Monday, February 16, 2015

74 IHeart Kitchen Reno: IKEA Cabinet Installation

Well pals!  We officially have cabinets!


OK, so we are not completely done by any means, however, majority of the main cabinets have been hung and pieced together!  And you know me, I can't wait to fill 'em up!

Family obligations sort of took over last week, so installed cabinets are a giant win for this clan!  I think we are becoming quite use to cooking in a toaster oven and washing dishes by hand, it is just a normal way of life now.  Having a kitchen back within the near future will be such a luxury!

You may recall, we last left off with freshly painted walls and ceiling.  Sooooo pretty!


And on the other side, we started putting together the cabinet boxes and piecing things together.

 
Although we still have some a lot of finishing touches to add, we thought we would stop in today and share some of the things we have learned about installing an IKEA kitchen.
  • Most obviously, research.  Use materials available to you (like the Internet) to read ahead of time reviews and stories.  I loved reading experiences other bloggers have had and when we got confused during the process, searching Google for answers was our biggest help.  There are a lot of forums, blogs and YouTube videos with IKEA cabinet installation advice.
  • Be ready to wait.  Although you get to bring home a lot of the items the day you purchase your IKEA kitchen, the rest has to be ordered in.  We actually had two different shipments to a warehouse about an hour away.  Because we had so many other things going on before the cabinets could be placed, this wasn't too big of a problem for us (until later, more on that in a minute), but it is worth mentioning.  


  • IKEA provides a pamphlet with step-by-step directions and tips for installing your cabinets.  Do. Not. Lose. This.  And if you do, you can find it here.  I didn't know that they provided this initially until I started searching online and digging through my kitchen papers.  We found it halfway through the process and it would have been helpful having it right from the start.  Oops.
  • The cabinet box assembly was straight forward and simple enough any homeowner can handle.  However, plan on having two people to hang/install the cabinets.  
  • The upper cabinets are installed on a rail system.  At first, Bryan didn't not believe they would be sturdy enough to handle the cabinet weight and was questioning the entire process.

(example only above - the rail in the photo has not yet been installed)

  • The rail screws into your wall studs, and then the cabinets screw into the rail.  This does leave a small gap between the wall and the back of the cabinet, but if done right, it is fully secured.


  • The metal rail was cut with a carbide blade.  We took it outside to be safe.  You see the pretty snow glistening in the background?


  • It is always recommended to start with your corner cabinet first and work your way out.  We started with the upper corner cabinet as it was easier than reaching over an installed lower cabinet.
  • Once you have measured for the height of your cabinets, use a chalk line to ensure they remain level throughout the installation process.


  • IKEA's cabinets are installed on legs, which are later hidden by a kick plate.  What worked best for us is to screw the legs in all the way, and then back each one back out 1/4" to give you a little wiggle room once you go to set the cabinets to the wall. (This may have to be adjusted if you are installing on concrete or any other surface that may not be as level.)
  • IKEA's cabinet system utilizes a common frame, the outer edges and faces are all a decorative finish that you select in the store.  IKEA will provide you with enough decorative panels to cover any visible frame edge.  Be sure to install the panels on the outer edges of your pantry before setting your pantry, so the decorative panel runs all the way down (and doesn't have to be pieced in later).  Another lesson we learned the hard way, but it only required us to un-install the pantry, add the panel and re-install.  


  • Once your kitchen plan is completed with IKEA, they will print a cabinet guide list.  Because in typical IKEA form, they can't just put all of the pieces together in one box.  Every drawer face was packaged separately.  Every shelf was packaged separately.  Even the soft close dampers for the hinges.  It will show you each cabinet number and all of the pieces that belong with each cabinet.  Once the cabinet boxes were installed, I used this guide to place all of the remaining parts for each cabinet within the open cabinet cavity.  Every hinge, drawer guide, cabinet/drawer face, etc...  This helped the night we finally started installing those finishing touches (as seen in the rail photo above).


  • I would recommend doing a product inventory as early in the process as possible.  We are now as done as we can be, and realized that we never received the shelving unit for next to our upper corner cabinet.  After taking a trip back to IKEA, we had to order the piece because they never did the first time around.  So now we are another two weeks out from being able to finish the upper install.  Sigh...
  • IKEA cabinet sizes are pretty standard, but you may find that you need to have filler pieces where cabinets don't line up.  We needed to add a small sliver between an upper cabinet and the fridge frame.  Based on the information we received from IKEA, we weren't entirely sure what we were supposed to be using as filler.  Some reading online suggested using the toe kick, so that is what we did.  


