them used in many houses that were more than 10 years old and they looked as nice as any other cabs. Often, it is only when the homeowner mentions they are Ikea that a buyer will realize it. You can dress them up or dress them down. People who walk into my house would not know they were Ikea except for the fact that I mention it proudly. Our kitchen does not look like what you'd imagine an Ikea kitchen looks like, but then again, I suspect most don't. Unless you use every single kitchen component from Ikea and copy their displays (which do not all look alike), your kitchen will look like how you design it to look. Ikea is not a "style" but a source.

Aloha - your plan for reusing your kit cabs in the laundry and putting Ikea in the kitchen is brilliant. It is recycling in the best way ;) I also like that we can switch out the look if we wanted, but highly doubt we will want to do that. I love the look of our cabs and chose a style that can look different depending on what is around them (Applad in white). What is good about being able to switch is if one of our sons does something less than wonderful to them in any way, we can swap out parts and fix them back up.

BTW - if our sons were smashing around our kitchen, I'd have way more to worry about than what someone paid to paint their cabs. Ours are pre-teens now, but you can bet they know better than to act like such savages in our house. I know they may walk in with muddy feet, drape their clothes where they don't belong, etc... but to slam each other around the kitchen enough to damage cabs? I don't think so! Does the rest of the house need to be all bean bags and blow up furniture just because you have teens in the house? Color me naive.

natschultz: I believe Omega manufactures ONLY plywood cabs, not particleboard. They are of pretty high quality I believe.

Becky and desertsteph and dianalo -when my then teenaged daughters (now in their 30's with children of their own) had a fight my older daughter threw a bowl at her sister, missed her but hit the mw (old mw that was attached to the range) and broke the glass. She paid for the repair, but did not learn her lesson as she did the SAME THING the next summer!!

The cabinets were fine ;-)

I, too, enjoyed the article.

Siematic frequently uses MDF and particle board. Their product come with a limited lifetime warranty. Care to guess between them and Omega which one costs more? If the use of particle board or MDF signal poor quality or low end to you, you may be a little out of step with today's market.

Caryscott: Excellent comment. Siematic is HIGH END! When I was remodelling you were invaluable with your advice and knowledge on frameless and particleboard Euro style cabinets. If you recall I ripped out a built in place solid wood set of cabinets (likely built in the 50s). I felt bad at the time, but it has passed! I replaced with Brookhaven frameless particleboard cabs and you validated my decision. Mind you, they do have solid maple dovetailed deep drawers, Blum slides etc. I love the result and it has made the kitchen so much more functional. Moreoever, it really finally looks right in the 1923 house. Your comment above is very sensible. I do not see that these cab boxes are not going to last - given reasonable care and treatment.

Gorgeous!
I went with Ikea and was really pleased with the value for the money. My lowers are all drawer units and I think the quality is great. I def don't see having to replace them out of necessity in 10 years... maybe due to boredom, but not necessity.

wow; this thread makes me thankful that I live in the Houston area where getting built-in cabinets is pretty inexpensive. I just priced the labor and materials for my entire 3700 sf new build, including kitchen, mud room, entertainment center, dining room hutch, kitchen desk, pantry, closets for 5 bedrooms, and labor (not materials) for trim work (baseboards, etc). It came out to less than $40k. Here's to counting my blessings! I'll post pictures when it's finished.

Stacyneil - Great posting and picture. When I look at this picture, I definitely think high end...and then see it's from Ikea!!!! It is gorgeous!

And Natschultz you wrote "Seriously! Why, and I am dead serious here, do people WILLINGLY spend close to a year's salary on a kitchen redo and SETTLE for cabinets that are NOT MADE TO LAST? Why do I feel like the ONLY person on the planet that finds the cost of crap cabinetry ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS?!?!?"
My father taught me alot of things in my 40+ years....one of the most important is - Never count anyone's money. Meaning it's not your place to tell people (or consumers) where to spend THEIR money. If someone wants to spend 5K on a new kitchen it is their choice, as the same if someone wants to spend 150K. I'm pretty sure no one asked for your opinion on how much they should spend on their kitchen.
And I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but you are definitely showing your ignorance by blasting all kitchen designers based on a few articles you have read or have experience with. The harshness in your words are really not appreciated on a forum that offers so much help and assistance to many many people.
I'm apologizing to you now.....does that make it all ok?!?!?!

stacyneil---I, for one, am pleased that you posted. The Husband is FINALLY feeling like we can come up with somemoney to re-do our kitchen...so I'm back on this board. And this post came up in my IKEA search. I love the posted kitchen...

melanie

I also thank you for the post, stacy. We just moved from the house where I did a beautiful remodel using Ikea kitchen cabinets, and I miss it terribly! The new (old) house has custom built cabinets with inset doors, and they look lovely. But the functionality is the pits! The doors are clunky and don't close properly all the time, and it drives me crazy how much space is wasted compared to frameless cabinets. What I miss the most is the Ikea pullouts and drawers - they're so versatile.

I do wish Ikea had an unpainted wood door style. That would make the painting prospect much less daunting.

And yeah, my teenagers and all their friends never did anything to my Ikea cabinets that couldn't wipe right off with a sponge!

I'm also chiming in to say I always appreciate seeing IKEA kitchens and am considering going IKEA for my own remodel. I have more research to do, but I'm impressed with the features, the versatility, modifications and price. I also love the idea of being able to change the entire kitchen out down the road by replacing doors and some side panels. We live in IKEAless Anchorage but haven't ruled out shipping them up from Seattle.

Thanks for posting this kitchen, staceyneil. Really enjoyed that.

Ignore the gremlins who like to use any excuse for going OT so they can dump their personal drivel in public. We bought Kraftmaid frameless cabs back in 1989 and they are - gasp! shock! - melamine interior, laminate particleboard!!

And y'know, despite a heckuva lot of abuse, they are just fine today. In fact, I'd love to take them with me when I leave, because they're easy to clean and a joy to use, with all the custom features I love. So much better than my MIL's ancient built-in-place wood cabs, painted over a million times so the doors stuck, drawers falling apart and corners that resembled Black Holes. And the insides....shudder. MIL scrubbed her grout with a toothbrush but there was nothing you could do for those grungy old interiors.

I've checked out the IKEA cabs and they are excellent cabs for the money. It's good to see them used in a more expensive kitchen. My only reservation about them is that I don't like the half-height sides, but frameless offers so much more storage than framed, it's a minor quibble.

This is a customized IKEA kitchen in my own home:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/complete-open-concept-ground-floor-renovation-with-ikea-kitchen-dsvw-vd~5554957?n=10