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Custom Residential, Interior Design

IKEA Kitchen Cabinets

While we love a good custom cabinet, sometimes, IKEA cabinets are the perfect choice for your budget. Here are a couple of tips for getting the most out of this product.

Jeff Pelletier is the Managing Principal and Founder of Board & Vellum, an architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firm in Seattle, Washington.
Jeff Pelletier
April 27, 2011

I hate that I love IKEA.

I hate that I end up there, time and time again, when I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else, or I can't find it for anywhere near what I'm willing to spend. I know it is generally disposable and not truly sustainable in the long run if you have to replace something like a couch every couple of years, but there is just something easy about buying a quick and dirty piece of furniture, kitchen gadget, or frame. So, I keep going back. Fortunately, there is one really great reason to go there if you're a homeowner on a budget and want some great quality.

IKEA truly has great kitchen cabinets. You can't beat the price, the quality is very good, and their design is pretty spectacular. Don't get me wrong, I'll advocate for custom cabinets until the proverbial cows come home (that'll be a separate post, I promise). But if your kitchen is relatively straightforward, you want good design and quality, and don't want to spend a fortune, then head to IKEA.

I was there again just this week and forgot my camera, or I would have taken some photos (I'm still getting used to this blogging on the go), but there are a lot of creative things you can do with their standard lines.

The trick with IKEA, is to skip out on the cheaper lines of their cabinet faces and go for the pricier stuff. I mean, you're already getting a deal; don't dumpster dive with the absurdly cheap cabinet faces. Your laundry room deserves better. Their "abstrakt" high gloss white (or gray or red) are my favorite. Super clean, modern, and flexible enough that they can even go in a more traditional space. Their "tida oak" is also a nice cabinet face. It will make you rethink oak, which is generally a bad word in my home. Be wary of their black-brown finish, as it scratches very easily and tends to look a little too unnatural for my tastes.

Don't be afraid of IKEA for cabinets. Do be scared, though, of the trip there to pick up all of this and hope they have it all in stock. Now that's something definitely worth staying away from.

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