  • However, it is a bit brighter white than the cabinet faces, so we are going to add a sliver of the decorative side panel instead. To install we used a clamp and screwed in to the side from either direction. Whenever cutting the toe kick or decorative side panels to size, we always used a strip of blue painter's tape along the blade edge to prevent any chipping.


  • Sandwich baggies will be your best friend!  We used them to organize and divide out all of the extra pieces that we may need later.  We also love this magnetic dish when working on any type of project with a lot of hardware.


  • I never recommend purchasing a kitchen from IKEA when they are planning on changing their entire kitchen system the following year.  Now any piece that we are missing, has become special order.  We are also unable to easily locate products and their specs on their website, as they have already been removed.  We have been able to track down what we need and navigate around it, but it is something that has delayed things a bit.

Overall, IKEA kitchens are fairly simple to install, however, there may be a few questions or frustrations along the way because it is not as simple as typical IKEA furniture, there is a bit more planning and tool using involved.  With two people working on things, we were able to get all of the cabinets built and installed within exactly a week; working a full weekend day and four weekday evenings.

But you know what my favorite part is?


and...



I know those are the most anti-climatic videos in the history of videos, but soft close makes my heart dance.

A few more kitchen notes...

We still have a six foot row of 12" deep lowers and uppers to install on the old stripe/hutch wall, which will be oh-so-pretty and great for storing entertaining and party items.  We also plan to install decorative crown moulding to the tops of all of the cabinets as well as finish off the ceiling edges where the planks meet the walls.  The floors will be installed after the island is set, as the island/cabinets should not be installed on top of a floating floor (to prevent the floor from shifting/buckling).

The panel for the dishwasher?  That was a little extra drama because the day we went to order our kitchen, IKEA had completely sold out and stopped restocking their integrated dishwasher.  We decided to keep the panel "just in case" because we knew we could return it if we couldn't make it work. After researching other integrated options, which were ouch-expensive, we decided to purchase a regular dishwasher and I was fairly bummed.  We aren't upgrading our kitchen to the level of integrating all of our appliances within our cabinets, but it would have been nice to have the seamless dishwasher.  But you know what?  IKEA recently brought back their integrated options which still work with our panel, so the hope is to snag one of those this week!  We called today and the other dishwasher can be returned as it was never used or damaged.  Wah to the hoo!  This girl has happy feet!

We also integrated a trash can!  I never realized I could be so excited about the little things! 


We are still waiting on the final drawing for our center island, as that is where our cooktop/oven will be installed.  We are working with a cabinet company to have something custom created to fit our space and storage needs and I feel like a kiddo on Christmas Eve waiting to see what they come up with.

You may remember, when we were initially scheming up kitchen plans and ideas, we were questioning the need to use a microwave.  We really don't use them very often, however, with three growing boys, we decided that a small one to heat up soup, leftovers and veggies was probably a good idea.  We were able to have an outlet installed within the pantry to store it in there.  I like that it will be concealed, however, still easily accessible for the entire family.


IKEA didn't have pull out drawer options for the 30" wide pantry, however, we hope to DIY some down the road.  The shelves are nice and deep, but that can also equal an organizing disaster.

To install the left panel of the fridge surround, we installed the panel on top of a piece of underlayment and flooring, then removed it after the panel was secure.  We did this to get the final cabinet installed for over the fridge.  The final side of the fridge panel will be installed once the floor is in place.


And on a final note, IKEA cabinets are really challenging to open without hardware.  Hopefully it doesn't take me as long to pick that out as it did to finally select a paint color (which has really grown on me btw).  

P.S.  Glass door cabinets are my jelly jam.  


It is so fun to finally see a real kitchen forming!  It has been worth every late night and every meal made on the nearby folding table.  If you have any questions regarding IKEA kitchens and the installation, feel free to ask.  I know first hand how nice it is to hear real life experiences from fellow friends.


You can follow all of the kitchen progress here.

P.S.  Thank you SO much for nominating iHeart Organizing for the Better Homes & Gardens DIY Blogger Award!  You can cast your vote here throughout the next six weeks.  Bryan and I are continuously grateful for all of your support!  Smooches!

74 comments:

  1. Jen, how exciting for you and your family! I can't wait to see the finished product, it's going to be beautiful...just like everything you do. Sincerely, Lori Swearingen

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  2. Looks fantastic! We used IKEA kitchen cupboards in our study so I know what you mean but it's wonderful when it all comes together.

