If you get the ikea fronts and have them custom painted they should paint the fillers, toe kicks, cover panels, and crown and light mouldings as well. Cover panels are same material as the cabinet. Some people use edge banding to match the cab frames to the doors.

If you're painting your cabs white, honestly I would just get the white frames.

In addition to ramsjo, another option for paintable would be the new orsa cabs which are birch and a plain shaker. Very nice door.

I agree with robotropolis. If I were going with the ramsjo, I'd just use the ikea whitewash or whatever it is. Orsa is more of a traditional shaker style and if I were going to the trouble of painting I'd do that one.

But I'd also check the cost of painted doors from places like Scherr and semihandmade.

I'm confused - what's the motivation to paint? If you're buying new stuff, why not just buy them in whatever color you want from the manufacturer?

We did IKEA boxes with quarter sawn oak drawers/doors from Scherrs. Beautiful job and very affordable. Here's a link to pics from a few years ago

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen reveal

I also did Ikea boxes and doors from Scherrs. I did the paint finish myself. I'll have to see if i ever posted reveal photos here for that kitchen - finished in feb 2012. It turned out great. And choosing my own color allowed me to match other trim in the kitchen to the cabinets (light rail, crown moulding, etc).

Ikea unfortunately doesn't make a painted wood, or even painted mdf, white or off white door. The ramsjo white is whitewashed so can read a bit pink (but is very nice). Lidingo, stat and adel whites are all a little plasticy. But still attractive and durable, just sometimes if someone is looking for a painted finish they might not fit the bill. Finally the adel has wide but shallow rails and styles so people looking for a more traditional shaker look look to the orsa or ramsjo. So there is a lot of motivation to either look to scherrs for painted or paint an ikea wood door. Tidaholm used to be the favorite for painting, I think orsa will likely be the new favorite,

I understand that finish options are very limited at Ikea, but Scherr's and Semihandmade will paint stuff any color you like, and a factory finish will very likely look better and last longer than anything you can do at home.

I used Ikea boxes with SemiHandMade doors and panels in grain-matched walnut. The cabinet boxes don't show through very much, in fact SemiHandMade doors are just a hair larger than Ikea doors so they cover even more of the box (or so I was told). There are still a couple of places where I'd like to apply some walnut edge banding, mainly on either side of the dishwasher where there's no filler. I used the beech-colored boxes.

To show you what I mean by filler, here's a picture of the stove with filler in the corner and on either side of the stove. You can see a bit of the box in this photo due to the angle, but it's not visible when you're standing in the kitchen.

I also have a wall of cabinets that are 100% Ikea - white boxes and glossy white doors. All the cabinets on that run have end panels in glossy white, so the original boxes are not visible at all.

We also bought some custom RTA cabinets from Scherr's and as most gardenwebbers will tell you, they're great to work with.

Here is a link that might be useful: Original kitchen reveal

Thanks for all of the advice. I decided this afternoon that I'm going to go to Scherr's for the door/drawer fronts. If I bought the IKEA door, no matter what style, I was going to have to sand it some so the paint would grip. So, why not get doors that come paint ready & about the same price as the IKEA doors. I'm probably going to be painting something along the lines of a creamy coffee color. At this pt, I'm just concerned about the outside edges of the cabinets peaking thru the small gap between the doors. Since IKEA box cabinets only come in 2 finishes - white or wood (birch or beech, both very light) - either would be noticeable peeking out from the gap between the doors. robo, what is edge banding? Is that something you were suggesting to put on the outer edge of the cabinets to paint the same color as my cabinet boxes? I was thinking I could get a thin veneer & do that. I believe this is my last dilemma at this point!

writersblocks, did you do Scherr's doors? I did look at semihandmade but they only do flat panels & shaker style. Neither of those work for my house. Scherr's has a lot to choose from & you can do them however you want, mix & match. Hopefully w/ that, I'll be able to get the exact look I want. I've heard good things about Scherr's.

Gaucho, IKEA only has certain colors that they make their product in. I didn't want white cabinets nor wood & that's about the most they do. I think there's a black or very dark brown & that wasn't my color either. The pricing is very good, but your choices are limited. As I mentioned above, I'm probably going for a creamy coffee color. When I 1st started this, I wasn't aware there were other co's that make the doors for the IKEA cabinet boxes. But, thru this great website, I learned about it, along w/ many other helpful & wonderful ideas & tips.

lovetorenovate, I'd love to see your final kitchen. What color did you go w/ on your cabinets, the white or the wood look? Did you paint them, as well, or leave them as is & just paint the doors & trim? Did you get the light rail from IKEA too? Please send me some pictures!

Thanks again everyone. Once more, wonderful info!

Gaucho, I didn't see your last post before I posted my last message. You are definitely right about Scherr's & semi hand made painting the door/drawers. When I started this venture, I had no idea there were co's that did this. I thought I was going to have to paint the IKEA doors myself, or hire a painter. Either way, the doors would have needed to be prepped before painting - big pain in the bum! But, now that I know about Scherr's, I plan on getting a quote for the painting as well. No doubt the finish will be good & last longer & that makes me a happy girl!

annkathryn, I have seen your wonderful kitchen! Thanks for sending the picture because it reminded me of it. I couldn't see the cabinets thru the gap in the doors on yours & hope Scherr's are the same. The guy there told me that the doors-if you have a dbl door cabinet - there is a gap appx 1/16-3/16. Not much at all, but if there's a chance you can see the outer edge of the cabinet, I want to find a way to cover it & match my doors. Is this edge banding you're talking about like a veneer? Where did you get yours? Hopefully they make it where it can be painted! Thanks for showing the filler. Did you get your filler from semi or IKEA? It matches your doors/drawers exactly. Great job! Thank you again for sending me the pics & info. Also, what is RTA from Scherr's? Is that some off shelf cabinet? I'll have to ck into that.

