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I've seen Ikea cabinets so I know a lot them are not white. This is sterile and lacks imagination.

Also, in a remodel there's no excuse for cords taped to the floor. Hire an electrician to finish the job right.

The large seams in the backsplash also don't cut it.

That said, it's a couple orders of magnitude better than it was!

Man, that's harsh. I'm pretty impressed given the amount spent and the fact that he put it together himself. The color is subjective, although I'm quite partial to their red cabinets.

I've seen a few Ikea revamps and they all look great for the price. My question is: How do they hold up? Hinges, cabinet boxes, counters, appliances are all items that need the test of time to show their value. Anybody have an Ikea kitchen over 3, 6, 10 years old? Or when did yours start to wear out? Just curious. I am hoping to hear good news, not looking for complaints.

Didn't mean to be harsh...but cords taped to a floor are a sign of a pre-remodel, not a post-remodel. I suppose I should have taken the time to phrase things more softly. The back splash just doesn't seem finished. I don't know how else to say it.

How can you complain for a complete kitchen makeover for $1400? What a phenomenal value. While I agree that it looks more sterile, perhaps that's not a bad thing (the imagery) considering it is the place that food is prepared.

In terms of how the IKEA cabinets hold up, the ones my brother and his wife installed in their house about four years ago have held up nicely, and they've got three rambunctious little boys who aren't in any way careful with anything. Several of my coworkers (architects and interior designers) have done IKEA re-dos in their own homes and have been happy with them. Definitely a good option for anyone on a slender budget.

Chords running along the entire length of the floor is ridiculous.

One person's sterile is another's clean.

Oh good, another mac book in the kitchen. They're such a nice finishing touch.

It's also not a $1400 make over, as the man works at Ikea. The headline is wrong, or misleading at least.

I have an 8 year old Ikea kitchen with Corian tops. We used the birch front cabinets, and some obscured glass. Nothing but praise for the durability of the kitchen! Our son is 13 and has been slamming drawers for years.

We had a professional install ours and we have never regretted it (and it was quite a bit more than $1400).

if i had a kitchen to redo, ikea would be it. unless i fell into alot of money/ someone has $$$$ i'm not sure how anyone can afford otherwise - to get the clean-lined look. plus, ikea has so many colors and styles you still have budget/style ranges.

i agree that the kitchen could be tons more fun (i love the blue metal cabinets they sell), but if white is your thing, its a pretty great remodel and the cost was too good to be true, the computer probably cost more!! way to go

Consumer Reports rates their cabinets to be quite durable. I have IKEA AKURUM birch cabinets, which are much pricier than the white melamine cabinets shown above. All the IKEA cabinets come with nice metal drawer sliders, and I chose solid wood doors to help with wear. I'm very satisfied after 2 years.

Four years on an Akurum kitchen with Hallarum doors (Eucalyptus veneer) - no problems, other than Ikea deciding to discontinue their nicest finish...

I had an ikea kitchen in my old apartment. I'm not sure how old it was but it was in great shape and didn't show any signs of wear. I was very impressed that it was IKEA.

I have to agree with the cost issue. Although even at $2k that is a great price, we should still consider time involved as being worth something. Also, what about permit costs?

So a better headline would be $1400 in materials. Still a great price.

Ikea only gives employees a stinky 15% discount? I guess 'cause their markups are low...

My office has an Ikea kitchen that is about 6 years old and literally gets 20 times more wear than mine would. It's held up well except for one side panel that fell off and one hinge that is broken.

That's what my kitchen looks like. :)
Except mine is much smaller, has neutral tile backsplash, and all black & stainless steel appliances, so the white is less sterile. It's only been up for 2 years (and I just moved in so I'm not sure how much use it got before me), but it's seriously like it's brand new, which I highly enjoy.

wow - that's pretty impressive! It looks good too, a 100 times better than it looked before.

I wouldn't pick white-three teen boys and multiple friends; I am continually scrubbing my white ice box; however, I think that this kitchen looks clean and bright, which I love, I hate clutter!

ikea cabs use blum hinges and doors -- some of the best quality on the market and used by much higher-end lines (studio becker, for one). the ikea-part comes in with the melamine frames and fronts.

we installed an ikea kitchen about 2 months ago and are now just finishing the project (countertops were finally installed this week). we'll be posting pix, soon, to our renovation blog (redneckmodern.com), but early reports is that it looks much more high-end than what we paid. we chose the nexus-yellow-brown -- which is an oak laminate.

ikea's not for everyone... the DIY in both the planning and assembly does take a pound of flesh (and about 6 trips to ikea, in our case).

from a personal taste POV, i'd have to agree that the stark white is not my thing, but the cord on the floor is simply a huge liability.