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  3. I love the entire look & am waiting on pins & needles for the next post. :-)

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  4. Love it! We used the same cabinets in our kitchen all the way over here in Australia! You have inspired me to write a blog post on our kitchen install.

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  5. For temporary handles until you decide, just loop a piece of painters tape, stick inside the drawer or cabinet & let it stick out. Worked great for us when we put in our ikea kitchen ten years ago. We LOVE it and super love the thousands of dollars saved on my beautiful white cabinets! And our entire pantry for a family of 5 hangs on one of those upper rails - so don't worry, they're secure!

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    1. GENIUS! Thank you! Now I won't feel so rushed ;) And I will let my hubs know that he can sleep easy knowing that everything will remain nice and secure (he trusted things by the time we were done, but I will still let him know). Thank you so much!

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  6. So gorgeous! I am dreaming of the day I get an Ikea kitchen. Our floorplan in our current home...it didn't make sense to rip out the cabinets and replace it but in our next one (we move plenty with hubby's job), it is so happening.

    I really loved seeing the step by step...and don't feel silly about being so excited about things as simple as a trashcan drawer. Aren't their drawers amazing by the way? I was in a tile store recently and my mother pointed out the blum drawer system they had in their model rooms is the same as Ikea (Ikea just doesn't have their label on there). Apparently Blum is more expensive to buy from directly but Ikea is able to sell it at a fraction of the price....very high quality stuff.

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  7. hi just wondering what size is your pantry is it one piece or 2 pieces ie width and depth thanks Sharon

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    1. The pantry is 88" tall by 30" wide. It is a single unit, with drawers and doors added to break things up a bit. xoxo!

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    2. Hi I thought the pantry looked bigger then we can get here in Australia the widest we can get in 24" depth is 24" love the idea of drawers hope we can get wider pantry soon

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  8. I'm hoping to redo my kitchen whenever Ikea puts the new line of cabinets on sale (hopefully it won't take years) so thanks for all the tips! I'm planning on doing the same with my microwave. I can't wait for more updates.

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    1. I believe their big sale is annual? Don't quote me on that, but I am pretty sure they have some sort of kitchen sale each year, maybe even twice? That is when we took advantage of ours (back in November), it really does make a big difference on the budget! xoxo!

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    2. The ikea employee that helped me plan my kitchen told me they are having their next kitchen sale starting Feb 27. I love my ikea cabinets. No regrets.

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  9. Your kitchen is looking beautiful! Congrats on the all the hard work!

    Her Heartland Soul
    http://herheartlandsoul.com

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  10. It looks amazing!!!!

    We had the same thought about the rail too. My hubby actually installed a few then put all his weight "hanging" from the cabinet and it didn't fall. :)

    We had installed the pullout cabinets in ours. It was probably 6 years ago now, I had a love/hate relationship with them. My biggest complaint is on the pullouts where the sides meet the bottom it is/was curved. So it wasn't an "L" shaped. Which meant I couldn't put anything up against the sides because it wouldn't sit flat (cans/jars/boxes would tip. It drove me nuts, and i probably lost 3/4 of an inch per pull out. It's silly as it sounds, but I couldn't line things up straight. Loved the rest of them though. Especially the self close feature, and the pull out pan drawers!!

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  11. we have the same cabinets since 2008 .they have held up well.the soft close drawers and cabinets were my favorite part.and the pantry is great.twice the size of the old one.im curious to see the handles you picked.we wanted a certain kind and they didnt have enough of them,so we had to pick something else.i like the ones we ended up with more than the originals we were going to get.good luck with everything.

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  12. Looking great in there! Question for you....I'm hoping (wishing) to remodel my kitchen this year and starting to research reasonably priced yet nice cabinet options. What do you think of Ikea cabinets in terms of quality so far?

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    1. So far I think the quality is great (much higher than most ikea furniture), but I am sure the true test will be when we are using them full time. I really love the cabinet finish and everything seems quite solid. I definitely recommend checking out an ikea showroom to play with them and get sense of their quality.

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  13. Hi Jen your kitchen looks FANTASTIC and I am LOVING the pain color you chose. I've been looking for a very similar color for my living room, but have been unable to find anything like that. I must also ask..... what do you plan on doing with the beautiful hutch now you are installing more cabinets on the old stripy wall? I loved that, will be sad to see it go :(

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    1. I have a few ideas for the hutch, I want to do whatever I can to keep it with is because I love it as well. It is one of my favorite pieces of furniture, it was just too big of a footprint with the new kitchen layout. xoxo!

