Many clients have been asking about the quality level of IKEA’s kitchen cabinetry offerings and whether or not they’re a good fit for their kitchen remodel.

If you meet the following criteria, I’d say IKEA cabinets are a PERFECT option for you:

Your house is 1600 sf or less and you don’t know the name of the architect who designed it. (In other words, not one of those expensive/adorable boxy infill things.) Despite luxe features like self-closing doors and drawers that are standard in IKEA cabinets, their melamine interiors will never scream “luxury.” So bear this in mind if you have a larger home…if you ever sell it, future buyers will have expectations of higher-end products and upgrades in a home that is around 2000 sf or more.

OR

You want something Euro-style but have an “In-Stock at Home Depot” budget. IKEA’s Abstrakt door/drawer fronts, in laquered finishes, are super-cool-drool-worthy if you like a more contemporary look. They’re very mod. I also love Nexus door/drawer fronts in brown-black…they’re what I would expect from West Elm, if West Elm made kitchen cabinets.

AND

You are handy enough to assemble the cabinets yourself. Like all things IKEA, their cabinets are self-assembly, so if you have to pay for them to be put together, your labor costs start to erode the cost-beneficial ratio of going this route. Those Abstrakt cabinets I was just talking about? I would be perfectly willing to pay extra for a hot guy to assemble them. (My own hot guy wouldn’t dream of taking on this kind of hassle.) They’re very distinctive, and even if I hire someone else to put them together for me, they will still be less expensive than buying KraftMaid’s Venicia collection.

AND

You don’t have any illusions of loving your cabinets 20 years from now. IKEA cabinets feature a melamine interior…you do the math.

I’ll chat more about IKEA another day…I have more to say about their countertops and other stuff!