apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have no experience but I'm waiting to hear others' experiences. How much of the installation are you doing yourself?

good luck with the kitchen! it would be great to know what challenges you are facing installing the ikea cabinets, thanks!

I love mine. Only quip is that I had to drill larger holes to attach the drawer front hardware that snaps into the drawer. Otherwise, I put it all together in a snap.

I put the AKURUM system in my kitchen a year ago. For the most part it has worked out pretty well. The only thing that really drives me nuts is that I filled my junk drawer and when I open it things fall out the side between the bar and the lower metal part. Pretty annoying. I keep meaning to get around to putting that sticky drawer liner paper there but alas I am lazy. I have no idea why they wouldn't have the side of the drawer go all the way up.

I installed a nexus birch kitchen a year ago. So far, it has been awesome! I cook in the kitchen like crazy, and the corner unit with the lazy susan has been a godsend. Also, utilizing drawers for virtually all storage has made cooking in the kitchen waaay more efficient. I even used the aluminum effect ikea countertop - some people thought I was being cheap, but they were impressed when they ultimately saw the finished project.

You solar doors, with rubrik, is a great modern/contemporary combination. I'm sure it's going to look great.

Re: installing ikea cabinets . . . . If you can hang a lack shelf, you can hang and install ikea kitchen cabinets. It really is that easy.

Did a full IKEA kitchen last summer. It really is pretty idiot-proof. The only thing that takes time is lining up cabinet doors properly. With the Blum hinges they use, you have a wide range of movement to tweak the doors, so plan on giving yourself plenty of time to get everything lined up.

Also, make sure when you connect each carcass to another, don't screw through the holes reserved for the hinges. I did this through the whole kitchen by mistake and had to re-do every one!

I installed the solar cabinets 2 months ago and really love 'em (in spite of several trips back and forth for missing custom parts). My only real issue was the tall cabinet doors. With the intregal handles, it's difficult to pull them open, so I'll end up adding a towel bar/pull to the center of the door. They've since included the soft close parts with all drawers. I also ended up using Ikea's basic butcherblock countertops as a "for now" solution, and am really glad I did. A nice change from stone tops, and easy to maintain (and under $300.00!).

Wow, I'm so glad to hear that installing the cabinets is so easy. I've done a few lack installations to marginal success, But I'm a bit better versed now in small construction projects so I think I could probably handle it. I was at Ikea just last night daydreaming up my fantasy kitchen. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Goes together and installs pretty easily. The adjustable legs make it a lot easier in older homes. I did have to shim out the upper cabinets in a few places with some washers and longer screws though(easily purchased at home menlowes). I was worried about it affecting the structural capacity of the cabinet but no issues yet 3 years in. Oh yeah..use the METRIC dimensions for the screw holes. The english measurements are sometimes a bit off and causes issues with some of the handles that need two screw holes. I was able to change out the non-soft close drawer slides for the soft close ones too real easily when I found out they offered them.

we love our ikea kitchen! we've had it for 5 months and have no complaints...

hi all - we are installing the entire kitchen ourselves, too, so i'll be sure to report on how "easy" it really is. from others' reports it sounds very promising. and if putting the cabinets and drawers together was any indication, then it really will be smooth sailing.

i got a bit of advice from a girlfriend who did an ikea kitchen reno: put down sticky white contact paper on the shelves--and if you are really anal, wrap it over the front edge. the melamine on the shelves is thin and hers wore down quickly to the base material (which is brown). the white contact paper doesn't show on the white interiors and it can be changed if necessary (good for the cabinet where the olive oil is kept!). it was a pain but we iused the contact paper on the couple of storage cabinets we installed in our kitchen.

We did an IKEA kitchen 3 years ago and did all installation work ourselves. It was very easy, especially if you've had any experience putting together IKEA furniture in the past. I have no complaints about quality or functionality. I think that arcgrrl's advise is good though....Our undersink cabinet had some moisture problems and that front edge of white melamine is loose, exposing the brown underneath.

following up on susie and arcgrrls' comments. For the sink base cabinet, caulk around the entire perimeter of the inside of the bottom base cabinet to prevent some of the moisture problems referred to above. This was a tip I got from www.ikeafans.com.

I highly recommend that website if you plan on doing a diy self install. You'll find a truly is a helpful community there.

Right, meant to mention the caulk, looks much cleaner. I also used wood glue on edges before assembly.

Hi there,
Thanks for asking this question. I am in the process of installing my cabinets too. So far so good. My only problem is that the side panel that covers the end cabinet seems to be about an inch too wide. Anyone else have that problem? I'm planning to call IKEA and ask too.

This last summer we completely gutted our kitchen and I put together the Abstract line in glossy white. I found the ikeafans site to be super helpful, especially the step by step photos and the 'what you learned during installation' section. A pal had a custom kitchen done at twice the price of ours, and the quality is FAR better with IKEA. The hinges, the doors and drawer gliders...so solid. Good choice.

oh, one last thing: buy a Pozidrive screwdriver or bit. The screws are not Philips, and though you can use that type, you'll often strip the screws. I had to go to a few places to get one (small town), but it was very worth it.