August 2004 Consumer Reports gives a good review of Cabinets - and Ikea is rated #1 for entry level. What they don't say is that many of the interior features are standard, and cost an upgrade for other manufactures (Blum hinges, soft close, etc.) The report does not also review the different door qualities. Some of the lower doors I would not want, whereas some of the higher end doors are quality. Some folks here have used the Ikea boxes and opted for doors by places such as Scherr's online. (Search here to see what I mean.)

What horror stories did your contractors tell you? If you want to go with Ikea, you need to get an installer who has actually installed them, or do it yourself. Maybe the contractors do not want to put in Ikea Boxes because they don't get a percentage? That sounds quite snarky, I know, but I have heard so many stories. Have they tried to steer you toward specific lines? Have you spoken with local cabinet makers? From every thing I have read on this board, you do not want to go to many of the Lowes/Home Depots - it is very hit or miss there.

BTW, I do have an Ikea Pantry - the back of it, as in most European Frameless cabinets, is thin. The sides are very sturdy, the piece is holding up quite well, and the insides glide beautifully. They are made of the same stuff that all non-plywood sides cabinets are made of. If the contractors recommended specific brands, look up the entry level styles of those cabinets, and look up what the specs are for the boxes. Chances are that they are particle board. They will say "furniture board" - you can also look at their next level up and see what upgrades are choices.

Even Wood-Mode, a very high end cabinet company, (which costs A LOT more_ I was just surprised to see offers particle board sides for their European line of cabinetry. While their sizes are customizable, there is a lot you can do with Ikea Cabinets. (I linked the Wood-Mode Introduction page below, so you can see that the sides are made of the same material as Ikea.)

If you want to use Ikea, you should poke around the IkeaFans site a bit, especially their hacking area. People have done all sorts of creative things - I loved a very narrow pantry pull out for brooms in a thread that
buehl began on this site - if you follow both of the links, you will see that a dh created one, while the carpenter hired to install the Ikea cabinets created the other.

Get thee to a library to read that Consumer Reports. Then hire a different contractor. You don't want to hire someone who comes into the job with a doubting attitude, ready to say "I told you so."

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood-Mode specs

I can make a pretty darn good guess as to why your contractors said that: they're guys who don't need no stinkin' instructions and just install ikea cabinets the way they do any other brand (nail 'em to the walls). Ikea has a unique system involving a suspension rail, and if you don't use it, you betcha they'll fall down and generally behave like cruddy cabinets.

You need someone who either knows the ikea system or is willing to learn new things (for some reason, not a common quality in contractors). :)

We were very pleased with the quality of our Ikea cabinets in our last home. The withstood heavy use, our toddler, and 2 1/2 years of renters while we were travelling. The are very sturdy and the hinges and hardware are MUCH better than other "entry-level" cabinets. Plus, unlike those, they are very low VOC so I felt a lot better about the off-gassing issues. I agree about the doors... definitely go to an Ikea and look at them in person. Some look, and feel, cheaper and others much more high-quality. Honestly, for the price they are FABULOUS.

We've been using our IKEA kitchen for 13 months now and I'm still solidly a fan. The cabinets  installed per IKEA's method  are sturdy and attractive. We've had no problems.

It was actually our contractor who suggested IKEA, based on his past experience and our limited budget. It was the carpenters (who were not his employees but more like subs, although we paid them directly) who had an attitude. Really it was just one guy who kept going on about what crap they were, and how he wouldn't put them in his house. Interestingly, when all was installed and the doors were on, he finally, grudgingly admitted that it had all turned out well and that the cabinets were nicer than he had thought they would be.

I agree completely about the variable quality of the doors. We made the decision to go with the Tidaholm style (a sort of Shaker-ish oak door), which is one of the most expensive, before I found GardenWeb or we might have considered doors from someplace like Scherr's. Up until the point that all the doors and hardware was installed I was still afraid that I wasn't going to like the doors but I have to say I'm more than pleased.

And also as stated above, the cabinets came with full-extension, soft-close, Blum hardware at no additional cost (which was more than could be said about KraftMaid, at least a year and a half ago).

We paid about $4,000 for our IKEA cabs and the estimate for basically the same thing in KraftMaid (with Shaker maple doors) was $10,000. We spent the money we saved on soapstone and upgraded hardware and appliances. A fair trade, I think. We're very happy.

LOL. That's funny - a little bit stronger than paper. Ha.

Seriously, visit Ikeafans.com for an enlightening. I have IKEA cabinets (getting custom doors), to which we've made many modifications. Would I get them again? Absolutely, for the price and standard upgrades. Also for the easy DIY-ness, the ability to hack (and not worry about losing a fortune if I screw it up), the ability to be in control of the design and the ordering process (no KD), and the off-the-shelf instant gratification (if I want a cabinet or a drawer or a knob or a damper, I can have it today - not 8 weeks from now).

