I'm working on my first IKEA purchase, some Besta. Not going too badly.

Hope everyone is enjoying their new kitchens during the holidays.

Regarding the flimsy pullout trash bin... I also noticed this flaw while playing around with the display at Ikea. I found this , which I think I am going to try! Flimsy trash drawer fix

Sarah Seitz... You did an amazing job on your kitchen remodel!!! I love it! What size are your pantry cabinets next to the fridge? Is that configuration working well for you?

Sabine Halfhill Thanks! They are each 15" wide by 80" tall (they have two doors but each is just one cabinet). The configuration works so well for us. I can store a ton in there! I have the bottom half of both pantries configured as drawers and I love them.

Sarah, thanks! Wow, I thought they were at least 18" wide... 15" size looks perfect!

I'm going to do it. Just spent hours with my old plan on planner and got nowhere. The program did crazy things every time I clicked on something. I had flying sinks and just a mess. Gave up and posted half the kitchen in Design Dilemma for suggestions. I have problems with the corner and that causes size problems on the right of it.

Latest choices. Ringhult Glossy Gray. Three front drawers with hidden top drawer. Base corner the pull out or I'm about to leave it a blind corner.

Should I tear into soffits or just replace cabinets. There is space, but it's a 70's home and who knows what's in there.

We put together a Besta Media Center and love it, especially the lighting so am very excited for the kitchen. Really aren't that many cabinets and only a few spots that might need some construction. Mainly replacing what's there.

Suggestions and things you learned are welcomed!!

Hi Marcia, your latest choice of doors you said Ringhult grossly gray. Well, I chose the glossy white (you can see pics above) and I love it. Very easy to clean, no moulding pieces for dirt to sit. It is more on the higher end of their price but it was worth it for me. Regarding opening up soffits and walls, I opened my wall to see if I can fit a 42" vs the36" fridge and found that there were support structure and it would've cost a lot of money and headache just for the extra 6" so I patched it back up. I think at the end , it's really all about your goals and priorities and what makes you happy. I have a small size kitchen and really nowhere to physically expand so I didn't move any of my stuff around and didn't move any walls which helped keep the project in check in terms of timeline and cost. I wanted to spend that money on the work horses of the kitchen which in my opinion are the appliances. Reagarding the cabinet lighting, I almost did them throughout but realized that I already had sufficient lighting and I don't cook late into the night and it would mostly be for mood lighting so I opted against it, no regrets.

Sounds like you are getting ready to plunge so good luck, do what makes you happy!

I am very happy to hear about the Ringhult doors. I am looking for clean, simple fresh lines. The soffits themselves are just boxes, but no sure what runs through them. One side we have drop in lighting when we just removed the hanging cabinets to open up the room. There is only one wall cabinet left there and it hangs too low for useable space between counter and cabinet. It's only there, but I'd have to go with smaller cabinet if I don't build in in higher. Always questions. I'm going to study your cabinets now. Thanks.

Marcia - In my experience, 90% of the time soffits or bulkheads over older kitchen cabinets contain nothing - they were put there simply fill the gap between the top of the wall cabinets (back when wall cabinets were typically only 30" high) and the ceiling. (The other 10% of the time one encounters heating ducts, drains, electrical, etc.). And since the new Sektion wall cabinets are 14" deep, sometimes the cabinets themselves can cover the gap in the ceiling drywall created when you rip the bulkheads out.

Cabinets are going to stick out from soffits also, aren't they.

Hello! Getting lots of helpful information from you all -Thank you!

Sarah (or anyone else that knows!), I am considering the lower pull-out corner cabinet... I just can't quite figure out how much cabinet space the exterior portion takes up... I saw that it has a 21" wide door, but is there some sort of filler as well? Just trying to figure out how much of the 47" actually is showing. Thank you!

Just 21" show. The other 26" are in the blind corner. You may need at least 2" filler to allow for clearance if there is a cabinet on other side of the corner.

BTW, we are north of the Canton store as well :). Starting March 4th, if you spend over $4000, you will get 15% back in a gift card. If your cabinet total is enough you might be able to pay for part with the gift card.

We have existing 12" soffits. While I would have loved the look with them removed, we just didn't want to spend the money to have it done. While I am pretty sure most are empty, their is a section I am pretty sure has some electrical and/or mechanicals. When we had the kitchen planner out he said what they have done in the past is use some trim (deco strip) at the top to transition. That is what we plan to do. While not the ideal solution, I think we will be happy with it.

Thank you everyone. So wish the planner would come here. They have it free right now. Thanks for the heads up on sale. I need to finish decisions now. I have to go to countertop place because they won't sell me that either. Some way to do business. Loving my lights and Besta so can't wait to do kitchen.

I had same questions with base pull out.

i may go with the glass upper corner door. Not best idea since I'm messy but it was so attractive with lights in store.

I think I'm going 3 equal size drawers with hidden in top. I ant drawer lights.

How many drawers does it make sense to put them in?

Home Reborn. Thanks for sharing your experience. I know there are lights over sink so one line running in there. Other, main side probably lots of dirt and dust. IKEA goes on wall so I don't know what I'd have to do when soffit out. Probably not worth it. Take down old cabinets, paint soffits and put up New cabinets.

Last thought. On the sink side. It's all open except one upper cabinet where the space between the counter and cabinet is too small by two inches for mixer or coffee maker. To get more space I need smaller cabinet. Could I cut into just that spot, it's by side wall, behind door and o higher with that cabinet?

Id like to use the open side for something also. The side of cabinet is open to sink area. Visible from family room and kitchen.

We just installed the bodbyn grey ikea cabinet with a white frame. On the wall corner cabinet, you can see a sliver of white from the frame. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how did you address it? Suggestions needed!!