Also, take into account that this kitchen is new-with time, personal touches, quirks, and vibrant pieces come into the mix. So I would cut him a break at this point.

But my two cents: I used Home Depot cabinets, which are a tiny step above Ikea, and couldn't be happier.

The old one looks warmer, but from the pictures I can't tell if it was in good shape - the wall behind looks to be in bad shape. Those old site-built cabinets tend to be very solid and can be refinished to look totally different. Was that a built in range in the before?

I came into an ikea kitchen in my current rental. I'd wager it's about 5 years old. The Cabinets seem to be holding up alright but the counter is atrocious, frankly.

I think the old kitchen looked warmer and better. It just needed a serious decluttering and possibly some paint. The new one looks clean (except for the huge blue line of tape), but cheap.

I concur with those who say the headline is misleading. AT should have called it a $2000 makeover.

I gotta agree w/ the first comment - it's cold and sterile, the backsplash is unfinished (it doesn't even reach the bottoms of the upper cabinets) and the taped cord on the floor is not only unsightly, but a safety hazard.

Just $500 more in higher-grade cabinet finishes, electrical work and backsplash could have made this a truly impressive makeover.

We just did an Ikea kitchen, and I am really happy with it. The feel of the doors is nice, the hinges and sliders with the soft close dampers are smooth and quiet... definitely the best bang for our smallish buck.

The huge advantage to custom would be the perfect fit: we did have to cut into window trim in one place, and make our own filler piece in another.

I recommend looking elsewhere for hardware, though... not enough choices at Ikea, and when I started looking for inspiration photos, everyone uses the same handle. Blah.

My kitchen is Ikea Abstrakt. So far so good. http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/kitchen-spotlight/kitchen-spotlight-san-francisco-sleek-yet-vintage-redo-056568


White is only sterile if it's ALL ikea and ALL white.
(It's like buying clothes straight off the mannequin)
Make it your own!

You can easily add an interesting light fixture, appliances, baskets, trays, plants etc. for color and character.

Yeah, I agree.... the cord looks terrible and DIY (in a bad way).

I have to agree with the first post. And add to that, that when i saw the beginning of the post, I thought it was the before picture we were looking at.
To me the original kitchen seemed to have a much better atmosphere than the one know. It may have been a mess, but at least it looked livable

I have a new ikea kitchen - abstrakt high glossy white... we had professionals install as the whole kitchen remodel involved knocking down walls, new ceilings, new floors, different plumbing and venting. I used their oak butcher block countertop which looks amazing with the white glossy cabinets. Subway tile backsplash in white. I agree white can look cold that's why we used a lot of wood as well.
I'm not a huge fan of the kitchen shown (I prefer the old one as well) but the kitchen was very afforable and works extremely well.

i love the new kitchen. looks very clean and cool.

I'm glad that this post came up now because I was wondering about the durability of Ikea cabinets. I'm in the process of buying a loft that needs a bit of updating in the bathrooms and kitchen. While I definitely want to do it once and do it right, if Ikea cabinets hold up as nicely as everyone says they do, it would be nice to save a bit of dough.

Nothing wrong with white kitchens I say. I wish my cabinets were white. Looks like a nice clean space to cook in. Put a big rug in the kitchen that extends out a little bit and you could cover the wiring along the floor.

I have an Ikea kitchen that's about 6 years old. The spring hinges (on cabinets that lift up instead of opening outward) need replacing every couple of years, but the parts are readily available at Ikea and are easy to replace. The cabinets themselves have held up fine.

I redid my kitchen using IKEA and while it's not finished yet, it's functional and I ADORE it. I checked out several other cabinet options, and for the clean, minimal door style I wanted there was NOTHING in my price range except IKEA. Cabinet assembly was a snap, although I hired carpenters to install them (I only have two hands!).

My recycled glass terrazzo counters cost as much as my cabinets. Score!

I can't believe that anyone would want to get rid of that stylish oven in the first picture.