I'd try to get a quote from a cabinet maker as to the price of having the entire kitchen custom built. I think by the time you buy the IKEA boxes and then get custom doors from elsewhere, your price is quickly going to increase to close what a completely custom built kitchen might cost.

We had originally planned on IKEA. Then the pandemic and supply chain issues hit, so we went a different route and had the entire kitchen custom built. I don't think our cost was significantly more than if we had tried to do what you are thinking of.

I have IKEA Akrum (the previous kitchen cabinet system) installed 17 years ago and Besta cabinets and they all fine.

"I recently bought two display cabinets and was VERY UNIMPRESSED by the quality of the MDF boxes. It was so bad that DH put reinforcements on the sides and a whole back panel to give it some stability (even though it was also screwed to the wall)."

I don't know what "display cabinets" you're talking about. Sektion kitchen cabinets and Besta cabinets have backs that slide into grooves cut into the sides of the cabinet and are nailed in place. Sektion base and wall cabinets are attached to wall-mounted steel rails that align groups of cabinets. Is it worth extra money for non-IKEA door and drawer fronts? IMO, the IKEA offerings are fine.

@User: "They value that labor input above the same results that they were uninvolved in producing. It isn’t rational, but it is a real and well known psychological phenomena."

In other words, you shouldn't value something you build or assemble yourself. You should just pay Letitia Savoy Interiors a pile of money to do it for you, otherwise you're an irrational nutcase. This is called condescension.

@julieste: "I don't think our cost was significantly more than if we had tried to do what you are thinking of."

Did you actually perform an apples-to-apples price comparison between IKEA and the custom built-cabinets?

While the IKEA effect is a well documented bias... it doesn't apply to everything purchased at IKEA. Many people have their IKEA cabinets professionally assembled and installed and still rate the cabinets high.

I have never found IKEA cabinets to be flimsy when properly mounted to the wall and I don't really understand why you would need a thicker back on the IKEA cabinets. IKEA cabinets are engineered well and perform well beyond their price point. I use them in several rental properties and they hold up to renters who manage to destroy everything else.

Having said that, alternate doors can get pretty expensive and the limited sizes make it unsuitable for many people. Prior to the pandemic you could often find competitive pricing on custom cabinets, I suspect that is no longer true, but IKEA is still having serious supply chain issues and so I wouldn't choose them unless you live close to an IKEA or have a long time to finish your project.

We used IKEA cabs for the large extra pantry area in our laundry room. They are filled to the brim, with heavy items bought in bulk. 6 years old, and quite sturdy. Our son put them together, and our contractor installed them.

For his apartment in Queens, our son bought IKEA cabs, but got the doors from Scherr’s. Scherr’s makes top quality cabinets. The doors are heavy duty, and gorgeous. Again, our son put the cabs together himself, and paid our contractor to install them.

Poor quality with IKEA has not been our experience.

Thank you all. I appreciate the insights.
I think that the key is that everyone has IKEA cabinets from at least 6 years ago. I have the impression that IKEA cabinets and custom doors used to be a great way to get a custom look on a semi-custom budget.
The BESTA display cabinets I bought in Jan 2022 are not quality. They had a Bristol board backing, misaligned holes for screws/pegs, shaky drawer runners and faces and were generally not good. Such a shame.

@4arnottp - I have IKEA Sektion cabinets in rental property that are less than six years old.

You can't judge IKEA Sektion kitchen cabinets from IKEA Besta cabinets. They are not designed, manufactured, or installed the same way.

Your comment about being flimsy and the thicker back makes perfect sense now.

@4arnottp

No. You have it wrong. IKEA has always had several different furniture lines of varying quality and materials. While attractive, Besta is not by any means quality furniture. The Sektion line of cabinets was introduced 7 years ago. This blog tells you the difference between the old box design and the current design. https://blog.swedishdoorco.com/ikea-sektion-akurum-kitchen-differences\

I would not worry about quality. In your situation, I would start adding up the numbers as far as cost--buying IKEA boxes, assembling them yourself or paying for assembly, and then adding the custom doors and drawer fronts--and see how you come out as far as cost. Oh, and don't forget about the pandemic-related supply chain issues. You may find that this solution is not as inexpensive as you had thought it would be.

I had planned to use IKEA for my kitchen remodel but instead ended up with true custom built-from-scratch cabinets (and there are supply chain issues with this route too so we are way behind on schedule). Since I have a pretty small kitchen, custom gave me the opportunity to add in several space-saving features that I wouldn't have been able to get with IKEA. I think this is costing me about 30% more than if I had used IKEA's most expensive doors. I know using custom doors on IKEA boxes would have been more expensive than just sticking with all IKEA.

I can make a true comparison because we also have several IKEA pantry cabinets installed in our basement. These are used for storage of a lot of heavy things, and they have been great. I have no qualms about them at all. My husband assembled and installed all of them himself.

Thanks @julieste! I was going to use Swedish Door in fact as they are in my region. How coincidental that you would know them! Do you mind to tell me who you used/are using for your kitchen?

@User: "The 2022 prices are probably 30%-40% higher now, at least."

You're guessing.

@User: "The big gain with different already assembled cabinets is the large expansion of options. Even a basic stock line like Aristokraft has hundreds and hundreds more options"

An IKEA Sektion base cabinet frame comes in nine sizes and a wall cabinet frame comes in 20 sizes. The IKEA website lists 1,086 cabinet doors and drawer fronts. How many "options" does one need?

@Letitia Savoy Interiors - thank you for linking that excellent thread from @Cook’s Kitchen and @The Kitchen Place. Detailled and helpful info.

I have Ikea Sektion cabinets installed two years ago. We really like them and have had no issues with quality. We paid an expert professional to have them installed and are still very happy with the value for money.

I also have lots of personal experience with various Ikea pieces of varying quality (Billy bookcases, Pax wardrobes, Kallax shelves, Malm dressers, Hemnes dressers, Alex filing cabinets, etc) and can confirm they vary in quality and sturdiness. Sektion seem the best of the bunch from what I can tell. I have also been told by a contractor that Ikea items are often sturdy on first installation, but really suffer if they are taken apart and moved. I've dealt with rickety Billys and Paxes, but both were after they'd been moved from one home to another. You're not likely to disassemble or move your Sektion kitchen so that shouldn't be a concern.