Post # 1
Member
8469 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
So I posted a while back about getting new cabinets from IKEA. My husband and I were debating whether we should try a professional installer or installing it ourselves. We ended up getting a contractor to come in and demo our kitchen (they donate to habitat for humanity) and do the plumbing/vent out. Here are a few pics from our install so far.
Old kitchen
building and installing
Although it was a bit intimidating at first, the install was actually pretty easy, even with the changes in cabinet size and additional cabinets. We still need to paint and get countertops and floors installed (we’re getting pros for that), but I’ll post pics when it’s all done.
Post # 3
Member
45652 posts
Honey Beekeeper
It’s so exciting seeing your new kitchen emerge from the reno. We just reno’d our whole condo and the kitchen is my favorite.
Post # 4
Member
2273 posts
Buzzing bee
@housebee: Where did you put your microwave??
Post # 5
Member
2609 posts
Sugar bee
@housebee: Hey, thanks for posting that! It looks great and I’m really digging the range hood! What are you doing for countertops? Are you going with the wooden ones from Ikea?
We’re thinking about doing an Ikea kitchen when we remodel ours so please keep posting with info!
Post # 6
Member
8469 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
@julies1949: Ooooh congrats on the whole house reno. I can’t wait to do some changes to the bathroom next, but that’s going to have to wait until we save up some more. Definitely looking forward to the kitchen being done though lol.
@Chrysoberyl: We got a countertop microwave and we’re moving it to another location in the kitchen where we added a cabinet. We used to have a recirculating vent with the microwave, and it just wasn’t doing the job.
Post # 7
Member
2273 posts
Buzzing bee
@housebee: The vent looks so new and shiny!
BTW I love the white. It really brightened up your kitchen!!
Post # 8
Member
8469 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
@Zhabeego: We are getting granite countertops for most of our kitchen except for the island (which we will assemble and install last). We are using the numerar beech countertop for the island, so I’ll be sure to post pics of that build/install. If you’re planning on doing your own install, it’s actually not as difficult as you would think, just a ton of measuring. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
Post # 9
Member
2609 posts
Sugar bee
@housebee: Thank you! My husband is pretty handy so I’m sure we’d do our own install. Do plase keep posting updates and photos!
Post # 10
Member
3697 posts
Sugar bee
So depressed over here because my kitchen looks way worse than your *old* kitchen and all I’m planning to do after appliances is paint everything and replace the countertops.
Love the new look though – totally jealous of your hood!
Post # 11
Member
10368 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
Is there a reason you didn’t do the floors while the cabinets were out/off the floor? It seems like that would be the best time to do it? Cabinets look great, BTW – my aunt has had her IKEA kitchen for almost 20 years and it is holding up wonderfully!
Post # 12
Member
2239 posts
Buzzing bee
My dad’s house has ikea cabinets and they are pretty darn outstanding. He installed all of them with the help of my very handy sister. She has the patience required to put them all together and he hung them LOL. Anyways, that was several years ago……probably close to 8 years now. They still look great. Did you get the cabinets that close softly? Those are awesome (my dad’s house has ones down low where he puts pots/pans). I actually didn’t mind your kitchen before really. I probably would have painted them white if they could have been painted, and added hardware but I like the new ones too! Congrats on the progress.
Post # 13
Member
8469 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
@crayfish: We were actually told by the floor people to get the cabinets in first (we’re doing vinyl due to costs) since we’re putting in toe kicks. Once the floors are in, we’ll be putting the island together which has feet.
@SuperDuperBrit: @almostmrsj: While the kitchen didn’t look bad, my old cabinets were super flimsy and the inner shelves were sagging. They were very also very poorly designed so that I didn’t actually have much storage (hence all the items on the counter lol). The new cabinets have the door/drawer dampers, and the doors are all pretty solid compared to my old cabinets (the doors wobbled and were made of really thin plywood). Plus, I had that terrible microwave vent that didn’t work, so I would constantly set off the smoke alarm in my house.
Post # 14
Member
2239 posts
Buzzing bee
Oh, well in that case I’m glad you replaced them! Keep us posted!
Post # 15
Member
772 posts
Busy bee
I love it! Which cabinets did you use from Ikea?
Post # 16
Member
8469 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
UPDATE: The end is finally in sight lol. Here are a few pics from building our island:
I didn’t take pics of us putting the cabinets together, it’s pretty straight forward from ikea (using akurum cabinets with stat door fronts)
Capita legs (8″)
We used perfekt side cover panets on the back, securing them with L brackets we purchased at Lowes
After we secured the panels on the back, we installed the side cover panels the same way we did on the wall cabinets.
By far the hardest part of this project was the countertop (numerar, beech). If you have a large table saw, then it isn’t too bad, however we used a circular saw. Then did a lot of sanding…think wax on, wax off lol.
We used blue painter’s tape to hold the L brackets in place while we drilled pilot holes in the countertop.
then we did the drawers and rails.
I’ll be sure to post before and after pics once everything is done. Feel free to PM me if you want more details.
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