IKEA makes one of the best-known ranges of RTA (ready-to-assemble) kitchen cabinets ever. Get answers to your questions about IKEA kitchens here – and if you have a question that I haven’t answered, check the Links List below for more places to find information, or ask your question on the contact page and I’ll do my best to find the answer for you.

What’s the quality of IKEA kitchen cabinets like?

IKEA cabinets are better quality than most others in their price range, but you’re not going to be getting hardwood drawers with dovetail joints. What you will get is 3/4″ thick materials, solid bolt connections, metal drawers, full-extension drawer slides with silent closing, and generally good customer service.

One good way to check the quality is to go to IKEA and look carefully at the demonstration kitchens in the showroom. Not only can you check the actual materials used, but you can see how they hold up to abuse from the thousands of visitors who go through opening and closing the drawers, banging the doors, swinging on them and otherwise treating them far worse than you would your kitchen at home!

Finally, try posting a request on one of several forums and get feedback from people who actually own IKEA kitchens. See the list below for links.

How much does installation cost?

This is a bit like asking “how long is a piece of string”, but let’s give it a try.

Installation can be done for free by you (or a handy family member or friend), or for money by an IKEA-approved installer or by someone local you hire to do it for you.

Free installation is likely to come with a cost in time rather than $$. You may be able to save time and money with a compromise solution where you assemble the cabinets yourself and then have an installer actually install them for you.

If you are going to hire someone, an IKEA-approved installer may cost you less even if the per-hour rate is higher than the local handyman, as IKEA cabinets are slightly non-standard in their installation methods and the experienced installer will be quicker to do the job.

One “rule of thumb” I’ve seen is that you should expect to pay the same amount for installation as you did for the cabinets.

How hard are they to install myself?

There are two different jobs involved in installing your IKEA cabinets: assembling the cabinets, and then installing them. Assembling is easier than installing.

If you can use simple tools and follow instructions, you can assemble the cabinets yourself. You can also expect that you’ll get better at it as you go along, so start with a nice simple wall cabinet and work up to things like pull-out pantries! However, this is not a small time commitment: if you have a fairly small kitchen with 20 or so cabinets and you average 40 minutes per cabinet, that’s over 13 hours – and you have to find somewhere to store those cabinets until they are installed, too.

Installation of the cabinets is not rocket science, but it requires attention to detail, planning ahead, and ideally some help. Again, if you are a reasonably experienced handy-person you can do it, but it may take longer than you expect. Just installing and adjusting doors and drawer fronts on 20 cabinets once you have them fixed in place is a long project.

Can I buy doors separately?

Yes, you can. IKEA customer service states that kitchen parts are sold individually, therefore you will be able to purchase the doors and drawer fronts separately.

Can I buy cabinets without doors?

Yes, the price lists in the kitchen catalog list prices for “frame only” for all the different types of cabinet. The catch here is that the frame only price, as well as excluding doors, drawer fronts and hinges, doesn’t include shelves or drawers either so you’d have to buy those separately.

As an example, in the 2008 Canadian catalog a 1 door, 1 drawer 15″ wide base cabinet costs $103 for the cheapest door type (Arlig white) but only $40 for the frame only. You’d need to add Rationell drawer(s) and shelves, or other interior fittings such as pull-out racks or shelves. Of course, you can also make your own shelves or buy interior fittings elsewhere as long as the size is correct.

How do I re-create a specific look from the catalog?

The catalog pages often include items which are not stock items for sale. Sometimes they are made from customized stock items, sometimes completely non-IKEA, but there’s usually a way to re-create them.