If I had a larger budget, of course, I'd do my dream of Crownpoint in my next kitchen - but that's a stylistic issue, not because of quality. My IKEA cabs are sturdy as is and they are sturdy with the hacks we did. After DH installed our disposal, the sink drain leaks a lot sometimes... but the IKEA sink cab? No warping, no rotting, no damage so far.

Don't let contractors bully you. They work for you. Only you know what you want and need. Educate yourself. An uninformed naive female is a bullying-contractors favorite customer. Don't let that happen. If you visit ikeafans and IKEA and decide it's not for you, fine. For some, it's not, and that's okay. But watch out for the contractors who come in and immediately start telling you what's what. Those are the ones I immediately show out the door.

I've only had my Ikea cabinets a few months, but they seem very sturdy and I adore the way they function, soft close drawers/doors, I think they are beautiful. I have Liljestat doors, and they're real wood and very nice IMO. They also have a really great warranty. Another nice thing was that when we changed our mind on a cabinet or two mid renovation we just returned one and got another. . . no fuss no muss.

I agree with everyone here. We're putting Ikea cabinets in our laundry room and they seem very sturdy. DH doesn't like to read directions but had no difficulty with assembling and installing. We're also modifying cabinets--cutting down tall cabinets to 4'. DH is converting a door and 2 drawers into 2 24" pull outs.

I was a bit skeptical when considering Ikea but after many visits to ikeafans dot com I became convinced they were a good choice. We're using Ikea oak doors. We visited a stunning old home in the French countryside a few years ago. The owner showed us an outbuilding they converted into a beautiful apt--it had our same oak Ikea cabinets!

Several years ago, when we finished our basement, a kitchen was incorporated and we chose IKEA cabinets. Absolutely no regrets. We made quite a few modifications and installed matching doors on some "built-in-place" cabinets. We really like the interior options for the soft-close drawers and wide opening hinges. At the time, these features were not available on non-custom cabinets we considered.

My DH is a pretty good sized gentleman and he gets atop ours to change lightbulbs so I know they're sufficiently strong.

Ours was DIY so seems to me the contractors you are speaking with are unfamiliar and prefer not to learn on the job. In Chicago, IKEA offers installation service, perhaps your local store does too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basement Kitchen

Our Ikea kitchen will be two over Labor Day weekend. It's just the two of us- no kids- but honestly, we're hard on stuff. The cabinets are as good as new.

I prefer my old Ikea cabinets (used in a laundry room in the previous house) to my new kitchen's Kraftmaid any day!

When we were looking at stone, one of the stone yards mentioned that for 3cm soapstone, they often have to reinforce Ikea lower cabs because the weight sometimes causes a sheer effect, but I think it could certainly be done if that is an issue.

Re: Rubyfig's statement above: We put 3cm soapstone directly on top of our IKEA cabs. No problems so far.

That may depend on the widths of the cabinets and whether a long one ends in open air instead of a wall. I'm also a very happy Ikea'er here, but the boxes ARE particleboard covered with a thin plastic-type material that can be damaged relatively easily (but don't tend to be--the doors protect the interiors, after all). The edges of the particleboard, like any other particleboard cabinet box, can soak up leaking water and be permanently damaged. Other than that, nonsense. Wait until you're carrying a kitchen's worth from the trailer or truck you bring it home in. The boxes are flat, small, and easy to load but quite heavy.

They may have misunderstood some of the features like "foil color cabinet and drawer facing" which sounds flimsy but gets the job done. In any case, there are often a few glitches and unremarked items in the pictorial instructions which should be VERY carefully studied and verified by completely building one item of a multiple set first. The quality of the hinges is unmatched elsewhere for the price.

Ikea fans is a great resource for anyone wanting info and help.

One thing: While waiting for some of my orders to be picked and brought out, I have often been entertained by watching unfortunate souls returning opened stuff that either didn't fit or had some other flaw. If the contractors are aware of how thorough and time consuming the process can be, it might explain their reluctance.

We completed our Ikea kitchen remodel in 2005 using the Tidaholm cabinets. They were easy to install, and the DIY aspect allowed us to remodel at our own pace with minimal stress. Although not likely to appeal to someone who yearns for furniture-quality cabinet doors, these cabinets are an excellent value for the money. We will be buying our retirement house in about 6 years, and I hope we find a house that needs a new kitchen (but is otherwise perfect) so we can do another one using the innovations I've since seen here on Gardenweb and on the Ikeafans site!

These contractors are probably thinking of IKEA furniture like bookshelves. Their kitchen cabinets are quite a different animal than their other cabinets, bookshelves and such.

IKEA kitchen cabinets are widely used in Europe, where the modern look is more popular than traditional looks.

Another satisfied IKEA cabinet customer here. We DIY'd a hutch out of Adel birch base cabinets and wall cabinets. After nine years, no sags and no dings. The glides still glide sweetly. One thing (hardly IKEA's fault): the hutch is in direct sunlight, and the beautiful clear figured birch has yellowed more than I expected.

HTH

rc
in
VT

If I had $100,000 to spend on a kitchen, I'd STILL get Ikea cabinets. I'm so pleased with mine (this is a year later).