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  14. Wow! Coming along beautifully! From what I've read about a few other places, it seemed to me that Ikea cabinets actually ended up like a lot of work, and then dealing with their rail to hang them, and the feet, etc. but I do have to say your project looks absolutely amazing so far!

    You mentioned a counter-depth fridge...would you mind doing a post on that when the time comes? We had a majorly small kitchen in our last house and I always wanted to try a counter depth fridge but was "warned" away from it because of expense, special order, and supposed major decrease in space. Well, we ended up moving, but I'm still curious about that fridge! :)

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    1. Absolutely! It was a hot topic in my last post so I will be sure to do a specific post on our thoughts and organization.

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  15. I love how your kitchen is coming along! We just installed about 10 Besta cabinets on our walls with those rails so I understand your husband's initial nervousness.

    Did you end up buying all of your appliances through Ikea as well? I love the cabinets but was never sure of the quality of the appliances.

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    1. We purchase two of their appliances and I will be sure to chat more about those in an upcoming post as we haven't installed them or tested them yet. They are actually manufactured by Whirlpool and there are a lot of reviews available online. xoxo!

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  16. The kitchen looks so bright and beautiful! I m dreaming for a white IKEA kitchen cabinets myself!!! I can't wait to see the finished product!!!

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  17. Hello Jen, I love your new kitchen!!! I would like to know if the trash can is also from Ikea and if you are going to write a post when you install the new floor; I thought the floor had to be installed before the kitchen furniture... Thanks!. Lucila.

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    1. Hi Lucila!

      Yes and yes! :) The trash can is from IKEA - they offer solutions that fit their cabinets specifically. And we will be sure to talk through our floor selection and installation as soon as we get to that point.

      xoxo!

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  18. All of your hard work is truly paying off. Your kitchen is coming together beautifully!

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  19. It keeps getting better and better! I LOVE how you anchored the kitchen with the tall cabinet! Bravo Jen!

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  20. We just installed the same Ikea kitchen and had a similar problem with the filler pieces being a too-bright white for the doors. We ended up painting them with Benjamin Moore Simply White mixed in Sherwin Williams pro-classic enamel (this a self-leveling paint that I LOVE!!). It is almost an exact match, perfect for trim and crown, but you might not want to touch up cabinet fronts with it, since a brush/rolled finish is different than the baked-on factory finish. Love your kitchen!! I know you must be soooo excited to be in the home stretch!

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    1. That is great to hear! We have leftover Simply White from the ceiling and it is such a great match. And agree that no paint seems to compare to the SW Pro-Classic. Love that stuff! xo!

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  21. It looks amazing! Love the updates!

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  22. Love seeing the updates as you go along! Everything looks so fresh and clean and open! I'm eager to see how you go about organizing things in the kitchen once it's done, that's always the fun part for me :)

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  23. This is beautiful Jen. It is coming together so wonderfully. I have dreamed of removing my barely builder grade (ours are terrible! I don't know where our builder got these from) and putting in IKEA cabinets. I have always eyed those same exact ones you are putting in. :) I love the paint color you chose too.

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  24. FYI- Ikea sells these little plastic fillers for the holes on the side of the cabinets. They're time consuming to install, but they really look much better when you're done. Here's a blog post (not mine) about them: http://www.storefrontlife.com/diy-tips-fill-them-holes/

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    1. Oh my greatness! Where have those been all my life? So excited, thank you!

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  25. Gorgeous! And I LOVE the color of the kitchen. It reminds me of silver sage, which I had in the kitchen at my old house. Pops so nicely against white cabinets!

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  26. It's looking great! I love how those cabinets and drawers close so quietly. I hate when I close the cabinets with more force than intended and you hear a loud bang. I can't wait till it's all done and see how you will organize everything!

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  27. looks awesome! and i love the paint!

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  28. Jen! It's so exciting to finally see this come to fruition after reading about it for the past few years. How exciting for you and your family! We plan to redo our kitchen in a few years (just moved into a brand new house 6 months ago, but they builder didn't have what we really wanted so we went with bare minimum and will do custom later when the budget allows). I'll be anxious to see how you still like your cabinets a few years from now. IKEA is definitely one of the options I am considering.

