I just measured one 15" base cabinet that I assembled last weekend. A wall cabinet would have a top to deal with. You would have to re-drill the assembly holes in the back for the panels (2 sides and 1 bottom and/or top). That looks to be the hardest part. Otherwise, just cut the panels down to 12" and cut new grooves for the back panel. The back row of holes for the shelf pins looks to fall at least 3/4 inch inside the back panel, so no new drilling required there. I can't yet say if you could mount Ikea drawers in a 12" yet, but shelves should be no problem.

No, it does not look too hard if you have a table saw and some good bits and templates for re-drilling the assembly holes. Not sure yet if a router would be required for the back panel groove. A table saw blade might be wide enough.

FWIW, it would be quite easy to simply add to your soffit to make the soffit 15" deep. Some 2x4, a couple sheets of drywall, and one day from a decent carpenter, and you'll have a 15" deep soffit.

funkycamper, do you know where that post is located?

Sorry I don't but I'm sure you can find it easily enough with a search. I know it had either IKEA or Sektion or both in the title. And it was here in the Kitchen forum. And it has been in the last week, 10 days at most. You should be able to find it. But I really don't know if it gave you any better information than you've already gotten in here. I just remember they commented on hackability. Sorry I'm not more help.

Here is the link to that discussion.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2827334/first-impressions-of-the-new-sektion-kitchens?n=14

It's not that big a deal to rip IKEA cabinets and shelves. Get the right blade for your table saw or rail saw and pay attention to chip-out.

Yes, I'm looking for the same information. I asked one of the Ikea install companies why Ikea decided to make their cabinets deeper, and apparently, it's because Americans like very large plates. Now the rest of us who don't want a cave under their cabs have to trim all the uppers. : /

Now the rest of us who don't want a cave under their cabs have to trim all the uppers. : /

Have you been to an ikea to try out one of the kitchens? I don't really find them that much different in actual use, at least not if you use a standard clearance between the counter and the bottom of the cab above. Before you commit to all that ripping, I'd try to go see them in person someplace, if you haven't done so already.

BTW they're deeper in Europe too.

I'm in the process of getting them installed. I love the deeper upper cabinets. I don't have a lot of storage in my small condo, so every bit helps.

I'd alter the soffit. It's just drywall. Why risk ruining cabinets drywall is a lot cheaper.

Well, you have two solutions in front of you; cut the cabinets or add to the soffit. Thinking about it, though, before I did either, I'd also think about perhaps making that a small shelf. I'd have to think more about that, maybe even do a mock up, but depending on your style, it's another alternative.

We ended up leaving everything as it was, but the problem we have run into over the past year is that our appliances are too tall for the deeper cabinets. We used to use our Viatmix all the time and now in order to use it it needs to practically hang off the edge of the counter, so we never use it anymore. The new Vitamixes are shorter, but the same goes for our coffeemaker. I am not going to bother with buying any of the kitchen appliances I wanted to buy like a KitchenAid mixer or a big food processor. I guess I'll have to wait until we move to our next place.

In our 1949 house, we have coves which form a soffit. Don't want to touch those so I'd rather cut down the wall cabinets. In our case, it's only 4 cabs. Our contractor is creative. I note that all the local custom kitchen cab makers still make them 11 or 12 " deep.

Ah, okay, that makes sense, then. Yes, most other lines are still 12".

Monique, it is doable to cut down the cabinets.

But you will lose all the predrilled holes at the back when you cut down the cabinets. The holes are used for attaching the rail brackets and also for the cam and lock system that keeps the pieces together.

You will also lose the grooves for the back of the cabinet. It is a 1/8 thin board that slides in the grooves. You may be able to just nail the back to the sides of the cabinet instead.

If you have a good contractor though it shouldn't be anything that is unsurmountable. Honestly the wall cabinets without doors and shelves are not that expensive, so you could buy one cabinet and try it out to see how it goes.

Thanks Lisa. Here is a good youtube showing how to cut down Ikea cabs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF9CBADpKyE

Have had 3 quotes for custom cabinets and they are 3 or 4xs the price of Ikea so I'm inspired to cut down some stock Ikea cabs. I'm not actually wild about the current choices in cabinet doors, but Bjorket may work (anyone have comments on how durable Bjorket is. Also does it darken?).

Ikea is supposedly made of safe materials. I'm highly allergic to formaldehyde so when a custom kitchen company cant tell me if their products have emissions, I don't want to deal with them. I once bought a small free-standing presswood/white laminate cabinet from Home Depot and got sick from the fumes. CMHC guided me to put it outside for 2 months, to seal any exposed presswood with water-based varathane and that actually worked well.

My biggest challenge is to get the right height on the cabs. I suppose I'll have to cut down 40" cabs if I want 31.5", but then it wrecks the panel doors. I have coved soffits that I'm trying to save. Don't want more than 18 clearance above the counters which is the building code here. I would have preferred 12" deep uppers at 17" above cabs.

