Ikea cabinets are really quite good quality, and if Ladybug messes them up, you can get new doors! Of course they have to have a door you like and sizes that work for you, and saving the granite might not be easy...but it's worth looking into (and saving the granite is going to be the same problem whatever cabinets you get). Ikea cabinets are not bad at all!

Check out ikeafans.com if you are seriously thinking Ikea. Good people who know their Ikea.

There are lots and lots of fans of the Ikea cabinets. Hubby and I are not among them. We went and looked at them once and were seriously underwhelmed. We actually were just there again this past weekend (had an errand in the area) and looked at their front of the store cabinet display (and the cabs down in the organizing area) and were still underwhelmed. I guess they're a good budget alternative but to us they looked and felt like cheap plastic and reminded us of the Sauder particle board furniture.

someone else here restained their oak cabs (search 'gel stain')

then get new knobs, new paint/color, new drawer runners

might be worth the work - and cheaper

just checked out that ikeafan site...WOW! is all i have to say. not leaning one way or another, i just want, need functional cabinets!!

we've already stained them a dark finish, but the problem is that they're too deep/not deep enough and drawer tracks are going as well. i'd love to keep them - like desertsteph said, i could paint them, add a little 'jewelry', but can't see how to make them functional....

so again... spend the money, or do ikea? thx!

There are other options that are reasonably priced besides Ikea vs. Kraftmaid. Many big box stores have ready made cabinets in a series of wood finishes and usually a white. These are usually decently made but do not have the customization that you can get with Ikea or Kraftmaid.

The other place to look is at builders supply houses or lumber yards. They usually carry a line or two of cabinets. I have builders supply semi-custom cabinets and they are very well made, all plywood boxes and they had enough of a selection for me. We did some after market customization (garbage pullout from rev-a-shelf for example) that ended up saving a lot of money. We got a very good price on the cabinets as the supplier gave us my contractor's price for the cabinets.

That said there are some beautiful IKEA kitchens out there -- many are on this board. I didn't go the IKEA route because they did not have a door style that I wanted and I wasn't ready to go the route some IKEAfans go, which is use IKEA boxes with mail order doors.

Another vote for going new. Can you post a pic or link of your current layout?

Depending on your patience and what the layout presents, you could do a section of your kitchen at a time to lessen the impact of cost and functionality of your kitchen. It will be much easier and cost effective if the retro can be done with standard, nominal cabinets. That is cabinets that come in the standard 3" increments of sizes; 9, 12, 15 and so on. From what you describe, this may be a relative easy retrofit to do with the contractor grade cabinetry, but you never know till you measure it out. Just handle the countertops with care when removing, as that's a huge cost savings from the start for you and keeping in mind they will fracture if handled improperly.

The best part that is presented and should be used from sites like Ikea, Kraftmaid, HGTV is the interactive planners to present your current layout and what to expect with the new. Always easier to make changes on the screen or paper.

Where are you located? You could try to find kitchen cabinets from Green Demolitions.

I put Ikea in my pantry about 4 years ago as a test to see if I'd like to use it in my kitchen - they're awesome! Very sturdy, still look great, and can be modified a lot. I haven't used them in my kitchen because life got busy (we opened a small business), but I won't hesitate to use them there when it comes time to replace the cabinets. The only downside is the limited range of widths in cabinets/drawers, and the door choices. I found several I liked, and every time I go to the showroom I'm intrigued by how much you can adapt them to unique situations.

If you're selling in 5-7 years I'd go the Ikea route. Heck, I might go the Ikea route anyway (I'm making do with the builder's cabs in our house). momto3boys (I think) did her kitchen in them and they are awesome looking.

we seriously considered IKEA and I did a ton of research. It ends up that we'll build our own cabs but IKEA was a definite early contender. I believe that display cabs are abused by thousands of people and after all the glowing success of real people using them in working kitchens on this forum; I wouldnt' hesitate to get them