Dutty nails it with this quote: "Is Ikea for everyone? No. Are there better cabinets out there? Yes. But for the money, it's a VALUE and you can do amazing things with a little ingenuity. Plus, with the savings you can put drawers everywhere, inserts, soft close, etc. All of those would be UPGRADES with a cabinet company. The thing you need to be most careful with is who you hire to put it all together and PLAN. PLAN. PLAN⦠make sure you KNOW the product inside and out. " Dh was just drilling through a Home Depot particleboard panel that had an IKEA cabinet behind it. He remarked that it was incredible how much denser the IKEA cabinet side was compared to the no-name particleboard - not the same stuff at all. Also, he had a major allergy attack while working with the Home Depot particleboard - something he hadn't experienced during hacking the IKEA cabinets at all. I wondered if that's because IKEA particleboard is made to EU standards which limits some VOC levels, etc. It's a mistake to assume that all particleboard is created equal. IKEA wouldn't be able to warranty their kitchens for 25 years if their stuff was the same crappy material that my home's original 2001 builder grade cabinets were made from for example.

I didn't see inset mentioned? An inset with vinyl sides? Agree with holly, no vinyl. Look at the next brand up in price may be a better deal particularly when doing paint. One that has dovetail standard. For instance I just checked my base semi brand. Standard dovetail, Blum ( soft close is an upgrade use it selectively, finished sides are NC, dimension charges are NC. In that 2 base end panels, 2 wall end panels, AND 2 cabinets prep for glass ( no matter how many doors). with veneer interiors total about $900. So for the cost of your upgrade to door panels you get the rest of your upgrade for free. The base price will be higher but the cabinet better. Flush ends and the veneer interiors come to 400. Of course you could just use the included finished ends (order some scribe to sneak under the molding on the sides) It can turn out that the better cabinet costs the same. Depends on how far down you are starting.

Gene: While the picture of me is amusing, I use it to myth-bust. I can't stand "facts" that have no basis: 1. "Granite is heat proof." I've been called to repair heat damaged granite. There is a pizza place several miles from me that's had their granite destroyed by the heat lamps above. The MIA requires trivet use, but the myth continues. 2. "IKEA cabinets are cheap junk." The hacked IKEA cabinets pictured above have no backs, feet, or toe kicks, yet easily support 180 pounds. 3. "All Chinese quartz is junk." If the Chinese are going to rip off your Breton process, they'll do a damn fine job. I'm sure there are more. Maybe we should start a whole 'nother myth-busting thread, but you've got to have documentation to substantiate what you say.

" I just wish induction stoves were not so expensive" You have a lot of company on that point. But speaking of expensive, it seems to me that "fast" gas stoves are getting up there in price, too, if you are talking about the "speed-to-boil" kind of fast. The other kind of fast is "speed-to-adjust" which is how quickly a change in settings takes effect. Full boil to dead still and back again, that kind of thing. Induction more than holds it own in that department. Seems to me that speed to boil with a boosted 3700 watt burner versus a 25,000 btu burner on, say, Blue Star stove, you are looking at $3500-plus pro-style gas stove compared to which a $1500 Frigidaire slide-in suddenly does not seem so expensive. Less expensively, you might be comparing that 3700 induction burner on boost to a 12,000 btu GE stove burner, induction is going to be a whole lot faster, as others have pointed out above. Got a two-year-old who wants her pasta right now? The induction range is going to blow the doors off the GE in that speed department.