Flooring should be installed under the DW and fridge. If not, you run the risk of trapping the DW behind the flooring, making replacement difficult. You don't have to use the new flooring material, just use something the same thickness (plywood, OSB, etc, painted with good oil based paint). Cabinets are made to line up over standard height appliances, so if no flooring under the fridge, your upper cabinets might be off.

Where is the fridge. If to the right, are you using a cabinet between the fridge and wall, to make sure the door opens far enough to remove crispers for cleaning? ETA--see my edit in previous post.

Good kitchen planning info:

NKBA guidelines

New to Kitchens? Read me first.

Thank you mama goose_gw zn6OH!

Interesting thought to switch up the island configuration. I haven't thought of this specific one yet, but will give it some more thought. I liked the idea of having the trash at the end so it can be quickly taken out, but you're right about the dishwasher.

Thanks for the links as well. I'll go through them.

Can anybody speak to the issue with the integrated fridge and the counter top sticking out? Below the screenshot from the Spec sheet of the fridge. Looks like there is some clearance, but really hard to tell how much room I would have and if the door can be opened all the way...

Small DIY IKEA kitchen builder here.

1. Do you really need to row of upper wall cabinets? Your "inspiration" photo doesn't have them and the kitchen would be much easier to install without them. I think you could just use Sektion cover panels cut to size to fill the gaps between the top of the base cabinets and the ceiling. The Sektion high cabinets can be as tall as 90" so they're almost to the ceiling anyway and have lots of interior space. You could even use a contrasting color for the cover panels a la your inspiration photo.
2. Do you really need three ovens. This GE PT7800SHSS combines microwave+convection in the upper oven with convection in the lower oven. Eliminating the island oven would leave more storage space adjacent to the dishwasher and you'd need one fewer electrical circuits there.
3. I'd push all the sink to the left, leaving more counter space to its right (near the refrigerator).
4. It's certainly possible that the refrigerator door might hit the adjacent countertop unless the door can be constrained to open only 90 degrees.* However, I think a better solution is to put the refrigerator door's hinge on the left. Not only will the door not hit the cabinet, but you'll be able to stand to the right of the refrigerator with easier access to both the island and stove-side countertops.**
5. What's the reason for the non-IKEA door and drawer fronts. How about the Ringhult glossy white doors and the Jarsta glossy blue doors for the island?

*Have you read at the installation instructions? Yikes.

**Yes, the refrigerator and freezer handles would both be on the right side. So?

Thank you wdccruise for your response. Really helpful to hear from other DIYers!

1. I would like to have upper wall cabinets as we have very little storage in the house generally, so I really think we'd need the space for e.g. paper towels, rarely used kitchen appliances (food dehydrator), etc. When you say it would me much easier to build without the cabinets, are you referring to the modification of the base cabinets and the wall mount or are you concerned generally about the alignment of the high wall cabinets with the base and tall cabinets? In other words, where do you see the crux of this installation?
2. For the double oven, we plan for a steam-convection combo (Bosch HSLP751UC). My partner also wants a microwave, so we're thinking of getting the speed oven, as it also doubles as a convection oven. But I'm with you, 3 ovens are a little excessive. Maybe I can find a microwave with a smaller footprint (24" wide), giving more space for other cabinets.
3. Ok this is in line with mama goose_gw zn6OH post above. I was first hesitant to line up stove and sink, but will give it more thought, thanks!
4. Interesting thought with the hinges on the left side! We could limit the doors to only open 90 degrees (yes, I went through every single page on the installation manual). Maybe that is even sufficient? When I think about it, I rarely open my current fridge > 90 degrees. Another thought I had is to use a thicker side panel between the fridge and the counter top. Originally I was planning with a 3/4" MDF. If I would double to 1 1/2", it could give me more clearance. Those are just the details that are very hard to plan for without actually seeing the fridge.
5. We are pretty set on a green kitchen and Ikea just doesn't have that. Then, mixing different finishes (e.g. white from Ikea, green from semihandmade) doesn't sound like a good idea either. Therefore we're thinking of doing semihandmade all the way. We would still have to paint it (or get it painted), but can select the colors we want. The filler and side panels can be just MDF of the same thickness from a lumbershop, so that will be quite affordable.

