IKEA cabinets with custom doors?

12 years ago

I'd love to see and hear about any of your kitchens that have IKEA cabinets with custom doors and drawer fronts? How hard was it to make it work?

Featured Answer

alexisls

12 years ago

I'm midway through a kitchen renovation. The Ikea boxes are installed and I placed my door order from Scherr's this week.

Here's what I know so far:

- Ikea boxes are far more customizable when you use custom doors. For example, I thought I'd have to use a 21" base cabinet on the wall next to the fridge and wanted all drawers, but Ikea only has a 21" base with one drawer and a door. With Scherr's, I could have just bought 3 drawer bases "a la carte" and have drawers made. As it turns out, I was able to squeeze in a 24" cabinet, but this flexibility is what led me to wait for the boxes to be installed before ordering doors.

- Scherr's has been GREAT to work with. We emailed back and forth for months answering all my questions. And they are very thorough in helping you make sure everything is right before placing the order. They have all the exact Ikea dimensions so all you have to tell them is the type of cabinet.

- Their doors are truly beautiful and there is an almost endless combination of wood species, door style, edge type, etc. They are making muntins for my glass front doors in a custom design at no extra charge and are also making custom corner shelves that will match my doors finish and edge profiles.

- They can make all the trim pieces that are used with Ikea cabinets, you just give them the size. They are also making a custom panel for me to enclose one side of the fridge.

- Having them finish the doors for you is spendy. I'm getting painted white doors and the finishing basically costs as much as the doors themselves. They are beautiful though and they can do any Sherwin Williams color.

- The most difficult thing was finding a contractor to do the install. The Ikea recommended contractor gave me attitude about using non-Ikea doors and wouldn't install them (wouldn't even just install the boxes and let me put the doors on). Other contractors gave me attitude about using Ikea. One told me I couldn't possible redo my kitchen for less than $35k without ever seeing it - it's 7'x14' and my total cost will be less than half that including appliances (though not including my BlueStar stove). I ended up finding someone through ikeafans.com and he's been great! There are lots of folks on that site who have used custom doors (that's how I found Scherr's)

OK, that's probably more than you wanted to know, but I hope there's something helpful in there!

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Comments (12)

prill
12 years ago
Remodelfla has them... They're beautiful. I'm sure she'll chime in. Not sure if she's in the finished kitchen blog.
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remodelfla
12 years ago
Awesome and not at all hard to do. They pre-bore the holes for you. We got the premium QS oak with just a clear coat. I have a thing for the beauty of natural wood which is why we paid extra for the premium. The extra flecks and graining dont show up so much on pics but truly wonderful in person. Here's few pics (and sorry to those who have seen them a dozen times) Oh... and we're not done. Have taken like a 5 month hiatus!

And just cause it pleases me... a closeup of some of the flecking.
alexisls
12 years ago
Remodelfla - What a GORGEOUS kitchen you have!!!
semihandmade
12 years ago
Another great option for custom IKEA doors in everything from one-of-a-kind veneers and custom laminates to reclaimed lumber is Semihandmade; we are LA-based and ship all over the country.

http://semihandmadedoors.com/

Give the website a look!

Here is a link that might be useful: Semihandmade
remodelfla
12 years ago
john... you've been a member for awhile so I'm sure you know that solicitations are frowned upon on this forum. We would love your advice or input when members have questions. If you want to tell people to email you through your link for information on how you can help them; that's seems less solicitous. And FWIW... I'll admit that your site shows some beautiful work.

Thanks so much for the compliment ZoeCat. I really really LOVE my kitchen. And CC... my drawer/door fronts are all 3/4" solid QS oak.
ccintx
Original Author
12 years ago
Sorry it's taken so long to get back to this, but thanks so much for your feedback and remodelfla for the photos. Very pretty kitchen. I love the QS oak.

I spent another day at IKEA just scoping things out and taking a closer look at the cabinets and how they arranged the kitchens. Great ideas for storage and maximizing space. I loved the Rubrik (stainless steel) island I saw, but how would that be in my country kitchen with stained perimeter cabs?? Very unique I'd say! I also checked out the Scherr's website. Nice stuff there too. This is all very tempting, plus I really like the way they maximize space. I thought it was so cool that a 30" drawer could hold plates, saucers, bowls, glasses, and 3 containers for forks, spoons, and knives. How clever to put everything you would need to set the table in ONE drawer. Great ideas if nothing else. Also, the drawer inserts were ingenious.
Sooo, I bought a 30" base with drawers to "test" out in my yucky current kitchen. I'll order the drawer fronts from Scherr's and I'll just see how it goes. I'm excited!

Thanks again for the feedback! : )
shelayne
12 years ago
We did it as well.

We ordered our doors from Advantage Cabinet Company out of Mississippi. For 69 door and drawer fronts, including two different panel designs and 5 tall pantry doors, our cost was less than $2000, delivered. For an additional $1300 we could have had them finish our doors (any SW paint or stain), but we did them ourselves with an airless sprayer, and they look beautiful.

We are thrilled with our "custom IKEA" kitchen. :^D

I have not posted finished pictures yet, but we are in the homestretch--FINALLY! ;^)
sjerin
12 years ago
Zoecat-- Any chance you live in the SF Bay area? I'm having a hard time finding someone who will install only, though I'm just beginning my search. It seems to me installers only want to work with what they have built! The contractor I plan on using doesn't do the cabs and I'm trying to find some that are low on voc's.
BalTra
12 years ago
I don't have a result to share - am still in process of destruction and am using Ikea + Scherrs

But I'll share that I had an incredibly difficult time finding a contractor who was not afraid of using them - or not totally obnoxious about it.

Ultimately I lucked out. Found a craftsman/contractor who does beautiful custom work who also thinks ikea is a solid deal & so is happy to work with it.

Try the ikea fans website. The people on there may be able to help you find a contractor near you. But look around for yourself, too. I'd argue that you want someone flexible and able to work with a variety of systems and materials in any case!
alexisls
12 years ago
sjerin -

You should definitely check out ikeafans and get in touch with Kayla. She posts there all the time and is an experienced Ikea installer based in the East Bay. She partners with Chuck, the installer who's doing my kitchen (I'm on the east coast).

Feel free to message me directly if you want more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kayla's Kitchen Cabinets
alexisls
12 years ago
bump for sjerin