What I have found in general about IKEA Kitchens:
Adds useable space to a kitchen by going frameless.
Sleek full overlay look; Euro-style metabox drawer.
Ikea's $ priority is hardware (hinges, sliders).
Full extension drawers, and soft close doors / drawers.
Dampers ARE available for the 153 degree hinges, not from IKEA, but from a Blum hardware rep.
A flat fluorescent light panel can replace the floor of the 30" and the 39" upper cabinets. (It's an IKEA Rationell lighting product).
Tall wall oven cabinets are the same depth as base cabinets.
Cabinet sides are joined by cam locks and dowels.
Finishing quality is good.
Backs are not solid and that is fine, A-OK.
The Depth of an IKEA cabinet can be cut back to less than 22" deep because the sliders are not longer than 21.5" (Mod not warrantee'd by IKEA).
White face frames can be dealt with pretty easily.
To Use Available Space under the 30"high Base Cabinets, put drawer boxes between the legs and cover the front as you wish.
Drawer fronts come in 6" / 6.25" / 11.25" + 12.75" / 12"+12" heights.
A 15" high ("deep") drawer front can be made from a 15"x30" door turned sideways.
Steep learning curve not friendly for first-timers, to uncover the above info.
Ordering and assembly is easy, even with modifications and customizing orders (deselecting components, adding others).
Regardless of images seen on the web or in store documents, anything can be bought separately.
--- Except for certain drawer fronts which come only in kits of 4 (and not 4 of the same).
--- Except for the drawer front facing which you need for interior drawers: these are specific hardware pieces connected to the remaining portion of the drawer; these must be specified to be included in orders for interior drawers.
... and still learning:
You can make your own Pull-Outs (18"w, 21"w, 24"w, 30"w, 36"w)
--- Also, you can install a wire basket instead of an interior drawer.
--- Also, you can install a Variera "pullout basket" instead of an interior drawer. E.g. under a sink, depending on shape of sink.
A Pull-Out can have 2 Attached drawers instead of just One. The Top one's attachment can be removable, with compatible Blum hardware, not available from IKEA. (See Blum site).
To get a Two-Level Cutlery Drawer, put a shallow interior drawer inside a regular drawer.
Some Finishing Panels are 3/8" thick, some 1/2", some 5/8", some 3/4".
To get a handle-less look
A.) Use Strecket handles, or make your own handles even more discrete than Strecket.
B.) Use no handles and plan for only two high drawers, with a gap above the top drawer.
The gap allows one to reach the top of the drawer front in order to pull from there.
Under the lower drawer one uses a foot to pull that drawer. Not optimal but it works.
C.) Use Solar drawer fronts.
Please confirm or comment if anything above is inaccurate or not true. Thank you for your comments!
--
David
Q
