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lonepine711

IKEA cab cover panel question

17 years ago

Greetings ~ 300 miles to closet IKEA and attempting to have as many bases covered as possible. Planning for IKEA kitchen cabinets. Am I perceiving correctly that cover panels are needed for "end" cabinets?

Any advice for first timer IKEA cabinets? I'm measuring myself .. cannot access the kitchen planner due to slow dial up at home computer .. am limping along .. making my list .. anticipating a two-trip situation to IKEA. Am also reading missing pieces are not uncommon.

2nd question about the "pull out" cab BP12, BP15, etc, is this appropriate/stout enough for a waste basket or recycle pull out?

I have searched this site and read terrific info .. appreciate your time/feedback!

Comments (6)

  • 17 years ago

    I'm sure you've probably already been to ikeafans.com but if not you should definitely check it out. All your IKEA questions will be answered.

    You do need cover panels for the end cabinets. Ours were cut out of large sheets of panel material, something like 3x6 sheets if I remember correctly. Filler pieces were made from the same material as was a light rail to conceal our UC lights.

    If there's any way for you to get to a computer where you can use the planner I think it would be a big help. It sort of creates a parts list for you, including things I wouldn't have thought of without it. If you can't do that I think you'll need to either make multiple trips or maybe go and plan to spend the day. Make a very complete list of what you want, cabinet by cabinet. Go to the kitchen department and get them to create a draft order. The kitchen people at our store (in Round Rock, north of Austin) were relatively helpful; I've heard some are not so great. Then go somewhere else and check the list over very carefully before you place your order.

    We didn't have any missing parts when our order was delivered. I don't know if that's normal or not but we had no problems in that regard -- and no damaged pieces either.

    Regarding the base pullout: We created a pull-out trash/recycling thing from an 18-inch base cabinet because I wanted a more space than a 15-inch pullout would provide and it worked better in our plan. The website doesn't say you can do an 18-inch base pullout but I figured all the same parts were available as for 15-inch or 12-inch and I confirmed it on ikeafans and it works great.

    Good luck. We're loving our new kitchen.

  • 17 years ago

    Yes, cover panels are needed for end cabinets. We used tall cover panels and cut them down so that we didn't need to use toe kick on the ends of cab runs, but most people use a regular 30" cover panel.

    I used the BP12 as my trash pullout next to my clean-up sink. A trash can from Target fit perfectly. I also have trash and recycling pullouts under my prep sink, a modification I learned from Ikeafans.

    If you haven't done so, definitely check out Ikeafans' Kitchen Planning forum.

  • 17 years ago

    Instead of the "cover panel" that is available, we got a 24x30 inch door to match the other doors (obviously) and used that. Doesn't go down to the floor but looks nicer in my opinion.

  • 17 years ago

    DH is just putting our Ikea laundry cabinets together. We're putting cover panels on the ends of the cabinets and across the tops of our high cabinets and on tops, sides and bottoms of upper cabinets (I assume, we haven't gotten to them yet.)

    We bought the cabinets a couple of years ago and it seems our door style has been discontinued since. I'm heading to Ikea today (I'm lucky, only 2 1/2 hours away!) to pick up some hardware for the Stolmen shelf unit we're installing and to see if I can order another laundry room cabinet door. I've heard that you should check all the doors and drawer fronts to make sure they're ok when you pick them up. We didn't and luckily everything was fine when we finally unpacked them recently.

    I believe we HAD to make a minimum of 2 trips to Ikea---we ordered the doors and drawer fronts the first trip and had to go back a couple of weeks later to pick them up. I don't know if that's common to most styles or if there are only a few that aren't kept in stock. I was making a lot of trips anyway because we were using the PAX closet system in 3 rooms.

  • 17 years ago

    I agree that using doors as end panels can look better than the plain slabs sold as end panels. Sometimes set vertically, others sideways, whatever works; however, they may be just a little shorter than the vertical space they need to cover (your door and drawer fronts have gaps between them, adding that slight bit of height). People usually set them low so the gap is at the top and hidden by the overhang.

    We have a tall B12 cabinet for our trash pullout, which holds a very tall can to counter height. No problems.

    Also agree with going to Ikeafans.com. They've done everything over there and love to pass it on.

  • 17 years ago

    Have you called to see if your local IKEA (or any that are vaguely nearby) has a kitchen planning service? When we did our first kitchen, the closest Ikea was in Elizabeth NJ (6 hours away). But they had this service where a real person walked us through the order, making sure we had all the cover panels, filler strips, etc and helping us make choices. We then had the stuff delivered for about $150, or about what we'd have paid in truck rental and gas to get it ourselves.

    I definitely recommend this if you can find a store that offers it (Our closest one, now, in Massachusetts, does NOT offer this service.) There are a lot of little bits you can't forget (like legs, etc) and if you can't just hop in the car and go pick up some part you forgot, it might be frustrating.

    You should also be sure to choose the door style in person, since they do look different from the catalog. We had our style all picked out but when we saw them in person we chose something totally different!

    So if your local Ikea won't offer the planning help and deliver, at least you could go choose your door there, then order it from a further store and have delivered.

    Also- whatever you do, I agree that Ikeafans is a great resource.

    Good luck- we really loved our Ikea kitchen in the old house! And you will have a great sense of accomplishment after putting all those boxes together! Plus knowing you are not breathing formaldehyde off-gassing....