Do you have to buy from IKEA? Most cabinet companies have 36” cabinets, which sound like they would be perfect for your situation. You’re going to be living with your selection for awhile, so it’s worth making the right choice.

I echo the "whoa there" sentiment ... it's not a throw pillow you're buying here. It's hard to not push forward and get the work done, but, it's so much worse to have to live with big investments you have regrets about.

But to answer your question, I'm not sure how much the lack of crown molding will bother you for a farmhouse style. Farmhouse isn't famous for lots of detail; in fact, the crown in the first picture is pretty formal for farmhouse style. Depending on how much you DIY, Home Depot has some cheap, very small, lovely trims you could add if you left yourself an inch from the ceiling - an inch you probably wouldn't miss under the cabinets <> countertop.

I envy your height, as the extra high shelf in the 40" would be wonderful (if I could reach it easily).

The under cabinet lighting is relatively easy to retrofit as well. I'd miss mine, but you know what you need better. So long as you have light above the sink, and you do most of your food prep just to the left or right counters of that, it would probably be manageable.

The cabinets that were in Ikea's price range had terrible reviews and did not come with any bells and whistles.They also don't have many options. I don't live in a high end neighborhood so spending a lot of money on expensive cabinets is not an option as I would never get my money back if I sold the house. I've seen Ikea cabinets in person and I think they are a good value for the money. The Bodbyn cabinets I've chosen are actually painted. I think the style is right for my kitchen and I love how they look. I'm just having difficulty deciding.

Where are you going to get the crown? Will it match the cabinets? What will it cost? I think you should give it more thought. They really only have 32" or 40", but they have two different sizes for above the microwave? Also, it looks like the limited available sizes are forcing you to have two additional narrow cabs (upper and lower) on one side of the range. Have you considered RTA cabinets?

You might want to post this over in the kitchens forum as well because many posters there have installed IKEA kitchens. Also, the rumor is that there will be an IKEA kitchen sale starting later this month -- not sure if that would affect your buying plans, but definitely hold on to your receipt if you do move forward; I believe there's a 90 day price guarantee. (but check on that!)

I'd have to have two different sizes above the microwave depending on the height of the wall cabinets I choose. There is a wider upper and lower cabinet but I don't like the look. Wide cabinets would overwhelm my small galley kitchen visually. I'll get the crown from Home Depot and I'll probably do a bit of a build up so it won't be all crown. My kitchen is not large. The run of cabinets is only 16.5 feet with a sink in between. Crown won't cost that much - probably what I'd save if I bought the shorter cabinets. I will look at RTA but the problem is I can't see them. I don't want any surprises. I don't want anything that looks like the cheap contractor grade stuff they sell at Home Depot.

Thank you for asking this question, Kristel, and thank you for answering, Home Reborn -- I too have 96 inch ceilings and had assumed 40 inch cabs would fit.

Cs929, technically it can work if all you want is 18" of counter space and don't care about the bottom trim. Your ceiling better be pretty straight. Mine is just a little wavy. My contractor says he will make it straight after he rips out the soffit and he thinks he can get them almost flush which would technically leave me with 18" of counter space. He even thinks he can get a little strip of trim. I just don't trust it. My husband really wants the 40" cabinets but he says he'll go along with what I want.

I will have the same issue. I'm going with 30" upper cabinet and they start 24"above the countertops. But read this blog. This couple also had ikea and a gap and like Home Reborn stated you can finish it up to the top. They also didn't have a straight/plumb ceiling. Crown molding IKEA DIY

I love my IKEA kitchen and I bet you will love the functionality of all the drawers and soft close hinges. We did 40" on one side of the kitchen with Bjorket and turned the light rail trim on its side for the "boxed" look and contractor used Bjorket trim to finish to the ceiling for about 2". (We have 18" from counter to light rail.) Looks okay but not as beautifully finished as Home Reborn's examples. What do you think about your design if you moved the skinny cabinets to the right so you'd have a more consistent look flanking the stove? Did you also account for side panels and room for spacing from walls so cabinet doors can open without handles hitting the walls?

victoryismymiddlename, check out this picture. I don't know if I could pull it off but I like the little corbels. It has a nice farmhouse/cottage vibe. Looks like it might be easy to do.

m_gabriel, I wanted the skinny cabinet next to the range so I could put pull out spice racks in it. I have accounted for the sliding glass door and the cover panels for the microwave - almost missed that <whew>!

