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dreambuilder_gw

Ikea?

dreambuilder
11 years ago

Has anyone had success using ikea products in their build--specifically kitchen cabinets,bathroom cabinets, closet systems or bookshelves? Has anyone incorporated the ikea bookcases to have a "built in" look for a fraction of the cost? Or is it junk that won't last--or does it look cheap once installed (looks good in showroom!).

Comments (12)

  • kirkhall
    11 years ago

    There are many people on the kitchen's forum that have used IKEA cabinet boxes for their upscale kitchens (and often with Scherr's door and drawer fronts). Visit the kitchen forum, and search for IKEA.

  • EngineerChic
    11 years ago

    I used the PAX wardrobes instead of a closet in our master bedroom. It's in the Organizing forum here (pretty recent pics, near the top of the page). We really liked them. The price was decent and the quality so far is really good. I like all the bits and pieces you can configure them with.

  • PRO
    Epiarch Designs
    11 years ago

    we were just there this weekend looking and considering. We want to put all of the money into the shell, and we have a really hard time justifying some of the high costs of "custom" or some of the brand name items. Some of their items are good quality. Their kitchens are backed by a good warranty and I have yet to hear anything bad about them. A neat thing is you can always change out the door styles later to either upgrade to a custom door or completely change the look of the kitchen (dark doors vs white doors for example). If you like their door options and can work with standard sizes (new kitchen, should be able to), then they are a good, cost effective way to do a kitchen. My wife mainly likes the interior organization they have.
    We plan for sure to use their closets in our master, but are undecided about the kitchen and bathrooms. You can put it in now and use it for a few years and always change it out later if need be. We have a couple ikea pieces now in our bedroom that have been inuse for a few years. They still look and function like the day we bought them.
    I helped a friend install a 2nd kitchen in his basement last year. He went with ikea there. I have never assembled things that went together so easily. Smooth, super tight and sturdy. They installed very easy as well. Blum makes their boxes and hinges. Super high quality and used by the top custom cabinet shops.

    If you can overcome the stigma of Ikea in your home, then you can dance all the way to the bank. Dress the cabinets up with quartz or granite, nice appliances and a backsplace...no one will ever know (unless they open the drawer and see the ikea tag on the side!)

  • dekeoboe
    11 years ago

    We used Ikea kitchen cabinets in some of our closets. We did modify them to fit though (height, depth, width), so they are "custom" Ikea. If you know you will be using them though, you could just plan the size of your closets according to the size of the Ikea cabinets.

  • galore2112
    11 years ago

    While Ikea has some cheap, questionable quality furniture, their kitchens are on the same quality level as extremely expensive European luxury brand kitchens (without the high price and with limited stock sizes & door styles). And this is not a subjective opinion but objective fact because the materials are exactly the same (laminate particleboard cabinets, solid wood doors (available)) with hardware from the same manufacturer.

  • auroraborelis
    11 years ago

    dekeoboe - do you have any photos of your "hacked" ikea cabinets in your closets? Thanks!!

  • jeri
    11 years ago

    We used IKEA kitchen cabinets in our laundry room. We also used the kitchen cabinets to make a built in hall closet (pictured below). As you can see - it is not finished (the whole house is a fixer). DH still needs to add the boxes on top, trim on sides, and of course the doors and drawer fronts. It may not be obvious, but the 5 shelves on both sides are IKEA drawers. The bottom 2 on both sides will have regular drawer fronts and the rest will be behind doors. I love all the drawers - these allow me to utilize the entire space while keeping everything easily accessible.

    When the time comes, we will use IKEA for our upscale kitchen - reno planned for next spring.

    We will be getting custom doors & drawers for all of this because we want the white painted shaker style doors and IKEA does not have those.

    We did an IKEA kitchen in our last house and loved it.


  • dekeoboe
    11 years ago

    Laura - They aren't quite finished yet (some clothes rods are missing), but here are some pictures.

    This is the laundry room closet. It is a deeper closet with bifold doors and we put the units inside, hacking the two side units so it fits from side to side. The center section has drawers just like jeri's does.

    This is the walk-in closet in the spare bedroom. In addition to hacking them to fit side to side, we made two of the all shelf units shallower because we only had 16" from the door trim to the wall. We could have used the 12" wall cabinets, but I wanted the extra 4" depth for the shelves. I also still have to add the second rod to the section that will have double rods.

    I would have done a few things differently if we lived closer to an Ikea and were able to take better advantage of their As Is sale area.

  • auroraborelis
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the images!

    That is a really great idea. I'm now thinking about ways of also using the drawer fronts in my own closets as a much more affordable built in closet solution! :)

  • crg2mls
    11 years ago

    dekeoboe, I really like your walk-in closet in your spare room. Am I understanding/seeing correctly, did you use kitchen wall cabinets & put the clothes rail in the same holes as the hinges normally go in? I'm assuming the hangers move easily.

  • Houseofsticks
    11 years ago

    Yes, Ikea! I would use cabinets with all wood doors. The soft glide hardware is made by blum and is verygood. I would not use thier cast sinks as I had researched it and found it scratched and cracked (it's a glazed clay/porcelain material) they have fantastic organizational boxes we use one daily with casters on the bottom and 5 plastic buckets that my 4 and 7 year olds use as a bench toy area and have yet to damage it. I visit the store often and find lighting (although check for compatibility and parts needed before you leave. The entertainment areas are able to be outfitted for a fraction of the cost or other stores. Bookshelves are a better value than custom and you can change out if you need space or taste change. For example, my bench/storage unit is a bookshelf without the casters or wall shelf or closet/laundry storage with the bins.

  • dekeoboe
    11 years ago

    crg2mls - Yes, those are kitchen wall cabinets and the clothes rail is in the holes used for shelves. All that was required was to cut down the rail to the size needed. The spacing for the kitchen cabinets is the same as for the Pax units. The hangers slide just fine.

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