As an example, consider the backsplashes shown in several catalog and IKEA home page pictures (such as the backsplash shown on the cover of the 2008 kitchen catalog and inside on page 10.) These seem to be made with fabric or wallpaper (sometimes IKEA, sometimes not) behind a clear cover. There are several possible ways to create a look like this for more or less cash:

• Stick the wallpaper or fabric to the wall, and cover with multiple coats of polyurethane to protect it
• Get glass cut to size at a local glass store, with the edges rounded for safety, mount the paper or fabric on the wall, and mount the glass over the top.
• Get plastic panels cut, or buy plastic panels and cut them to size yourself, mount the paper or fabric on the wall, and mount the plastic over the top.
• Get hold of windows or sliding glass cupboard doors (new or recycled) of an appropriate size and make your backsplash to fit them, then mount them over the wallpaper or fabric.
• Use multiple sliding glass doors and mount the paper or fabric to the back of the doors, so you can move the doors around and have different backsplash arrangements as your mood changes, or change the paper or fabric out completely.

There’s no need to restrict yourself to IKEA products when trying to recreate a look. Often you may have to make compromises based on the money, skill or materials you have available, but you may come up with a solution that you like even better than the original catalog picture!

IKEA kitchen remodeling secrets

Downloadable eBook tells you what you need to know!

Building one IKEA cabinet is simple. Designing, ordering, assembling and installing a whole kitchen full is do-able but there are many more opportunities to make mistakes. It takes more planning – and more knowledge. Knowledge is what IKEA kitchen remodeling secrets by Brett Spotke gives you. There are LOTS of pictures, but you get words too, unlike the basic IKEA instructions that come with your cabinets. How to avoid the traps and gotchas so you save time, money and aggravation.

Here’s what Brett says:

“I’ll teach you all the tips and tricks I learned building my own kitchen – and show you how to save time, save money and give you step-by-step “plain english” instructions with over 300 detailed pictures to help you build your dream Ikea kitchen project on a shoestring budget.”

This is an ebook so you can download it and view it right away on your computer screen, no waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Check it out now!

There’s a piece missing from the cabinet I ordered! What can I do?

If you bought your cabinets at an IKEA store, you can go back to the store with your receipt and get a replacement for the missing part. Calling ahead to see if they have the part you need is a good idea, especially if you have far to go to visit the store.

If you ordered at a store and your cabinets were delivered, you still need to contact the store where you ordered the cabinets. Call them and describe exactly what’s missing (you should be able to get exact part numbers off the instructions).

If you ordered online, you need to call or email IKEA. There should be a contact number or address on your invoice to call with problems. Alternatively, you can try 1-866-866-IKEA or email them (use the form at:

http://info.ikea-usa.com/IKEAContactUs/Contact.aspx if you’re in the US).

How do I use IKEA cabinets to make an island?

Let me count the ways

There are several IKEA products which make great islands just as they are. Take a look at the free-standing kitchen units such as Varde, Bravad or Udden, the Utby island shelf unit, or even the various sizes of kitchen cart. Some of these can accept sinks or cooktops.

If you want your island to match the rest of your cabinets, you can buy several regular cabinets and attach them together. You can use base or wall cabinets to create an island of a specific size, and there are also 12″ deep base cabinets if you need a shallow depth but you want drawers.

You may need to go for a custom countertop on top of your cabinets if you need it deeper than the standard 25″. If that means it won’t match your perimeter counters, don’t worry – it’s both fashionable and functional to use more than one counter material in your kitchen.

How can I make a plan of my IKEA kitchen?

First, you can do it the old-fashioned way, by hand, using IKEA’s own paper planner (built into the back of the 2008 kitchen catalog, but also available separately in stores). This involves measuring your space, drawing it out on the supplied squared paper, and using supplied cardbaord pop-outs of cabinets and appliances to lay out alternative plans.

You can also use your computer. The most direct option for planning a specifically IKEA kitchen if you have a PC is IKEA’s own Kitchen Planning software, downloadable from the IKEA website (see the links list). If you have a Mac the IKEA software won’t work – many Mac users use Google’s free Sketchup software instead.

If you have money to spend there are a variety of kitchen planning software packages which allow to use any kind of cabinets, not just IKEA’s, but are a bit more complex to use.

Can I get discontinued doors?

IKEA keeps discontinued door styles available for 2 years after they have been discontinued as part of the after sales service.

If you’re trying to find matches for an older door style, there are several places to try: eBay, Craigslist, and the IKEAFans forums.

