My brain didn't even pick up on your spelling.

My DD bought a house with IKEA cabinets. The kitchen looked beautiful but the drawers don't all work, the upper cabinets are narrower than most so they don't hold much stuff. He kitchen footprint is small as her house was built in the early 50's. Storage matters.

To be fair, her kitchen cabs could be early IKEA but she hates them because while they look great, they are junk. Twelve years after install, they are failing big time. Meanwhile my custom cherry cabs from the early seventies are going strong and supporting granite. (DD has laminate, so can't blame the drawer failures on weight.)

It did get the previous owners a good return on their investment but at the cost of the new owners almost immediately.

The Ikea cabs that my sister installed in 1990 are still great (and I'm a little envious as I'm stuck with honey oak until our reno starts in August). Her counter top is butcher block, if that's important. Are the drawers in all Ikea cabinets metal? I never noticed that before!

Some of the Ikea doors are real wood, Adel comes to mind. As for cabinet's being too narrow, that's not an Ikea issue, that's just the size that was selected. Ikea makes widths up to 36" if I remember right.

I've not noticed any scratches on the ones we have in the play room and they get lots of use from a 4 year old. There are some stains from her pulling a toy out that was stuck. ie it rubbed some color off on the metal, but I got those bumps/bruises in my wood drawers too.

Ikea also sells those drawer liners, seems those would protect the interiors. But, if the metal finish would scratch in ordinary use, why isn't wood being scratched and nicked and gouged a concern I would wonder?

My IKEA kitchen is in almost two years now. The drawers are fine; they are lined with Plast-O-Mat, which protects the bottoms, and helps prevent items from sliding around.
Also, the drawers glide so smoothly that things tend to stay put. The only things actually touching the sides of the drawers are the backs of spoons.
I love them because even the shallow drawers have more "headroom" than my old ones.

I've only had mine about four years or so. They're fine. I love my full-extension drawers. Turns out a big drawer loaded with 2 sets of china, plus, is very heavy, and DH and son should have put some extra bolts in to hold the run of cabinets extra securely to the wall studs. The weight from that one wide drawer tilted the counter down a tiny fraction of an inch, just enough to notice when you fry eggs. I mention this because the full-extension drawer itself is still heavily loaded and works as well as the day it went in...

The plastic lining the boxes themselves IS very thin, and I believe it's their weak point that might be the first to show problems over time. If you had any reason to think it might take a banging there or there, from someone rough with canned goods perhaps, or get stained from a rusty can under the sink or some such thing, you might put a liner on it for protection.

Ikea metal drawers are made by Blum (Tandembox) and that is an upgrade in most cabinet lines. That is where most of the value is in Ikea, actually. So I am surprised that you would be worried about the drawers. I have a basement kitchenette, the old Adel birch, looks new. The 24" pantry with several pullout drawers (heavily loaded with cans and jars) and the 18" "soda/drinks" base cabinet with drawers get used every day and the drawers have never been a problem. I've never noticed scratching. You can usually buy returned cabinet doors in the "as is" section for about $5 and take them home for durability tests.

Had mine for 5 years - The bottom of the drawer is finished with something, but I added Ikea's liner stuff anyway. I keep pots and pans and all sorts of clunky stuff in the drawers and have had no signs of wear. No scratches.

I don't treat the drawers gently and they have performed brilliantly: not one has needed adjusting, and the soft-close is great.

Bear in mind that Ikea has a 25 year warranty on its kitchen cabinetry: it's made to an entirely different standard to their other stuff. (And I have 15 year old Billy bookcases from Ikea, that are still OK, but not in the same category as the kitchen cabinets, by any means)

The cabinet boxes sold in the USA are made in the USA, too, which was important to me. Because everyone else uses metric sizing, it makes no sense for them to manufacture the US ones anywhere else. They work to the German manufacturing standards (highest in the EU) so no off-gassing fumes either.

Thank you everyone for your responses so far!

My mother doesn't mind wood scratches, etc. b/c, for one thing, the scratches are the same "color" as the rest of the wood. She feels, however, that scratches like Lyfia described in a metal drawer box will show up if the color is different.

It's not just the bottom, she's worried about the sides as well...putting away forks, for example, and scraping across the drawer's "wall".

It does sound like there can be issues with scratching... But, there's a difference b/w a 4-year old using them for toy storage and an older adult using them for utensils, pots/pans, etc.

Please keep the comments/information coming as I'd like to hear from as many IKEA owners as possible so I can get a feel for whether the scratching issue is wide-spread or isolated.

Again, thanks to those who have responded so far!

Any other IKEA Kitchen owners wish to chime in?

Well - I haven't had my Ikea kitchen long enough for the wear and tear test, but so far I love it! The soft close drawers and doors are amazing.

I did not choose to get wood, because I wanted a white kitchen, and the only white wood they have has too much of a pinkish tone. But the white Adel thermafoil (I guess they are thermafoil?) are way easier to clean than my previous white-painted wood cabinets.

I lined my drawers. I don't see how the sides would scratch unless you really stuffed the drawers and had something sharp next to the side of the drawer.

Considering her budget, I don't think you will get better bang for the buck. If you can wait a few months, they will probably have their next kitchen sale sometime around August.

I hope to post some pics in a few weeks when I get my backsplash in.

Bonnie