    Amanda
    www.anorganizedfamily.com

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  29. It is coming along nicely. So light and love the integrated garbage can. To be honest I can't wait to see:
    - how you will go about with flooring (I am guessing probably not under the cabinets)
    - the backsplash
    - your posts organizing each cabinet and drawyer - seriously I can hardly wait or that!

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    1. Thank you! I will definitely be sure to post more updates as we handle each of those situations. I can't wait!! <3

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  30. Looking good!

    How are you liking the paint color now that the cabinets are in? I'm testing out some color patches for my kitchen (also with white cabinets) and the color shifts are driving me nuts.

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    1. It is really growing on me! I think it is going to look really beautiful against the stone tile and counter and once the warm wood floors come in. xoxo!

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  31. I'm glad your paint color is growing on you. I have several similar shades in my house, and those pale greenish/bluish/grayish colors do change a lot depending on time of day. They work beautifully as a neutral with some extra personality.

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  32. Those look great! Glad you found the directions. The people put in IKEA cabinets before we bought our place and must have lost theirs because after a while we noticed all these issues and everything with them ugh!

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  33. Looking good! What color is the wall paint?
    Also, if the floating floor only goes up to the cabinets, what do you do with the floor underneath the cabinets since they are on legs and you can see under there?

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    1. Hi Lori,

      The paint color is Benjamin Moore's Quiet Moments. And the floor will go up to the legs, and then the legs will be concealed with kick plates.

      xo!

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    2. AH! Kick plates are a great idea! That will really finish it off!

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  34. Don't feel bad about playing with the soft close on the cupboards and drawers... Mine have been in for over a year, and I still open and close just because I can, lol!

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  35. Love the videos, really the small things do matter the most! You and your hubby are so impressive!

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  36. Looks amazing! Thank you for making time to share a big update with your readers.

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  37. Btw, will you be adding a panel to the right of your fridge to stabilize the full depth above fridge cabinet? Fyi, the bottom of those cabinets can pull away if they aren't anchored to something. Even if the top is anchored to a joist the stress of the weight & gravity that can be put on those cabinets require front anchoring. I have had both friends & relatives having to have them replaced because they didn't realize this. Just an FYI. :-)

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  38. This is so cool! You finally have cabinets now! Woohoo it won't be long now until your doing the finishing touches (hopefully). It looks great already! I absolutely love the soft door close option, isn't it wonderful? I will definitely be having that in my home someday.

    Cant wait to see more and the big reveal!

    Lauren
    LB Designs
    xx

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  39. Lookin' good! I JUST finished my kitchen remodel, although I hired everything done instead of DIY. The layout of my house is very similar to yours except that my stairs are between my kitchen and living room, so I couldn't do open concept like you are doing (dang!). I also went with white cabinets (not Ikea) and love how nice and bright it is! Putting everything in place is SO much fun. You are getting close and it's been fun watching your progress. Thanks for sharing!

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  40. Gosh, this whole project is amazing so far! Between the ceiling, those glass front cabinets, and that herringbone tile sample, I'm drooling! I was telling my husband about your reno and amazing ceiling beams last night and even HE got sucked in! He loved seeing the details of how you built the ceiling beams and commented a couple times on how great it turned out and how open it made the space!

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  41. A little loop of painters step on each csbinet door and drawer makes for great "hardware" until you choose and install the permanent kind.

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  42. We used those exact cabinets in our last home...and were head over heels in {{LOVE}} with them. So exciting!!

    Teresa
    www.hugsandpunches.com

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  43. We installed an IKEA kitchen last summer, and love that visual planner they provide. I had a spreadsheet with all our stuff listed on it, and I matched that to each cabinet. Made putting things away easier!

    Make sure you don't permanently attach the kick plates below your cabinets -- because you'll be able to pop them off and sweep/vacuum underneath! (Some people want to screw them in permanently.)

    For our 5x8 foot island, having that small space (about 4" high) underneath was great -- because in some cabinets, if I only used 3 drawers out of a 4-drawer packages (or one out of 2), I had a few shelves in various sizes left over. You can't return half a package, and I knew I'd want those shelves at some point -- so I stored them under the island, wrapped in bubble wrap. I also put those few extra IKEA things under there (extra holders for kickplates, extra soft-close dampers, in ziploc bags). Now they are all in one easily-accessible place that takes up no room elsewhere in the house.

    I liked my $5 brass handles from Lowes better than my $20 Restoration Hardware ones -- go figure!