Can I cut down an IKEA cabinet to a different size?

Sure you can, though you’ll probably void any warranty by doing so. Easiest to modify is a plain cabinet with shelves, as drawers are more difficult to modify. You’ll also need to watch out for changes in door sizes as, depending on the style of the door, this may end up looking very odd!

For plenty of information on modifying and hacking all things IKEA, check the IKEA Hacker link in the links list.

What kind of interior fittings can I use in a corner base cabinet?

IKEA itself provides two corner base cabinets in the main Akurum range, which come with lazy susans as part of the package. These are both “blind corner” rectangular cabinets and come 37″ or 49″ long.

The freestanding ranges, Varde and Bravad, each contain a corner base cabinet which fits diagonally across the corner and contains shelves or drawers.

If your corner backs onto another room – perhaps as part of a peninsula – you can dispense with an official corner cabinet and use a standard cabinet facing away from the kitchen and accessed from the other side. This solution wastes no space at all and is very convenient if you can fit it into your plans.

Another possibility for a blind corner cabinet is a fold-out shelf fitting from Lee valley Tools: one half of this fitting attaches to the corner cabinet door and when you open the door, folds out with it, bringing along behind it another set of shelves which occupy the blind corner space. This allows you to access all the corner space without wasting as much of it as a lazy susan does.

Links to information about IKEA kitchens

IKEA guarantee
PDF document with details of the guarantee on IKEA kitchen components, construction standards, care instructions and testing.
IKEA installation
Full details of the installation services offered by IKEA. It’s a long list and gives you some idea of what you’ll need to do if you do the installation yourself.
IKEA kitchen planner tool
Free, PC-only kitchen planning software to download from IKEA.
Google Sketchup
Free 3D modeling tool which can be used for kitchen planning on Mac or PC
IKEAFans forum
Forums and information archives on everything IKEA, including plenty of kitchen information.
Kitchens forum on Gardenweb/THS
A general kitchen design and renovation forum, frequently includes IKEA kitchen discussions.
IKEA hacker
Modifications and hacks to all kinds of IKEA products, including kitchen cabinets.
Lee valley blind corner unit
Interior fold-out shelving hardware for blind corner cabinets.

IKEA cabinets are versatile, tough, and good value, and they can be used in many kitchen floor plans. One limitation if you have very tight clearances in your plan is that the range of widths available is not as fine-grained as some more expensive cabinet ranges, so you might have to use filler strips more often.

An overview of how to use ceramic, glass and stone tiles in the kitchen: on the walls, on the floor, and especially on the backsplash.

Kitchen Wall Tiles

Tile can be a great wall surface in the kitchen – or an ongoing annoyance, depending on the choices made in planning and installing.

Two important questions to ask in the planning stage are:

• where do I want to install tile on my kitchen walls
• and why?

The most common place to install wall tile in the kitchen is on the backsplash, especially behind the sink and the cooktop. The reasons are to protect the wall from water, food splashes and grease, and to make the wall easier to clean. Some kitchens use tile on the walls more extensively, perhaps as a wainscot (floor to chair-rail level) or even all the way up the wall.

Almost any tile will do a decent job of protecting the wall if it’s installed correctly. A kitchen wall is not like a bathroom shower surround where water is being sprayed on it continuously and frequently. The easy cleaning rationale is another story, though.

What makes tile easy to clean? Mainly, it’s the smooth, non-porous surface which water, grease and food splashes can’t soak in to, stick to or stain. To get the full benefit of easy cleaning it’s important to use tile which really is smooth and non-porous. Unfortunately fashions in tile often lead us astray from this ideal:

• tiny mosaic tile with miles of grout lines to catch dirt and need resealing regularly.
• textured tile with raised designs to catch dirt and take longer to clean.
• tumbled stone tile with rough surfaces and edges, and wide grout lines, to – you guessed it – catch dirt and be almost impossible to clean.

It’s your call whether in your own kitchen you want to trade less ease in cleaning for more beauty or fashion – but it’s important to make an informed choice. Try to talk to someone who has the tile you plan to install, in a similar location to where you plan to install it, who cooks about the same amount as you do, and ask them how easy they find it to live with before you invest the time and money.

