Author Topic: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?  (Read 14508 times)

Grant Q

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New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« on: July 13, 2014, 12:47:20 AM »
Our mid-1970s kitchen cabinets are wrecked and need to go.  I've read rave reviews for Ikea cabinets on MMM so I started using the Ikea kitchen designer, and with one base unit for the sink, the sink itself, and another base cabinet, I was already up to almost $1k!  So I quit.  We've got a small galley-style kitchen and all the cabinets are standard sized.  I've checked out the unfinished cabinets at Home Depot and the price comes out to about $1200 for the whole kitchen (without the counter-top, hardware, etc).

As far as I can see on the website, Ikea cabinets are at least 2x the cost of HD.  Are they worth it?  I will be doing this all myself, and don't mind some sanding and finishing or painting.  Why does everyone like Ikea cabinets so much?  They seem kinda pricey to me.

Rezdent

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2014, 09:08:55 AM »
The IKEA cabinets that I've seen in other folk's houses appear to be sturdy and well made.  Not all HD cabinets appear to be so, so be sure you're comparing similar quality.
IMHO,  living with poor quality cabinets is awful.

When we redo cabinets someday...I will be scoping out the Restore (extra stuff from Habitat for Humanity).  I'm sure Houston has something similar.  This is a great place to get building supplies for people who are patient.
The proceeds support HfH, and I like to support them.  Builders donate stuff to them and if the HfH can't use it they sell it.
With this approach it might take a while before finding cabinets that will work well since it's hit or miss.

Goldielocks

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2014, 10:00:02 AM »
In my area, people remodel kitchens to sell, then the next prson tears it out to get it to their taste.

Lots of kitchens and good appliances that way for very cheap.  Most people with average to large kitchens have trouble getting cabinets that fir, but a small kitchen is great for this.

Also the new kitchen cabinet folks need to change their displays every couple of years.. you can get a good peice with granite counter for a bit if work to haul away and reassemble.

So dont disvcount the idea of second hand.  Many are less than 2yrs old.

Midwest

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2014, 10:16:10 AM »
I refinished the cabinets in our kitchen and added a few new cabinets to match using the home depot unfinished. 

The good - The unfinished home depot cabinets have held up fine.  However, they are cheap. 

The bad - Backs and sides are particle board.  I actually had to reinforce some of them.  With the home depot cabinets, you'll also need to face any sides that are showing with veneer and face the toe kick.  To do that you'll need a pin nailer, so add that to your costs.   If you want to them look good, plan on spending quite a bit of time sanding and finishing them.  I ended up spraying the polyrethane on doors

I don't know what your budget is, but I would consider buying cabinets with plywood backs and sides as they are considerably sturdier.  If you buy unfinished, plan on considerable work in getting them finished.

Midwest

Another Reader

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2014, 10:19:53 AM »
I redid a kitchen in a rental last year.  Home Depot and Lowes were expensive and weeks out.  Ikea cabinets and the in stock HD cabinets are crap and Ikea never gets the order right anyway.  Handy guy went to his cabinet supplier and bought nice maple cabinets for about the same as the finished in stock Home Depot cabinets.  Look around cabinet contractors websites and ask a lot of handy guys who the low cost, in-stock cabinet wholesale people are.

Granite is cheap.  Fabrication and installation are where the mark up is.  Out here, you can pick up slabs just off the ship for peanuts.  Look around for someone that does the install as a side job and they will get the cutting done.

zippyc

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2014, 01:43:25 AM »
I replaced all of my old builder grade oak cabinets last year with Ikea. I Hated the old cabinets. They had a bar right down the middle and it made it so hard to get large pans out. I now have mostly drawers and cabinets with pull outs for my base cabinets. I LOVE the frameless cabinets. I have so much more storage and easy access. There are also lots of companies out there that make custom wood doors to go over ikea cabinets, so you can do an easy refacing down the line, without dealing with frames or pulling out old cabinets. I had to modify my upper cabinets, so purchased custom, unfinished shaker wood doors and painted them myself. Looks fantastic!

HD would be cheaper, but Ikea would work much nicer and last longer. There is also a lot of support online to help you with any Ikea cabinet modifications.

Christiana

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2014, 01:59:05 PM »
My preference would be to build my own:  http://ana-white.com/2013/11/momplex/building-base-cabinets

We have white Ikea cabinets at the moment.  They are sturdy, but the white surfacing is starting to chip in places, and I'm not sure what to do about that.

Cwadda

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2014, 02:04:11 PM »
My mom just looked at cabinets at Lowe's for $4800. She ended up getting almost identical ones for less money and faster delivery for like $1000 less from a more local cabinet dealer.

Quote
I redid a kitchen in a rental last year.  Home Depot and Lowes were expensive and weeks out.  Ikea cabinets and the in stock HD cabinets are crap and Ikea never gets the order right anyway.  Handy guy went to his cabinet supplier and bought nice maple cabinets for about the same as the finished in stock Home Depot cabinets.  Look around cabinet contractors websites and ask a lot of handy guys who the low cost, in-stock cabinet wholesale people are.

Exactly! +1


historienne

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2014, 02:12:07 PM »
I second the suggestion looking on Craigslist.  We bought a kitchen's worth of very nice cabinets for $2000 (including countertops) - would have been four times that new, easily.  And they are better quality than anything new in that price range.  Key is to look for kitchens that are larger than yours, so that you have some flexibility rearranging.

mc6

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Re: New Kitchen Cabinets... Ikea? Home Depot?
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2014, 05:44:25 PM »
I have Ikea cabinetry in my kitchen and bath and I think they are shite.  Several of my drawers are held together with Gorilla glue, for example.  Previous owner installed them.