    I also love the wastebasket pullout -- just wish I'd also done the recycling pullout next to it. (I have the frame, but I added the shelves inside for all my bowls and measuring cups and small utensils.)

    Oh, and we had a mudroom closet built right around the corner from the kitchen -- and used a broom closet cabinet and kitchen pantry with metal pullouts for our coat closet & school cubbies (both 24" wide, the same ones we used in the kitchen). The kitchen cabs are taller and sturdier than the PAX or Billy systems, and I just put in a rod attached to the underside of one shelf for coats. Worth every penny to have super sturdy shelves where the kids would be looking for stuff several times a day, and the taller cabinets mean you don't have a big empty 24" space up above.

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  44. This is looking soooo good, Jen! Our current kitchen is kind of a total bummer and this has me itching even more to gut it. ;) Love following along and the insight you share. And wohoo for the dishwasher situation!!!

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  45. Yippeeee! I love a good Ikea kitchen install. Mine is tiny with not nearly as many cabinets as you, but im so glad we went with ikea cabinets. I just picked up hardware and installed them yesterday after months of trying to decide which ones. Im the end, i went with Ikea, of course. I loved their selection and there are a couple i can think of that youll probably really like. Funny thing, we dont have a microwave. Havent had one for almost a year now, since we moved out of our last house and had to leave the one that was built in. I was just thinking of adding a small one for sake of the kids. I really like the one you chose. Would you mind sharing where its from? This space is just gorgeous Jen. Thank you for sharing the process with us:)

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    1. I have loved checking in on your sweet kitchen! It is coming along beautifully, as is the rest of your new home. Thank you for popping by Shavonda! The microwave was purchased on Amazon: http://amzn.to/17F4Zh2

      xoxo!

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  46. Did you know that if you install a white Akurum partition between two 30" shelves, you can then install two 15" drawers with 15" Rationell drawer fronts? Just a thought if you really want a few drawers instead of all shelves in your pantry. :)

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  47. Hi Jen, I love to follow your blog! You are amazing and I applaud your vision and your ability to create a home that is truly your own. You are super talented and have inspired me to make my own space more functional and prettier. I do have a question for you and I hope that if you get a chance to read this comment you'll take a moment to respond. I live in the mid west and have a nice size kitchen with oak cabinets from the early '90s and oak trim around the house. I know that oak used to be popular around here, however it was never my style. I prefer the white or even the cream look. Lately I've been entertaining the idea to paint at least the kitchen cabinets to an off white color. What paint would you recommend for that project? The only paint I have experience with is chalk paint for furniture and Behr Marquee for the walls. I love using ASCP for a lot of different reasons but Im not sure if its ideal for a kitchen. Thanks a bunch and good luck with the rest of your renovations!!! Monika

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    1. Hi Monika!

      I am not sure how ASCP would do for cabinets, given the daily wear that cabinets are faced with. We took the long route and primed and painted the cabinets with light sanding in-between coats. Our cabinets held up really well over the years, you can read the process here: http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2011/08/finally-how-to-paint-cabinets-trim.html

      I personally think that priming and then using a high quality enamel paint is the way to go (Sherwin Williams pro-classic enamel is by far my favorite, used it for my hutch here: http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2013/11/our-new-to-us-painted-dining-room-hutch.html and it was extremely durable)

      When I was looking into the best options, I found the paint experts at our local paint stores to be extremely helpful with making decisions.

      Best of luck!
      Jen

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    2. Thanks Jen, I appreciate your feedback! I did go and talked to a couple of different paint experts and I made a decision. Definitely steering clear from chalk paint for my kitchen. Thanks again for replying! Monika

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  48. Beautiful space!
    We also installed ikea cabinets in a downstairs bar area. How did you attach the lower trim board (to the front and side panels??). We want to hide the undercounter lighting but not sure how to attach the lower trim board.

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    1. Hi Andrea,

      The trim boards come with L brackets that attach to the trim, which we then screwed into the bottom of the cabinets. I believe there are instructions included with the trim pieces for installation.

      xoxo!

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  49. What size are your glass uppers? 30 or 40 inches? Thanks!

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  50. Hi Jen,

    Can you let me know which model you went with for your ikea kitchen? i can't seem to find any WHITE ones that matches with this. Everything is OFF WHITE. :-( LOVE LOVE your kitchen! would love to see the final product and review on how it's holding up.

    Thank you,
    Glenda

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