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?!?!?!

We did this with our Ikea cabinets. You can still use the rail system, which is designed to support the cabinet 100% without having to attach it to any side support (which standard cabinets require). You just have to build out a "box" on the rear wall to make up for the needed 8" of space (really 7.5", because the doors on the front of your cabinet will be 1/2" deep). The "box" or structure that you build needs to both (1) give a solid piece on which to mount the rail and (2) include a build out at the bottom against which the lower rear of the cabinet rests -- just like it would against the flat wall. If you skip (2), you end up with a cabinet hanging from the rail and then tilting forward from the top while the bottom of it swings back toward the wall to find something to lean against. Regarding side panels, the 36" x 8' tall side panels are what you need (which at one point weren't in the planner and your Ikean had to add them at the time of the order). Make sure you order these, and not the ones that are only 24' deep and 88" tall. The correct panels: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70022758/ In our particular install we didn't use side panels, because (1) the panels are only 8' tall, and our installation was meant to go flush to a ceiling higher than 8' -- so there would be a gap at the top or bottom if we used Ikea's panel, or (2) we would have to create our own panel and try to match the finish and the horizontal grain. Our solution was to create a fridge "alcove" and ignore the panel issue altogether. The fridge was already flush against a bumped-out pantry wall on one side. DH simply built another wall on the other side and we finished it with drywall and painted. The cabinet and fridge then went in the alcove. For our install, this worked nicely, as there were no upper cabs on the rest of the run (in the rest of the kitchen, actually) and it separated this vertical "column" in the overall look of the room. It also eliminated the ageless argument of how to end the backsplash behind the fridge. We lost the 5-1/2" of space the new wall took up, but in the end we didn't miss it at all. It actually helped us keep the rest of that wall symmetrical. We mounted the cabinet about in the center of the vertical "space" available above the fridge and used trim pieces at the top and bottom. This trim was cut from one of the 36" x 8' panels, the remainder of which was used to cover the ends of our island. Re attaching the panels, you'll want to screw through from inside the cabinet into the panel. You'll need to buy screws for this and make sure they are long enough but not too long to fit through the cabinet side and at least half way into the cover panel. Consider also using adhesive on the cover panel where it abuts a cabinet. Although we didn't have cover panels on the fridge, we had them on the ends of our island. We used adhesive and screws. One last thing: If you've created sort of a boxed-in area, make sure you slide the cabinet bolts onto the hanging rail BEFORE you secure the haning rail in place. There's noting like getting it secured and then going "wait a minute . . . " and taking it down again. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the box or the process, but here is what I have. I hope this helps! The wall before: The wall after: Cover panels on island:

I am quite annoyed with my local store - I was told we could order our cabinets and by the time we'd need to order counter, they'd have the sale. The terms and conditions are different than what the employee told me (we spent enough but already got delivery on Saturday) Taking it all back is just not possible and stinks because we spent $150 to get it delivered to avoid multiple trips. I know how Ikea is with sales and they are sticklers. *sigh* 40% off was just enough of a sale to afford stone (it worked out to be $400 more than wilsonart HD with the sale on the counter I really wanted)

Steph, I looooove the pull out trash! We went with the two trash can ikea sells with lids and I wasn't sure how I would love the lid, but I do! It keeps the smell away and looks more "clean" when it's opened. We had the pullout for the trash made to look like three drawers too so it would blend in more and we couldn't be more happy with that choice. We fell in love with the stone too! I agree with the touches, when we told my parents it was Ikea (and my dad is super "wood is supreme" kind of guy) they couldn't believe it! Lanne, Thanks! We bought them off of ebay! I am a deal finder and found ones i loved from Houzz and googled for them to get a deal. They are "Fulcrum" in champagne bronze by Atlas Hardware. We found so many deals by finding things we loved and then going on ebay or waiting for an Overstock.com 12% coupon to buy. Overstock doesn't charge for shipping or tax, SUCH a save when you're buying expensive items!