I would suggest buying a decent quality cabinet even an import Chinese all wood brand over ikea fallapartical board. If you like frameless check St Martin or Adornus Cabinetry.

Kristel I really love that built in furniture look with the mini corbels supporting the molding.

As long as your ceiling is 96” I think I would go as close to the ceiling as possible even if that meant having the 18” space IMO that crown would be too much it starts looking like a soffit.

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I found a pic of Ikea cabinets to the ceiling with a shadow line. Still not sure. I may buy a 30" door to play with. I do agree that a wide crown can look like a soffit but I still haven't ruled it out- it would depend on the look.

m_gabriel, I think your cabinets look great! Can you please tell me your ceiling height? p.s I did try moving the little cabinet in the kitchen planner. Like the way it looks just not sure how functional it will be. I can't move the range due to the placement of the sink and the size of the kitchen.

Kristel, don't forget to consider the corbels under the upper cabinets. No time to search for a pic just now, but I've always loved the look - and you wouldn't lose a full-shelfs' height of storage that way. Plus, you could see it all the time, without looking up. :-)

Noelle Bridgman-Wile - I'm having a hard time picturing that - do you mean larger corbels that look as if they are supporting the cabinet? If so I like that look but was wondering how I would get the tile around them since my upper cabinets won't go to the end of the lower run. I do want to do that on my other wall where I have planned a built in buffet/china cabinet look.

<<Sorry it took so long to reply - I'm in the middle of moving house, and, had the date moved forward a week. Yikes.>>

I've seen corbels somewhat smaller than those as well ... That picture ex., for me personally, is almost absurdly large. Brackets and corbels are typically 60%-75% the depth of the cabinet or shelf it is "holding up." I.E., a 12" deep cabinet might have a corbel no deeper (front to back) than 7"-10". How tall it is, relatively, is more flexible (though they don't typically go from the bottom of a cabinet to the countertop). If you Google "vintage china hutches," you'll see lots of corbels used in proportion.

What about putting the cabinets to the ceiling and putting a shelf under?

Getting ready to hang my 40” ikea cabinets with the framing like m_gabriel has above, but the instructions don’t include the height for the hanging rail if you’re using 40” cabinets. I can just add 10” to the height I guess, but does anyone know how far down from the top of the cabinet the rail is supposed to be?

It should be in the instructions. I double checked with my husband and that's what he said too. You can also measure down from the top of your cabinet to where the hooks are - you'll have to take into consideration the 'hook over' on the rail. Make sure your ceiling is level. If it's not, you'll have to lower your cabinets. Speaking of square, make sure you have a large carpenters square (2 ft.) and use it to make sure your cabinets are square as you build them. We used a small square at first but it didn't work well and we had to rebuild several. You also have to take into consideration how level/flat your walls are. We also had a 5ft level the helped considerably with the bottom cabinets. We had wavy walls and floors and an unlevel ceiling but we made it work and you can't tell by looking at it. Counter is level, all the doors are even and close perfectly. It was a long tedious job due to our specific challenges. If you have a newer build with flush walls, floors and ceilings you'll have an easier time than we did. I can't stress this enough - make sure your cabinets are square. If you don't, when you go to screw them together you'll wonder why everything is off and your doors are wonky. It's a bitch to pull all those little nails of the back and rebuild.

Thanks! After I posted this, I did a little more looking around and kind of figured it out. Our house is old and uneven and not square at all, so I full expect it to be an adventure. I have a good framing square and several levels, so we will make it happen.