Are the drawers not standard sizes that you can just buy Ikea drawers? I have a couple of 15" deep drawers that I can sell you, lol.
Lisa

No, that's deep drawers that are 15" wide.
Lisa

If he is building the cabinets then he will be doing custom sizes I assume. I have an L shape which is tricky to get every inch out of. His website has a link to Blum so I am guessing he could do anything I asked.

Not accounting for drawerfronts, a 30" IKEA drawer cabinet costs about $176. When I called Scherr's to get a quote for a custom cab with tandembox, a 27" drawer cab (door front unknown at that point) I was quoted "approximately $1K" for that box and its "guts".

What part of the DIY turns you off? I only ask because I was a fresh faced DIY-er when I did my IKEA kitchen and I felt pretty darn empowered at the end! :-)

I didn't do wall cabinets, but I found doing the base cabs (ganging, leveling and installing countertops) dead easy.

I am worried about the little stuff. The light rail, the crown moulding, the filler, the plith. I just worry that once I do it I won't be happy with the total finished project; that it won't look like what I envisioned. I have an island I need to work out and I worry about finishing off the ends so they look nice.

On the other hand I am totally happy with the IKEA boxes and hardware. My cost will be one half the custom cabinetmaker. I can stay under $20K for everything including flooring, granite and appliances.

The one thing I had not really thought about is that if I do IKEA I am only really dependent on myself. If the cabinet guy goes under then I am in trouble. If I hire a carpenter to do the finishing touches my investment in him won't be nearly what it would be in custom cabinets.

Courage, courage...

odie, I am leaning toward using IKEA boxes and making our own drawer fronts. My design call for almost all drawers. DH said that if the sizes don't work exactly, he'll custom build a cab where needed. Have you gone over to IKEAfans? They are just amazingly helpful like this forum. Truly, you can post ANY concern and someone will take the time to give you a very very explicit answer and remedy. I'm leaning toward the IKEA boxes for the exact reason of the hardware. Tandemboxes are VERY expensive. The IKEA sides are not as deep as some Blum Tandemboxes but that too can be tweaked. In fact, on a very recent thread over on IKEAfans; someone was posting on how they raised the sides of the IKEA Tandembox to be higher. There's TONS of info on how to do a lightrail or moulding. Saving as much as I would on IKEA boxes along with some amazing appliance deals I found on craigslist is going to allow me to get whatever I want for countertop material. There's also a thread on this forum about people who built and installed the IKEA cabs themselves but then hired a finish carpenter to do the fininshing touches. The ends of an island is an easy fix. You either cut down a frig panel or use a door front, just like a custom cab guy would.

Don't be too shy about it. Buy a box and build it as a trial. Most people say the first one they do takes them maybe an hour but at the end, they build each box in about 20 minutes. The most important part is the installation... making sure everything is plumb, square, and level. your level will become your best friend. Good luck!!

Thank you so much remodelfla. I have actually been following your posts over there at IKEAFans. Every time I go over there it gives me courage. They are just brilliant over there aren't they? I guess I have a huge fear of the unknown. I need to do some more installation studying but I revised my plan to minimize the customization.

Some years ago a good friend and I were discussing 15 year vs. 30 year mortgages. I told her that once I saw the difference in interest I couldn't go with the 30 year. She said it is like finding out how many calories are in fettucine alfredo, you just can't eat it again. See IKEA is like that for me. It is hard to go back to spending double. Plus I still have the urge to build something with my own two little hands!

I told rhome410 that I actually made my first kitchen purchase - a 32'' Kraus sink for $318. Baby steps, baby steps...