This is critically important if you plan to install a tiled feature wall behind the cooktop as, especially with gas burners, food and grease will get deposited there no matter how careful you are and it will need to be cleaned regularly.

A tile wainscot has rather different wear and cleaning requirements from a backsplash. You are less likely to run into problems with grease and food splatters, but much more likely to have to deal with dings and bangs. For this reason, tile here needs to be stronger and to be really solidly installed. Where on a backsplash you can get away with installing tile directly on drywall, if your tile wainscot is going to be banged by chairs or flying toddlers on tricycles, you’ll need a stronger, more rigid backing such as cement backerboard or plywood. Even 2 layers of regular drywall will give a stronger, more solid backing.

Kitchen Floor Tiles

A tiled kitchen floor is a thing of beauty or a pain in the feet, depending on your point of view.

First of all, there are certain requirements which need to be met in order to successfully tile a floor.

1. The floor structure itself must be suitable. That means strong, level, dry, and non-flexing. If it bounces when you walk on it, your tile will crack. If it’s damp, the tile will lift up or not stick at all. Make sure those items are checked off before you even think about installing tile.

2. The tile you choose must be suitable for floors. Much tile available is manufactured for use on walls and is not strong or wear-resistant enough for floor use.

Given those two factors, tile floors have their pros and cons:

• Water-resistant (if installed properly)
• Easy to clean (except that the grout lines catch dirt)
• Cool to the touch (great if you’re in a warm climate)
• Excellent for in-floor radiant heating systems (great if you’re in a cold climate!)
• Hard: dropped dishes will break, feet and legs may get sore

Tile is one of the most flexible materials you can use from a design point of view. You can do anything from a field of plain squares to a multi-colored, multi-shaped, multi-bordered extravaganza. Design choices can make an area seem larger or smaller, direct the eye to a focal point, mark off areas for different uses, soothe you or wake you up.

Kitchen Backsplashes – Tile Ideas

A kitchen tile backsplash has been a classic from Victorian days. I’ve talked about practicality in the section above on kitchen wall tile, so let’s just say here that the smoother your tile and the fewer grout lines you have, the easier it will be to clean.

Here’s a backsplash using mixed sizes of glass tile in a range of hues in a similar color range. Although there’s a fair amount of white grout here, the random pattern means that dirt won’t jump out at you as much as it would with a more regular pattern. One thing to be careful of with a ‘random” design is that you make it random enough: on the right in this picture, just above the back corner of the cooktop, too many of the grout lines line up vertically and it introduces a design line which shouldn’t be there.

This is more glass tile, this time a regular checkerboard on the lower half and stripes on the upper half of the backsplash. This is a bit “busy” for my personal taste but it’s certainly decorative. It could be toned down by using fewer colors, or jazzed up by using more.

Tile from the 1970’s showing just how well it can wear. This installation has probably been re-grouted at some point, and the tile design is dated, but it’s still in fine shape and if you enjoy the color it would still be worth keeping.

Another older installation showing some discoloration in the grout – but it hardly shows against the pattern and color of the tiles.

An all-white mosaic tile backsplash. If I was going to maintain a mosaic, myself I would want one with more color and pattern to make it worthwhile. If it’s going to be plain white, I’d go for bigger tiles.

This all-white installation uses larger tiles with a subtle textured pattern which would be easy to clean as well as decorative.

The best book ever on laying tile

“Setting Tile” by Michael Byrne

Of the many I have read in the process of researching my own tile projects, this is THE best book on actually laying tile.

There are no pretty pictures to give you ideas, but there is page after page of detailed, specific information on exactly how to go about a tiling project, whether wall or floor, wet or dry, heavy or light use – it’s all here from the all-important substrate the tile is attached to, to the final grout and sealer.

If you plan to do your own tiling, it’s a must-have: if you don’t, then you need this book so you know whether your tile guy is doing a high quality job or one that will fail long before it should.

More information on kitchen floor plans.