I think it would be fine. Just make sure you can buy the little attachments that make the drawer fronts click into the drawers. Interested to see a drawer/door that's not available from Scherr's, though! They have so many to choose from!
Lisa

When I posted on IKEAfans they said to just buy a cheap Arlig door in each size that I need to use as a template for boring the holes. Scherrs has many styles but none of the Shaker ones have as wide a frame as I want. I'm going for something of an industrial/contemporary/vintage look if there is such a thing. If not.... I'm creating it! I'm not sure about the wood. Orginally I wanted (and still adore) red birch. The wavy graining is so lusturious! But I dont' think a reddish color in the wood will go with my other choices. I don't want a wood with red/yellow/orange in it and I don't want a dark stain. This way I can also play with woods with some glazing to achieve the color I want if necessary. DH is still considering building but I really believe aside for the more limited sizes of the cabs; I can end up with a quality product for alot less money then it would cost to build the boxes as well and buy the Blum hardware after market.

industrial/contemporary/vintage look exactly describes what I wanted. I've ended up going totally contemporary. I'll be really interested to see how yours comes out! You can check out my current progress if you want in this thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lisaslists2000 kitchen

Remodelfla, I'm sure I missed something, but why is the project at a standstill?

If the project is stalled because DH has no time, it seems like a questionable idea to add more work by making the drawer fronts. Your kitchen might never get finished. Though, I guess you could live with Ikea drawer fronts while your fancy ones are made.

The wide stiles you are talking about sound a lot like an Adel door. But, are you saying that you don't like the Adel colors?

With wild-grained wood, have you considered a slab door? The problem with graining and the type of door you are describing is that the direction of the grain will change with the stiles-- it can look a little busy, IMO. Slab doors will make the most of the grain. But, you would probably want the manufacturer to match the grain on drawer stacks. Maybe Scherr's can do that.

Hi Morton...
DH was on a roll for awhile and hurt his back. Why? Cause he was being stubborn and wont' let me hire someone to do the back breaking labor part. Then Christmas came, and he wanted to use the money for the Holidays. Then he just got off track and finally admitted to feeling overwhelmed. I had been begging him to please lets hire someone to do the heavy stuff (like taking up the old cermaic floor, tearing down the a cement block wall, and lugging the debris away) It's not that he doesn't know HOW to do it; but he has a bum leg, bad knee, and bad back. Finally... he has agreed. He's going away on a guy trip for a couple of weeks and then we'll be back on track. He loves woodworking. I'd rather he contribute with that and not hurt himself so he's laid up for 6 weeks. The problem with the Adel door is the color. The beech too pink, birch too light, and medium brown too dark. (OK... I feel like I'm channeling Goldilocks and the 3 Bears)... I need one that's JUST RIGHT! I"m more concerned with color then wild graining. I just find red birch so beautiful but I don't think the colors will be right. I have a color palette in mind and hope to find a wood that would work with it.

Just make sure you can buy the little attachments that make the drawer fronts click into the drawers.

Those come with the Ikea drawers, not with the drawer fronts. So if she has the drawers, she has the parts.

That's what I thought jens. Actually, it just all seems so easy (OK, I'm not the one building them); I would think that more people would have done this.

All the IKEA Blum specs are proprietary, so you can't go to say, Rockler for templates, etc. You have to re-invent the wheel so to speak in terms of drillings - so most people go Scherrs because they've already got the "new wheel" and are good in terms of quality.

We're going for an Early American Grocery Store Industrial look in our house (with a little unfitted French Country...) so I get how you feel about charting new design territory!

For those who have some woodworking background... couldn't he just use a drawer front to create a jig and drill from there?

No, Scherrs doesn't drill for the drawers. You get a template with the Ikea drawer box and drill yourself. It was a bit scary, but I put blue tape at the right depth, and it all turned out fine.

Scherr's now drills for drawers too. Check out their facebook page where they have this declaration, as of past Novemeber I think.
Sorry, I cannot find their link on facebook; site is giving me problems; but on Scherr's site I can see they're on Facebook.
HTH.

With a router and drill press and a set of cheap white doors it should be easily done. It sounds like a lot of work for your husband though. Not the drilling part but the actual door making

He's got a BIG shop with just about every major tool you can think of and knows his stuff. It's more a issue of him getting motivated and focused. When he gets home in a couple of weeks he said he's going to do a "test" drawer front to see how it goes. Now I have to think about what color wood I want to go with my other choices. Suddenly, I'm contemplating painted though I never before thought I'd prefer painted cabs. With the color palette I want to go with; I might be able to achieve the perfect color with painted cabs. I just don't know if I would have the casual, industrial, leaning toward contemporary look I want with them. I'm thinking I might post what I have where I think I want to go with it to get opinions.

remodelfla- Have you considered painting the cabinets and adding in the wood tones in somethings else, like flooring, or butcherblock counters? This is what I am doing with my IKEA kitchen. Perhaps the Scherrs idea is worth checking out though, especially if they are now pre-drilling.

I am intrigued to see you design when it is completed- I love the industrial/contemporary/vintage combination that both you and lisalists describe. I have been describing my look as English/Southern/farmhouse/scullery/industrial.

grlwprls- I can't wait to see your design either! I love your idea of early American gorcery store industrial. In fact, last summer when I visited a museum in the Outer Banks, I took a picture of their General Store display (I think it was supposed to represent what it would have looked like in about 1910 or so), just for the molding and beadboard! Oh, how pitiful we are, the TKO.

I like the shaker style too and reluctant to pay for their cabinets to put drawers in when the treated sides aren't even seen when they are pushed against each other. I am thinking of getting the Maximera drawer inserts and maybe the black shaker fronts and building them into the current kitchen carcass.