Thanks again!

Regarding the edge banding on the cabinets, you can safely kick that decision down the road because it's no more difficult to do it later. I recommend you get white Ikea boxes and don't even think about edge banding until after the kitchen is complete, and then if you still want it you can add it just as easily then. I think you'll find that it's unnecessary though.

BTW, I have Scherr's fronts & panels on Ikea boxes and they are to Ikea specs, which are adjustable gaps from ~1/16-3/16", and after adjustment they're ~1/8" everywhere (except the lazy susan, where Ikea left a little room where for the lazy susan doors). The white cabinet boxes are not conspicuous at all. And I have walnut fronts on white boxes. With light colored doors and white boxes it would be even less conspicuous.

bicyclegirl you can buy edge banding at most lumber shops (see link below for more information).

The filler came from SemiHandMade - it's all part of the kitchen plan as in some areas, like next to a wall or around a range, you need filler. Otherwise your Ikea drawers won't open correctly.

RTA= ready to assemble. Sherr's sells doors to fit Ikea cabinets, but they also sell RTA cabinets in custom sizes if you find that you have a layout that Ikea boxes won't work in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edge banding

Awesome Gaucho! That's good to know. I would probably wait to do the edge banding until the doors were on to see if it's noticeable. Do you have a link to pics of your kitchen? Would like to see. Glad to hear you can't tell the white cabs are behind the doors.

annkathryn, I thought that's what edge band was. Thanks for the confirmation. I wonder if Scherr's does the filler too? Will have to ask them. And about the cabinets.

You guys are making me feel much better about my decisions! Thanks much.

Here's some pics of my place

Here is a link that might be useful: Gordo's walnut & white kitchen

>writersblocks, did you do Scherr's doors? I did look at semihandmade but they only do flat panels & shaker style. Neither of those work for my house. Scherr's has a lot to choose from & you can do them however you want, mix & match. Hopefully w/ that, I'll be able to get the exact look I want. I've heard good things about Scherr's.

No, I haven't done my kitchen yet, but given that you were discussing Ramsjo I was assuming you wanted something shakerish. I'm sure you'll be happy with your doors from Scherr. If you want to comparison shop, I believe that Advantage (Shelayne here), cabinetnow.com (vsalz here), and a few others are usually a bit less expensive, but they do require more work from you, since you have to get them all the dimensions and drill patterns, while Scherr already knows all that.

jenswrens, your kitchen looks gorgeous!!! Do you have more views??

Nancy

Fantastic kitchen Gordo! Thanks for sharing the link. I can't believe I missed your post. My kitchen is more traditional, but I wish I had another house so I could do a more modern one too! Love the backsplash. Great job!

writer, thanks for the other door co's & GW kitchens w/ them. Very helpful & will plan on calling them next week. I like to compare & make sure I'm getting exactly what I want.

jens, that's what the girl at IKEA was saying. She thought the wood interiors wear better & encouraged me to go w/ those. I was concerned about seeing them w/ a gap in the door but after seeing everyone's doors, I can see that's not a problem. I'll probably go w/ those. Your kitchen is so cute & I love your cabinet door style. They're very similar to the Ramsjo. The frame is not as wide as a shaker, which just doesn't fit my home, & I love the bead you have on the inside edge of the frame on the panel. I'm so glad to see you got this w/ Advantage. I'll be calling them. I will email you in a minute because I'd like to get some more information from you. I appreciate it very much. As springroz says, I'd love to see more pics of your kitchen if you have them!

Thank you everyone for your most valued input. Once again, I go back to the drawing board knowing exactly what to do w/ this new stage!

And of course, beware of the impending complete redesign of Ikea cabinets that will require all-new door sizes - see Metod cabinets on UK or other sites where they are available. But rumor has it that the US will again get a version sized in inches rather than cm.

bicyclegirl:

I'm reading this thread and just shaking my head. You are doing so much extra work for so little gain, but hey, it's your time and if you enjoy doing it, good on ya.

Tre, what do you mean I'm doing so much extra work for so little gain?

âÂÂI've been planning all along to paint my cabinets.

â¦it'll need to be sanded or stripped to do a good paint job.

â¦what is edge banding? Is that something you were suggesting to put on the outer edge of the cabinets to paint the same color as my cabinet boxes? I was thinking I could get a thin veneer & do that.

Plus, I'm going to be needing some "fillers" in a couple of places - around the refrigerator & corner cabinet.âÂÂ

That sounds like a lot of extra work to me.

It's pretty common to either have IKEA doors (and fillers, coverpanels, toekicks, deco strips, crown) sprayed or get custom doors - the price point and quality of IKEA cabs is very attractive but as mentioned above, the one thing they lack (and that evvvvveryone wants) is a painted white door: their whites are either foil or ramsjo is whitewashed (which is pretty but looks pinkish against most other whites). So if you want IKEA but you want a painted white ... those are the two options.

I'm pretty lazy but would have considered spraying the orsa birch to get a nice white painted door. Instead we went local (the nearest IKEA being over 1000 km away did not inspire confidence in my husband).

You are correct Tre....that would have been a lot of work. Because that would have been a lot of work, I was trying to see if anyone used online places for the doors, etc. I guess I got a little winded on my wording! The IKEA boxes & hardware were a great price. In the end not too difficult to put together, either. I'm in the process now of trying to make a decision on what co. to go w/ for the doors. Much easier than painting the IKEA doors!