Has anyone purchased and installed Ikea cabinets in your home or on a job? How were they to work with and how have they held up, wood, carcase, drawers, and hardware?
How do they compare with other cabinets and how about the value of them versus other cabinets?
Thanks in advance, KaiserRoo
Replies
I just purchased enough for my entire kitchen and laundry room. I've already completed the laundry room. It's currently serving as a kitchenette while I begin work on the kitchen. I can't speak to the long-term viability of Ikea cabinets, but so far I'm very pleased with them. I shopped Lowes and HD before finally settleing on Ikea. I had remodeled the kitchen in my previous home using Mills Pride RTA cabs from Home Depot. That was 12 years ago and they're still holding up well today. HD doesn't carry ready-to-assemble cabs anymore, so I checked out Ikea after someone recommended them to me.
The nearest store is two hours away from me. I made a special trip there just to check out the quality. I found them to be sufficent for my standards. I can't afford high-end stuff, but I don't want the kind of construction that might be seen in the typical mobile home, either. The Ikea cabs use 3/4 particle board boxes that assemble quickly and easily with dowels and cam locks. Blum hardware and soft close dampers have become standard inclusions. The variety of styles and finishes will please some people, but not others. Bells and whistles are somewhat limited too, but a lot of optional accessories can be ordered through other suppliers. As far as I know, they only offer frameless cabinets. The modular design of the cabinets provides for a variety of configurations which would be hard to achieve with some manufacturers.
Ikea is based in Sweden, so you'll see a lot of european influences with their products, including some unusual names withing product catagories. I have to say that I really like the rail design for hanging wall cabs and the adjustable feet for leveling and plumbing base cabs. It simplifies the process and lends itself well to the DIY experience. Everything is flat-packed and includes an assembly booklet. However, the instructions have no text. They only contain a series of pictographs. Ikea has an international market, so I suppose this is to make the instructions beneficial to people regardless of the langauge they speak.
Their website offers a planner program which allows you to construct your kitchen using virtual images. There's a bit of a learning curve associated with it, but the software is very helpful during the design phase. I made my purchase during their semi-annual kitchen sale. I would estimate that I saved at least 2K--probably more--over what a similar purchase would have been at one of the big box stores.
There are some negatives, too. The customer service at Ikea stores is a crap shoot. The consultants in their kitchen departments have a reputation for being less than professional. I was fortunate to get someone who seemed to be genuinely interested in assisting me, but their level of competence was questionable. Appliances at Ikea are supposedly made by Whirlpool, but I wouldn't buy them. The styling is limited and the performance they offer seems to be generating buyers remorse on a regular basis.
There's an online forum called Ikeafans.com where you can find a lot of Ikea junkies. They tend to shop Ikea routinely and don't mind offering their assistance, suggestions...or criticisms...of all things Ikea.
Michael
Thank you for the information about Ikea as well as the link. I believe that the closest one to me is at leat 1.5 - 2 hours from my home. I can't believe they don't have one in the greater Providence area.
KaiserRoo
I'm impressed with how ikea's products look, not so much on how they are put together/materials. What you will have is a good looking set of cabinets that will last maybe 10 years, but they are not a high quality product. A lot of bang for the buck if you are doing the work yourself and you're easy on cabinets. For items used every day you may see them start to fall apart after 5 years. My gf had some ikea stuff when we met and after looking at the construction I just threw them out rather than fix the screwy hinges, drawer slides that fell off, and chipped corners.
At their price point I'd look closely at what they have to offer. However if you have the budget for high quality stuff don't expect Ikea to be a magic bullet.
I've used IKEA cabinets and would use them again. Their quality controll is beyond reproach, but I judge craftsmanship not only the workmanship but the choice of materials. The fronts seem to be very well made using good materials. The carcases not so much. I think the greatest threat to their durability is moisture. I like the leg-leveling system, but I'm far from impressed by the toe kicks, which will probably be the first point of deterioration, although the easiest to repair. The hardware quality seems to be above average for manufactured cabinets and there are many choices of configuration and accessory hardware.
I've seen IKEA cabinets in many kitchens in Europe, where site assembly is often a necessity. And where kitchens are often revamped.
IKEA ok if you like particle board.
Only IKEA cabinets I have are ones I got free off craigslist, they work OK in sheds for storing scrap metal and odds and ends, would not use them in my house.
Did get one set of shelves on CL that was solid wood, not sure of the species, but something like poplar, 3 of the shelves were cracked, but oK for storing car parts.
Take a look at finewoodworking, learn to make your own cabinets out of decent materials.
IMO, buyers of ikea (pronounced icky to me) are examples of the 'buyers rationalization' syndrome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization -- it is not called the "Stockholm syndrome' for nothing, eh.
Modularity
IKEA cabinets are sold in pieces. When you go through their sales people they put together a package based on the kitchen layout you want. This involves many components. But there is nothing preventing you from buying just what you want. You can order the fronts and hardware from IKEA and build your own carcasses, but you'll have to figure out what you need yourself.