Replacing kitchen cabinets

[JSpill]

My wife wants new kitchen cabinets. We will have a contractor do the installation. We will most probably keep the same arrangement we have now while adding a few new cabinets in a nearby room. I don't know what to buy. I really like solid wood cabinets. My daughter recently had Ikea cabinets installed and she likes them a lot. I guess I would like to know from whom I can order nice quality cabinets at a reasonable price. I'm capable of assembling them at home. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ken Vick]

My wife wants new kitchen cabinets. We will have a contractor do the installation. We will most probably keep the same arrangement we have now while adding a few new cabinets in a nearby room. I don't know what to buy. I really like solid wood cabinets. My daughter recently had Ikea cabinets installed and she likes them a lot. I guess I would like to know from whom I can order nice quality cabinets at a reasonable price. I'm capable of assembling them at home. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I did a full kitchen tear out to the studs last summer and used IKEA boxes for everything including a 58" X 94" island.  I veneered all exposed box ends with quartersawn maple except for exposed parts of the island which are sapele.  I bought white cabinets and have temporarily attached the cheapest white IKEA drawer fronts and doors.  I have much of the shop sawn maple and sapele veneer cut and glued into sheets to veneer to MDF blanks that are already cut for the drawer fronts and doors.  That will happen after I return to Lewiston from Florida in the spring.  I put the lower cabinet boxes on platforms rather than using the IKEA legs which look pretty wobbly to me.  All exposed maple veneered cabinet elements were given a "white wash" with Minwax water based white stain applied with a foam brush and the excess wiped off.  After drying these were sprayed with water base poly.  Doors and drawer fronts will receive the same treatment.

I didn't glue the cabinets together.  After assembly and attached to the wall, they are very sturdy.  Assembly is quick.  Installation, not so quick given the slope of the floor and untrue walls of my 60+ year old house but that would be true with any cabinets.  I bought some aftermarket upgrades for corner cabinets and organizers.  My wife wanted white melamine interiors so IKEA made that requirement very easy to meet.  One issue that I am presently working with is that I had a couple veneer panels delaminate.  I roughened the melamine panels with sandpaper before attaching the veneer with epoxy glue.  Out of 20 or so glue ups so far, I had trouble with 2 panels.  Were I to do this over, I would remove the melamine layer with the drum sander before veneering.

Since you live near by, if you are still pondering your decision in mid-April, you could drop by to take a look at my cabinets when I return north.  I should acknowledge my brain trust of John TenEyck and Metod Alif who provided a lot of advice and muscle power (Metod) along the way.  Ken

[giradman]

Hi JSpill - about 16 years ago we wanted to re-do our kitchen dating from the early 70s w/ that look - dark cabinets, formica counter tops, and yellow appliances - debated between a full cabinet replacement vs. re-surfacing, solid surface counters, and new black appliances - for a quicker and less expensive cost, we choose the latter option - full pullout drawers were installed in 3 of the cabinets (including under the stovetop) and the counters are solid surface Wilsonart (like Corian) (and have needed no maintenance) - probably will replace the stovetop because wife wants a different burner arrangement (we have natural gas) - some pics below (excuse the frig magnets - we take a lot of car trips in my retirement and wife always buys a magnet or two - 
).

Just another consideration - and sorry for posting if you're not interested in exploring this other 'kitchen-remodel' option, but we've enjoyed the 'new' kitchen - will be interested in your choices - would love an island but the room is just not that big.  Dave

.

[jteneyck]

i Jim,  I installed some stock cabinets for some friends a couple of years ago.  



Shaker style frame and panel doors and drawer fronts, plywood boxes.  My friends bought them through HD; they were made by a company in PA.  Quality was pretty good and the finish was very nice.  They came fully assembled, which eliminates a lot of handling.  Soft close drawers and doors.  Cost wasn't bad; not as cheap as IKEA, but not bad.  Installation was pretty uneventful after dealing with the 1-1/2" slope in the floor and ceiling.  It was so bad that we decided to forget trying to install the crown molding.  We fudged the height of the cabinets on the right side to give a more consistent gap at the ceiling.  The busy backsplash hides the difference in distance to the countertop.  

We put some additional cabinets from the same company but in off white nearby to house the fridge and create a desk area and storage area:



All the cabinets were stock sizes with just one or two filler strips needed to fill out the runs.  

If you are considering IKEA cabinets you want to make sure the contractor you hire has experience with them because they are different from traditional cabinets, but in construction and in how they are hung.  

John

[giradman]

John - beautiful job on that kitchen; I really like the look w/ the tile job - congrats! 
  Dave

[jteneyck]

John - beautiful job on that kitchen; I really like the look w/ the tile job - congrats! 
  Dave

Thanks, but all I did was install the cabinets and the microwave.  A local company did the countertops, and the HO did the back spash and floor.  The over all design was by the lady of the house, and she has a good eye.  All stock products in the medium price range.  If I had a "before" picture you wouldn't believe it.  

John

[giradman]

Thanks, but all I did was install the cabinets and the microwave.  A local company did the countertops, and the HO did the back spash and floor.  The over all design was by the lady of the house, and she has a good eye.  All stock products in the medium price range.  If I had a "before" picture you wouldn't believe it.  

John

Hi John - well same w/ out kitchen re-do (had some pre-pics but cannot locate the images - but dark cabinets w/ yellow appliances + formica counters - SO 60s TV sitcom look if in color!) - thanks again for showing - Dave

[Robert Adams]

I went the ikea box route with our kitchen. Just over 30 linear feet of cabinets. The melamine interior is so much nicer than plywood. Nice and bright and very easy to clean. The current cab system they have is different and a little more expensive though. The upper cabinet mounting system is awesome. Attach the rail and hang the cabs and lots of adjustment from inside the cab. Overall very easy to install compared to standard cabs and very forgiving. 

      I bought some of their drawers and they use all Blum hardware. The hinges are cheaper for them than other suppliers as well. I made cherry doors and drawer fronts. I still haven't done the backsplash...  So no new pics till she picks it out, but I need almost 100 Sq ft so choice is limited.... It might not all be the best colors etc but that's what she wants....

[Cub_Cadet_GT]

My wife wants new kitchen cabinets. We will have a contractor do the installation. We will most probably keep the same arrangement we have now while adding a few new cabinets in a nearby room. I don't know what to buy. I really like solid wood cabinets. My daughter recently had Ikea cabinets installed and she likes them a lot. I guess I would like to know from whom I can order nice quality cabinets at a reasonable price. I'm capable of assembling them at home. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I just redid all 3 of our bathrooms with these RTA cabinets. They were very high quality and price was very reasonable. All face frames and drawers are solid wood, all hardware is soft close and assembly was easy. Shipping was quick and customer service was great. We had one box get damaged and they shipped out replacement parts 2 day air. 

We went with the Signature Brownstone line.

https://www.stockcabinetexpress.com

[Cub_Cadet_GT]

My wife wants new kitchen cabinets. We will have a contractor do the installation. We will most probably keep the same arrangement we have now while adding a few new cabinets in a nearby room. I don't know what to buy. I really like solid wood cabinets. My daughter recently had Ikea cabinets installed and she likes them a lot. I guess I would like to know from whom I can order nice quality cabinets at a reasonable price. I'm capable of assembling them at home. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I just redid all 3 of our bathrooms with these RTA cabinets. They were very high quality and price was very reasonable. All face frames and drawers are solid wood, all hardware is soft close and assembly was easy. Shipping was quick and customer service was great. We had one box get damaged and they shipped out replacement parts 2 day air. 

We went with the Signature Brownstone line.

https://www.stockcabinetexpress.com