Yes. We had our kitchen functional (with all interior fittings/drawers and countertops installed) for a solid 9 months before we installed our door fronts.

Thanks for the replies Matt and Hillside House. That's awesome! Will make it much easier if I can wait with deciding on the door until I get a better feel for the space/light and without having to cook on a hot plate in the bathroom while I think about it.

I have heard some counter fabricators balk at it, but ours didn’t. We had a sample on hand of the door we thought we were going to use, so maybe that made a difference? We ended up changing our mind, and did a different one in the end.

All exposed cabinets sides have to be covered with matching custom cover panels at the time of the installation. Then the cabinets are screwed to each other. That means the cabinets next to the vent hood and at the ends of the run etc. That also means the cabinets next to the range, because they all have to line up right. Math has to be equal. And you cannot install the cabinets without those cover panels and go back and do it later unless you want aOT more work installing fillers (that will need custom filler overlays) and then notching the custom cover panels. Which would then be raggedy and need molding to cover that cut.

Frameless have yo be installed in sequence. That includes the applied cover panels or applied doors.

Thanks for taking the time to answer to my question GreenDesigns, somehow I did not get a notification. You're right, we would have an issue with installing panels after the cabinets. We're planning on doing an island with a cooktop and a waterfall countertop so there won't be so many end panels but I see that we'll have to carefully plan which cabinets we'll install ahead of time, if any. My issue is that the time needed to get custom doors is more time without a kitchen and from what I'm told I shouldn't start ordering kitchen cabinets just based on the architect's plans and it's also easier to decide once I see the actual space and get a feel for it.

No, you shouldn’t start with anything but the overall design. Skip the expensive and dysfunctional island cooking station. And read all the threads where custom doors costs more than already assembled and with more choices. There are a lot of easier choices that don’t require years of effort on your part.

I had a cooking island in a prior home and I loved it. That is one thing I definitely know I want.

K.W....Not sure how long you've been on this forum, but if you haven't already noticed you need to take everyones comments with a grain of salt....island cooktops is one of those touchy subjects. The point is valid that converting a layout with a perimeter cooking station to an island setup will cost some $$$. However, if you really look around the forums you will find that those who have actually had an island cooking setup have positive things to say about them. So don't let folks sway you from pursuing that...stick with the facts or talk to people you know personally that have that setup.

Thanks Matt :-) . I'm new to this forum so I didn't know island cooktops are a touchy subject :-) . In our case we're not converting a kitchen we're building a new one. I'm not sure about much else but I am sure that an island cooktop is right for us because we used to have one. I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The world would be pretty boring if everyone liked the same thing...

Kitchen Design is actual science. It is based on time motion and psychological studies to create efficiencies and functionality.. The negativity about island cooktops is mostly about them being done badly, and costing significantly more than their perimeter brethren.

Most time in a kitchen is prep (70%) not actual cooking (10%). To do a successful island cooking AND prep zone so that you face out 80% of the time, you need at least 96“ of space, with the cooktop off centered so there is a nice section of that continuous prep space, and it isn’t chopped up.

Since prep really needs water, that leaves you turning back to your water source to wash the dust off the potato before you peel it, and go wash the starch off of your hands and knife too. It’s better to add that prep sink next to the prep area. That takes st least another 24” of countertop space to get that on an island. Now you’re at 10’. Not a lot of kitchens can have a 10’ island and not build in poor traffic paths, insufficient aisles, and a big amount of added expense to source Jumbo counters.

Then there is ventilation. Island venting is more difficult and expensive to accomplish Downdrafts are virtually useless. If you’re going to vent properly, that means an overhead vent. Those need to be larger to provide greater capture area, and they are significantly more expensive than a wall hood. And they still don’t work as well as a perimeter vent because of the flow dynamics and the inability of residential humans to tolerate the noise generated by something truly effective. Looks. Effectivity. Affordability. You only get to pick 2.

I had an island cooktop, and I have absolutely NO positive things to say about it. Or the people who put it in the kitchen. It was the main trigger for my remodel, and while I had planned on doing the remodel after a couple of years, I only made it about 6 months. I HATED that island cooktop with the fire of a thousand suns.

Having said that, I firmly believe that people should build the kitchen they want. (But anticipate selling for $75K below asking because the buyer hates the island cooktop and wants to remodel, like we did.)

I see, it really is a touchy subject :-) . I had it, I lived with it, I loved it, I miss it, I'm the one who lives in my house and I want it again. Wouldn't it be boring if we all had the exact same taste and the exact same house? Thanks all for their input on the assembly sequence of Ikea kitchens though :-)

Interesting discussion (we are going with island cooktop, btw!). But back to the issue of installing IKEA doors (or their customized versions) after the boxes are already installed. Any thoughts on this for IKEA Godmorgon vanities? I presumed they had to be put together at the same time as the box, but it's tempting to wait just so I can have more time to procrastinate on which type of material I want for the doors/drawers... lol. Also, can doors theoretically be replaced down the line, or might that cause problems for the rest of the cabinet? Asking for a friend, lol...

Godmorgon only comes with the drawer fronts. You don't have the option of not buying them. Most people just get the plain white and replace them. There are more issues of using them for a customized look than with kitchens and other cabinets. There's the dept issues, the sides issue, the plumbing issue and more. Even though I do use them it's not without a lot of customization. If you are using an IKEA one piece sink top and just replacing the doors then you won't have those problems but the sides will be unfinished. (There's a way to address that also if you know what you're doing)

@jdesign_gw, thanks. I gave up on the extra complications awhile back. Ordering at least two Godmorgons and sticking with the IKEA sinks (and probably faucets). The Cabinet Face and a few others offer side panels as well as drawer fronts in the wood veneers, so I'm going with that. And I sent my G.C. to IKEA (and provided videos) so he could see the plumbing differences. :)

I was just asking the question in case somehow we wrecked a drawer front at some point. Wondering how difficult it is to replace (do you have to take the whole thing apart, or replace the whole cabinet too?).

Anyone can make sides. I make sides everyday. The problem is they don't work on Godmorgon cabinets with IKEA sinks. The sink comes almost to the edge. There are creative ways around all of these issues If you're so incline. I've posted these photos before but these are all Godmorgon cabinets with a twist.

Ahhh yes, now I remember this side-edge-sink issue. Do you care to reveal your creative solutions, @jdesign_gw? :)

The one pictured is an obvious one. You use your own top and sink. The box is built off the wall a few inches with blocking and you run the sides long to cover the blocking and get a decent size top. Both cabinets above are using the Godmorgon top drawer as an inner drawer with the slides set back and lowered. The option for using an IKEA sink will be offered on our website when we launch it soon along with what in confident will be the best IKEA upgrades available for a number of their systems. Kitchen, bath, closet , media.

Okie dokie artichoke. Care to offer contact info, or at least a few crumbs so I can find you and get in line? :)

I'm not trying to be evasive and it's not such a big secret. Other stuff we're doing might be. They don't like you giving out contact info here. (So I've been told) the protocol is to contact through the Houzz website. I'll help up out.

Just DM'd ya. :) Sorry I didn't check previously to see if you accepted messages.

@jdesign_gw - have you launched your website referenced above? I’m thinking about doing a floating vanity or one of my upcoming bathroom remodels. I thought I’d send you some business if you’d like. Let me know! Thanks!

Just contact me through this Houzz site and l

ill get right back to you.

Here is a highly modified Ikea vanity we did.