Ikea has green doors (BODARP). It may not be the green that you want, but it does exist.

Yes, you're right. We've looked at them. Unfortunately, they look and feel very cheap (in fact they are), so we are looking to step it up a little.

How high is the ceiling?

Ceiling height is 10ft

• 10ft ceiling = 120"
• IKEA high cabinets are 80" or 90"
• The refrigerator is 84" tall so you must use 90" cabinets on the right-hand side.
• High cabinet legs: 4-1/2"
• 120" - 90" - 4-1/2" = 25-1/2"

What IKEA cabinet were you planning to put between the top of the 90" cabinets and the ceiling?

Hmm maybe I have a logic error, but I was thinking 80" cabinets + 4 1/2" toe kick/legs bring me to 84 1/2", which would perfectly fit the refrigerator. To your question, I was planning to put a row of 30" base cabinets on top of that, bringing me to a total of 114 1/2". The remaining gap of ~5 1/2" can be covered with cover panels.

We also thoroughly discussed the combination of 90" cabinets + 4 1/2" legs + 20" freezer cabinets. While is brings us to the same height of 114 1/2", I think it looks disproportional, less clean (more seams over the fridge), and the high wall cabinets are really out of reach, whereas bringing them down with the 80" cabinets makes them a little more practical (at 6'3", my maximum reach is around 95").

Does this all makes sense, or am I missing something?

I see (first paragraph).

I just put 93-1/4" Billy bookshelves in my 8'-9" living room. They appear really tall. You are adding yet another 21 inches. I wonder if you're creating a 24"-deep monster. Your inspiration picture is of an entire wall; your cabinets are going to be visible from the side. Have you looked at the IKEA kitchen brochure? There's something to be said for leaving space between the cabinets and the ceiling.

I was planning to get a cover panel for the side (10' x 25"). I also looked through the Ikea brochure. Is there anything specific to my design that I have missed in the brochure? There will be ~ 5 1/2 inch between cabinets and ceiling.

I would agree, the high wall cabinets are not very well usable, but it'll serve as storage space for items that we need access to maybe once in a week or once in a month.

Are you saving a lot of money by hacking apart IKEA cabinets? Just curious, it seems like what you're wanting to accomplish might be easier with custom cabinets, or perhaps a different line of cabinetry? Bumping all of your cabinets out 1" to accomodate a refrigerator seems like a nightmare, are you going to lay 1" material behind every cabinet? Can you choose a different fridge? How are you finishing the bottom of the 'base' cabinets above the cooktop?

The fridge specs do say "Optiflex Hinge- Allows flush-mount doors with no worry about cabinetry." I'd be mildly concerned about the extra countertop depth sticking out past the cabinets. It sounds like it'd be totally fine with same depth cabinets surrounding though.

I personally would bump out the depth on your floor to ceiling cabinets- your countertop would be much cleaner and it would totally eliminate the possibility of a pinch point with the fridge. I won't fault you on wanting that storage space above, but you'll need a 6' or 8' step ladder at the ready.

We are estimating the cabinet boxes w/o fronts to be ~$5k. The fronts from SHM will run between ~5-7k (unfinished). We are currently thinking of painting them ourselves, but even if we would hire a professional painter it would probably around $3k more. So our total would be anywhere from $10-15k, depending on how much work we could put in.

We have received several quotes for entry level cabinetry starting around $20k (Ultracraft) all the way up to $40k (Bellmont), so I would say this is a significant saving. Plus, I would be more confident installing Ikea (comes with manual, lots of online videos, if something doesn't fit, I can return/exchange easily, etc.), whereas it would probably cost another $10k having other semi-custom cabinetry installed.

With regards to the 1" bump out, I was thinking of simply mounting the IKEA suspension rail on a 1x2 or 1x3 and have a solid plywood toekick instead of the plastic legs. In my mind, that should give it enough support and prevent the cabinets from falling over.

I come to agree that bumping out the depth on the floor to ceiling cabinets is probably the way to go, at least on the fridge side. Do you think I should do it on both sides then? By the double oven, I think I won't have any issues.

A 1x2, 1x3, etc. is only 3/4" thick, but I think the idea will work. I bumped out some of my base cabinets 3", by layering two 2x4s, attached at the wall studs.