Regarding small appliances on the counter - most are designed to fit with the standard backsplash height --> 18" b/w the top of the counter and the bottom of the upper cabinet or, if you have light rail, the bottom of the light rail. If you reduce that distance, then it's going to be an issue.

I don't know about Vitamix as I do not have one, but if it's taller than 18", then the designer either didn't know about the standard or didn't care b/c s/he wanted or needed the additional height for the machine.

(I don't know if you did reduce your backsplash height, but if you did, that's probably why your coffeemaker and other items don't fit.)

My KA mixer - it's a lift, not tilt - fits just fine under my cabinets installed at the standard height. I also have a standard Keurig machine and a large Cuisinart food processor - they both fit with no problems under my upper cabinets.

Note that upper cabinet heights are also sized to fit with both the standard backsplash height as well as the standard ceiling heights (8' & 9'). (With custom, of course, you can have any height or depth!)

I have a mix of 12" and 15" deep upper cabinets and after living with them, I wish I had specified 15" deep for all my upper cabinets - it's surprising how much more space those 3" provide!

Schroeem, Did you not go with the standard 18" distance between counter top and bottom of the uppers? I have a vitamix that is 3 years old and it fits under my uppers. my uppers are 18" above my countertops, as Buehl describes.

We could only do 16" because of the structural soffits (we live in a high rise). They are concrete beams or something like that.

Monique, I have a den full of unassembled boxes of Bjorket cabinets. This style is being discontinued so I'm not sure you can still get a full kitchen's worth, depending on where you live. The door frames are solid wood around the edges but it is a very light wood in both weight and color.

Oh rats, just when I though I'd made a decision on material. They are still on the ikea.ca site.

If you are ordering online, I bet they still have enough stock. I am seeing some pieces out of stock at the Charlotte NC store and they put up the discontinued sign. The kitchen person gave me a heads up a couple of months ago and said they'd sell it in store until they didn't have enough for a full kitchen and that might take up to six months but unpredictable.

Monique, if you hurry and place your order for Bjorket, they still have it in stock. I have an 80% finished Bjorket kitchen, and the quality is nice. I had my heart set on painted wood, so that's what we did -- ours are painted BM Simply White, so I can't speak to darkening.

Ikea told me that they will be selling Bjorket for at least another year. Our contractor cut down the upper cabinets to 12" and it was no big deal. Just had to add some holes for shelving. Thank God we did, because installing our hood fan/microwave would have been a nightmare. This way there was clearance as they are designed for 12" cabinets. Our project is nearing the end. Will post pics soon.

Akimbo, do you have pix? Just minutes ago we installed our OTR micro only to realize the IKEA cabinet depth problem. DH not happy! Any added info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For a pantry, we cut down Ikea cabinets to 8" due to clearance requirements. That was a recommendation by our architect and I really like not having to fish through items to bet to something in the back. Good luck.

Akimbo: Wow, that's going to be beautiful (already is!) Seeing what you did makes me think that we may have to put a 1.5" spacer to bump out the micro. Without reducing all upper cabs it might look odd with just the one. Thank you so much for the pix. Good luck with the rest of your kitchen.

I have no regrets about cutting down the cabs to 12". Our working surfaces feel less cavernous, and light is better. I got rid of excess things I didn't need. The drawers hold all our china, pots and pans etc. The upper cabs hold glassware, cups, cooking oils etc.

Apologies for reviving an old post, but @Akimbo: I am curious to hear more about the 8" pantry! I couldn't tell where it was in the photos you provided. Beautiful kitchen by the way! I'm said IKEA discontinued the Bjorket, they were the most attractive doors in my opinion.

Yes, I love the 8" pantry. It was suggested by an architect. Everything is visible and accessible. We needed the extra clearance in floor space, so it was a good idea for us. Yes, IKEA discontinued Bjorket--after they assured me the line would be continued. I needed some drawer fronts and finally found some on EBAY in the US. Although I like the Bjorket, I noticed some bowing in our 24" drawer fronts. Ikea service is worse than terrible, so we are just living with it.

Thank you!

Akimbo, those 8" cabinets are awesome! I am currently looking into installing an IKEA tall cabinet into my hallway linen closet to make it look like a built-in. We did a custom wardrobe in our old house with IKEA cabinets that turned out great. I love that IKEA's cabinets are so easy to modify (even though they have done everything to discourage it). The 2nd and third photos are the Kitchen we were working on when I asked you about the upper cabinet depth/microwave issue. We ended up using a spacer behind the microwave.

Looks great!

My advice is that they really are not worth the effort to buy just to modify. I really dont get the craze for this. there are companies who make perfectly food cabinets that dont need to be reworked.

We had our carpenter cut the cabinets down and I'm glad we did. I read that the reason Ikea recently made them deeper is because Americans use large plates and they weren't fitting in the standard size cabinet. I also didn't want the space under my upper cabinets to feel like a cave. Have no regrets about our decision.

Yes, also did 8" ones to use as a pantry. It's not easy to fish out cans in the back of a stuffed cabinet. I also like being able to open the pantry and easily see everything in it.