Sadly I was not able to order my kitchen. Tried several time, but I did not know the cabinet color I wanted was going away. I spent hours and hours and hours redesigning because software told me a single cabinet out of stock, I'd fix it then another. It never said choose another door style.

ikea has the worst software computer system I have encountered since DOS.

To Marcia Doughty: Not sure if this is what is happening to you, but when we ordered a few cabinets last year, I kept getting an out of stock problem as well. We went in to Ikea and found out it was just one of the interior drawers that was out of stock. Since they bundle their items and include every little bit, we kept thinking the entire cabinet was out. We ended up ordered everything but the interior drawer and picked that up later when it came back in stock. Since then, I was told that calling a phone rep could have helped with this as well. Good luck!

Well that is interesting. Thanks Monica. Sale is over but might be time to visit again. Worst part was it only marked one item so I'd replace that and then it would accept the new item and kick out old. You can only substitute so many sizes and your kitchen no longer works.

Any guesses on what will replace Ringhult and when? If I can't use them, I'd save the 15% on less expensive doors but I loved the modern look.

is Ringhult being discontinued? Yikes!

When we were at IKEA the other day the kitchen folks were talking and they didn't say exactly what the replacements are going to be, but did say there isn't going to be a darker brown in the lineup in the future. Dunno if that helps anyone?

Does this include High Gloss White?

Website shows Ringhult, but wish I knew when change is coming for kitchen doors. I wanted gray with white but can't order if all not available.

anyone hear anything?

Just go in to the store and they will help you order. There is almost always something on backorder. They can most likely tell you when those items are due in.

Well, I planned on going to Canton and just ordering regular price and be done with it and kitchen sale appeared magically. Sign I need to make the trip and get it ordered.

I can't tell you how much we love our new kitchen! We wound up leaving the soffits in place which worked out just fine. We used the gift card we got from the 15% sale to get a new dishwasher. Can you find it in the photo? It is just to the right of the sink.

Sorted out pile of papers. I have been thinking about this for several years from the dates. I think I have the cabinet sizes memorized though.

Hi again ladies. I gotta say, with all the weird design plan glitches that the IKEA planner has, you would make your life sooooo much easier if you had IKD do the deaign for you. They also put together an order list that will include all the trim, fillers, hardware, etc. you wont miss a single piece!

Hi!

I'm ooking at using the Ringhult cabinets door faces- ultra moder white gloss-as my clients looking for a modern update to her galley kitchen in NYC on a very tight budget!

Do you know if these cabinet door faces can be attached to their existing cabinets ( assuming the sizes of door faces work)?? So we can reuse the existing frames

Let me know as it would save a ton of money since they don't want to gut the whole kitchen

Thanks!!

If the existing frames are also IKEA's SEKTION cabinets, then yes, the Ringhult doors can be attached. Otherwise, some modification to the cabinet frames may be necessary. IKEA doors come pre-drilled to fit their hinges. The hinges lock into a second piece that is screwed into pre-drilled holes in the cabinet frame. If the frames are not IKEA, I recommend that you still buy the IKEA hinges, so they fit the doors perfectly. Then, you'd just have to figure out where to drill into the cabinets to position the locking piece.

These photos show the locking piece that is screwed into the cabinet frame, a door that is pre-drilled for hinges, and an assembled / attached door.

Do the drawers need the side pieces added?

What do you mean by side pieces?

The drawers have available piece that fills in side so nothing falls out. I think normal drawer has open space? Which is fine for larger items.

MAXIMERA

Add-on side for drawer, medium, glass

$11.99 / 2 pack

The price reflects selected options

Article Number:

302.388.59

The add-on side allows you to stack things like tins and baking molds on top of one another without them falling out the side when you open the drawer. Read more

Finally!! Teri, guess which cabinet door I ended up ordering.

Soffits removed, that problem solved. Bodbyn White going in. Cabinets are heavy and solid. Over range seems like Goldilocks, pitting in over range cabinet. One cabinet too high. Next will come down too far. Do we build a shelf over or under cabinet.

Home Reborn, you were correct about nothing in the soffits, but they were solid frames, like double 2x4s, then attic insulation exposed. Took lots of work but worth removing.

Love, Love, Love

It's the details that make IKEA the best choice for me. Adding more lights in drawers because they are just so cool. Hidden drawers work great for items not used as often yet belong together. Easy to wipe clean. Not fond of laminate countertop. IKEA wouldn't come to where we live and local places took way too long for quartz order. Made quick trip and got IKEA countertops and they were in next day. Quartz would have been my first choice though. The bamboo iPad holder, simple yet elegant. Push open trash can, how did I live without. Cabinet hardware works smoothly.

Answering first question, 10" drawers allow all of my pans with lids on to sit next to each other in drawers. Large wok went in wall cabinet.

So is your kitchen done Marcia? If so, post some pics please!!

It's getting close! It's usable. Few details left. Door handles went on great, but decided on knobs for glass cabinet and they aren't on yet. Few things like that. Put in drawer interior lighting for top drawers and adding for others. I guess it's easy to never finish with IKEA since can change things. I am so happy. So many little things--wipe cabinets off and clean, drawers all soft close, trash and sink auto opening, so many types of drawer organizers I know where everything is and things go right back. I've had no problems with backs of cabinets and I've stuffed lots of cans into a couple. Pictures when finished.

LOVE IKEA KITCHEN. Hidden drawers are wonderful. Pull out under sink not wobbly. Drawers open so smoothly Dishes in drawers so much better than upper cabinets.

I have it - it is great - there is a BLUM add on that allows you to pull both drawers open together when you open the larger drawer. This is not available from ikea but is available online as an extra from blum - I use it on our cutlery drawer.

www.push2open.org