"The fronts from SHM will run between ~5-7k (unfinished). We are currently thinking of painting them ourselves..."

This is ridiculous. Just buy the IKEA fronts. They're pre-finished and pre-cut for the hinges. You're going to spend hours just (a) attaching the hinges to the doors and the doors to the cabinets and then adjusting the hinges, and (b) building the drawers, attaching the drawer fronts to the drawers, and adjusting the drawers. Don't make this project any more complex than it needs to be!

"With regards to the 1" bump out, I was thinking of simply mounting the IKEA suspension rail on a 1x2 or 1x3 and have a solid plywood toekick instead of the plastic legs."

No, no, no. First there's no reason for that bumpout and the side cover panels won't fit if you have them. Second, you have 80" cabinets on which you plan to stack 30" cabinets. You want those cabinets to rest against the wall so they have as much support as possible. Third, the plastic legs are used to level the cabinets; you need them because you must align the cabinets before you attach them together and floors are NOT flat. Toe kicks are only decorative and match the IKEA fronts. They do not to support the cabinet.

You are making this project more complex than it needs to be. Assembling a standard IKEA kitchen is time-consuming enough and you have a huge (too many, in my opinion) number of cabinets. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Important: You need a Pozi #2 Screwdriver for the hinges. Don't try to use a philips screwdriver for this.

Thanks mama goose_gw zn6OH for the head-up. But yeah I'm sure I can find a 1" wide piece of construction lumber. Worst case I rip it off from a 2x4 :)

To wdccruise:

Note that the SHM fronts come pre-drilled and ready to install, just like Ikea fronts would. I don't think the installation process would be any more complex. We decided to paint the raw mdf panels, because we like a particular color which is not offered by Ikea or SHM.

I actually believe the bumpout is quite a common thing. I think I would only do it over the fridge, as it has to be 25" deep. the rest of the kitchen can be the regular 24" deep. Do the cabinets really "rest" against the wall? As far as I understand, with the suspension rail, there is a gap of ~1/2" between cabinet and wall anyway? See below a blog post, how others have done it:

FROM: https://www.chrislovesjulia.com/putting-together-and-installing-our-ikea-sektion-cabinets/

Toe-kick might have been the wrong word. What I meant is a plywood base for the cabinets, like seen in below photo. We will have to do this for the island anyway, as I need to mount it to the subfloor. This can not be done with the legs.

Thanks for the Screwdriver info! I wasn't aware I need a special one and will check if I have a pozi bit

When someone wants to spend more than buying already assembled for the sheer pleasure of doing all of that work, no one is going to stop you. But those who have been there and done that, and know that value is not about cost, know that you’re going down the wrong road to save anything. You are adding a lot of issues. Especially with that design. Famous forum word are,“you don’t know what you don’t know.“

When you say "spend more than buying already assembled", what exactly do you mean? As mentioned above, I expect a cost saving over the cheapest quote between $5 and $10k.

Can you give me a couple examples of the issues you refer to? I think this is the part I'm struggling with the most. There was another account who said that earlier in this thread (now deleted all the messages), and while I would truly like to understand, those general assumptions without know someones abilities don't help much. I've been thinking through this design a lot, and pointed out a few areas where I have questions. That doesn't mean that I can make changes to the design and if well planned, I think this can go quite smoothly, even with IKEA. Note that there will be an electrician doing all the outlets and appliance connections, a fabricator will put the quartz in, and we have a GC onsite literally everyday who could support if needed. So, please, some examples of "issues" that I "don't know that I don't know" would be really helpful.

One adjustment so simplify the design could be to set back the top row of wall cabinets above the stove. this would mean less box modifications and probably more structurally sound installation. What do you think?

I love your inspiration and your ideas. I also have 12’ ceilings and a “wall of tall” in the IKEA kitchen I designed. However, I think the 114.5” cabinet wall in your kitchen may be overkill.

You should make a list of everything you need to store in your kitchen and then figure out where you’ll put it in your new kitchen. You might discover you have much more storage than you need.

What are the 2 skinny base cabinets for? If you only decided to use them to keep symmetry (cooktop in center), you should consider replacing them with 1 wider cabinet. It’s tempting when planning your kitchen to want everything to be symmetrical, all cabinets to have the same drawer configuration, etc., but changing things up actually makes your kitchen look better.

I really enjoy planning IKEA kitchens and I’d love to play around with yours. Are you open to new ideas?

Thanks parasol1. I'd appreciate you playing around with this design and would also love to see yours, if you don't mind sharing! I'll play around with the symmetry a little bit. I think we could make use of the skinny base cabinets, but it sure is designed to keep symmetry :)

Can you share dimensions of the room, and how it relates to the rest of the house?

No Problem! The floor is roughly 23' x 42' with 10' ceilings as mentioned above. See below approx. dimensions of the kitchen, although we have made some alterations already that are not reflected in the architectural drawings.

I haven’t had time to do it in the IKEA planner, but here’s an idea... I guessed the widths of your current cabinets (not including filler pieces) added up to 246”.

Put an 18x24x80” high cabinet either on the far left of the run or in between the fridge and counter (that option would solve the issue with the fridge door.) For the section with the countertop you could keep it as is, or do 4 30” base cabinets with the cooktop left or right of center. Then on the right you’ll have room for your 30x24x80” oven cabinet and a 30x24x80 high cabinet.

With this layout you’d be able to use a 2 stacked 36x24x15” and 30x24x15” fridge cabinets over the fridge and freezer and pantry to achieve your desired cabinet height of 114.5”. You could continue to use the double row of 30x24x15” fridge cabinets all the way across. Then you could put in a row of 30x15x15” wall cabinets on the section above the countertop. You’d have to use cover panels to finish the exposed undersides of the deeper cabinets above. I’ll try to post a pic of the recessed wall cabinet look.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/high-street-project-modern-kitchen-melbourne-phvw-vp~19634884

Oops, how didn’t I realize you could have done 2 rows of fridge cabinets with your own design? I’ll blame it on lack of sleep :)

You mentioned fridge cabinets not being tall enough, but it might be easier to use 2 rows of them rather than having to modify base cabinets to go on the wall.

I have some other ideas I might try out later with the IKEA planner.

Really appreciate your input! I had thought about the double rows of 15" high fridge-freezer cabinets and spec'd it in the Ikea planner, realizing it would be about 32 (!) doors just for the upper 2 rows. It just looks horrible. Therefore, I either go with the 30" base cabinets or 1 row of 20" fridge freezer cabinets. I also realized that 24" doors will give me the cleanest look. Ii's in fact the biggest door for base cabinets, and therefore incorporated as many 24" doors in my design as possible.

18" cabinet between counter and fridge is a good idea. I'll play around with it a little.

We also definitely want a 36" cooktop. What I could think of is this configuration, still maintaining a level of synchronicity, yet off center the stove. What do you think?

Cool, thanks for looking at my idea. I was guessing at the widths of the cabinets, looks like I got the cooktop wrong. What’s the total length of the cabinet run? Are you going for gas or induction cooktop? What kind of vent hood are you planning? How wide does it have to be and what are the requirements as far as distance from the cooktop?

I see what you mean about all the doors. I was thinking you could use the horizontal doors. The hinges are much more expensive, though.

In terms of overall length, I have from left to right:

• 48" Freezer(18")/Fridge(30")
• 3/4 inch side cover panel
• 120" counter top, therein 36" induction cook top
• 3/4 inch side cover panel
• 30" wall ovens
• 48" pantry (2x24" high cabinets)
• 2" cover panel to the wall
• = 249.5" Total

I've been going back and forth on the hood. It's probably the most discussed item. Originally we planned to get a custom hood liner built for an insert hood, but now we are leaning towards this very basic BOSCH pull out hood. Minimum mounting clearance over cooktop is 25 3/5". There is no maximum clearance given in the spec sheets. It should come in right around 30-32" clearance (math: 84" tall cab (incl. toe kick) - 36" base cabinets - 15" wall cab to mount the hood to - 2" for the hood hardware = 31"), which is very average as far as I can tell. I was planning to build a custom open cabinet left and right of the hood cabinet which will probably be around 16-17" high to seamlessly integrate the pull-out. See inspiration below.