Morton5...LOVE your kitchen!!

bmorepanic,

Do you mind sharing where you found maple paint-grade doors that inexpensively? We're planning on painting our IKEA doors, and finding inexpensive, paint-ready wood doors would make the process so much easier. Thanks!

Great post, morton5! Lots of good information there! Yes, you're right they're particleboard, not MDF, as I stated previously. I also need to affirm morton5's statement about Ikea's wimpy plastic legs. After installation, I realized they just weren't going to do, so I cut my own "legs" out of 4" x 4" lumber and shoved them under the cabinet frame sides (it's the sides that appear to bear 90% of the weight). I shoved them in pretty deep, so now I'm free to add my own custom toekick, which will consist of a 4" length of aluminum 'U' channel. In it, I can install lighting, LED or fluorescent, and underlight the cabinets. The cabinets will also have that "floating" look. I would also recommend building a lumber "box," as morton5 described, to set your Ikea base cabinets on, instead of relying on Ikea's plastic legs alone.

Thanks, ritamay and studio.

Amberly, let me clarify what I meant about Ikea cabs and moulding. I think that adding moulding to Ikea cabs can work, if restraint is used, and if the same paint is used for both doors and trim (it's impossible to match the paint sheen of Ikea's factory finishes). Redrange's kitchen is a great example of how paint and trim were used to create an eccentric, English look. I especially love how she used trimmed-out open-shelving units to complement the base cabs.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1565994}}

Just to point out that the ikea legs are certified to support 250 lbs each, making a total of 1000 lbs per cabinet, if the they're properly installed. So while you can totally not want to use them for the look (and I agree that nailed toekick looks nicer), it's not necessary from a structural standpoint.

Writersblock, I agree somewhat, and tend to think that Ikea engineers know more than I do-- but the legs seemed to me to not transfer weight up the sides of the cabs very well. If they are installed to go directly underneath the cab sides (so that adjacent cabs share legs), they are probably okay, but it is fiddlesome to do so, so often they are installed with one set per cab. Then, since they are offset from the cab sides, there is some risk they could punch through the bottom of the cabs. At least my carpenter thought so, and I tended to agree with him.

I'd like to add one more pro to the Ikea column, and that is that you will know that you are getting a proven system. It is true that custom cabs can be as inexpensive as Ikea, but I have heard tales of woe re. custom cabs on this site. For example, the custom guy used cheap hardware, or drawer bottoms that would not support dishes or cast iron cookware, or plastic pins were used to support pullouts. I don't think any cab company includes a better drawer than Ikea-- but you have to get your mind around a Blum tandembox drawer, and after years of hearing about the importance of dovetail construction, that can be hard. If you are going custom, you really need to do you homework to be sure you are getting the quality you want.

I dont agree with the resale problem either. Our kitchen is IKEA. We have been looking to buy a new house for almost 2 years. The houses we are looking at run apx 1 mil  many that we saw were well over that. Compared to my IKEA kitchen  those cabinets were awful! They didnÂt even have full extension! IÂm 100% sure that our IKEA kitchen will help with the sale of our home when the time comes.

Aside: We ended up buying anther fixer  so I get to redo a whole new kitchen and it will probably be IKEA since they really are hard to beat. :-)

Morton, I love your kitchen. Our granites are very similar (I love your edge) and I really like your backsplash. I've been thinking about changing out my backslash (corian routed to look like tile, looked really nice in the store, but not great in my kitchen).

For those who would rather not have their Blum drawers identified with the IKEA cover cap, Blum cover caps for their tandem drawers are available at about 25 cents each. I think they are perfectly blank.

This post has been so helpful. Spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new kitchen just makes me wince. Most of us don't belong in the category of the "Rich and Famous". I think I would feel really good getting a kitchen I loved at the price I can afford. You've all shown me that there is a lot to like about IKEA but I can tweek it to suit myself if I just do the research and use some creative thinking. Isn't that what makes a project fun?! Thanks to all!

studio460 - this statement is not really correct:

"The Blum hardware is excellent however, and is either equal to, or better than name-brand cabinet hardware."

Blum makes this hardware only for IKEA, and while it is good, especially for the pricepoint it is inferior to to Blum's regular offering and to other namebrand Euro hardware like Salice, Hettich and Grass.

Is it good enough? For most people it is and it is entirely appropriate given the rest of the Ikea program.

Hey pickle the second (and wouldn't it be pickle jr?), sent you an email.

Got it. Thanks! Hmmm...I kinda like Pickle II. It's got a coat-of-arms-and-a-posh-accent ring to it..."I'm Pickle the second, I am..." Apparently the extended holiday break is making me loopy.

Unfortunately, IKEA kitchens have a certain LOOK about them. When I look at houses/kitchens with IKEA, it somehow looks as if it was done on a budget.

I think if one is doing a modern kitchen at a high end price point for a house that costs over a mil as someone else mentioned, it is probably better to do custom cabinets where you can really achieve symmetry, grain matching veneer, perfectly squared shape, zero radius corners, etc. This is what give that "quality look" as the initial poster asked. You cannot achieve this without paying for cabinets done by company that knows how to do this. (Most American companies do not this well...) If you don't do this well, it looks like office furniture.

I have gone over this question again and again, and I have decided that I needed to do custom modern cabinets for my house. IKEA just will not do at the price point of the house I am doing it for.... I will always see my cabinets and know that the grains are not matching because I saved money. Either you notice stuff like this or you don't!

http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/2009/03/billycs-kitchen.html

This is a perfect example of what IKEA kitchen cannnot achieve.... The price point is about 10x IKEA but if your house can justify the cost, I think it would be a shame not to do it!

If you are doing laminate fronts with color, then you may be able to get by with IKEA. Even so, you will end up using fillers and will lose symmetry.

If it is about the LOOK, you will get that IKEA look...

I think Morton5's kitchen looks fabulous, upscale and modern and at first glance doesn't say the word "budget" or "Ikea". Living in the DC area myself, I don't see a kitchen like that not being able to help sell a home in a high priced market. Well done!

antss,

I've always thought that that the IKEA drawer hardware is the same as the Blum Tandomboxes that I have seen in Eurostyled cabinets in showrooms. Are they materially different? They carry the Blum name on them, as do the hinges. Are the IKEA hinges materially different than the Blum concealed 110 degree hinge with the Inserta feature?.

I agree with most of the pros and cons listed so far. One thing that I actually really love is the removable toe-kicks. They snap onto the legs of the cabinets, and I really don't notice that they aren't attached (visually), but I can take the toe kicks right off for a really thorough cleaning. Love that! It's one of the unexpected benefits.

Probably the 'con' that really bugs me is the interior depth of the shallow drawers. The drawer sides don't come up the whole depth of the drawer front, so if you're trying to pile a ton of extraneous utensils and whatnot in there then good luck. The upside of this is that it forces you to be more organized, which is actually a really good thing for me because otherwise I'd be fishing around in there looking for stuff all day.

The other con is the variety of moldings they offer. Not much selection for crown or light rails, but I've seen people hack them up and add their own and when it's done right can look really good.

morton- I plan to do "restrained" molding- nothing fancy. My main reason for adding it in the first place is that I am painting all of my cabinets, so any trims I add can be painted to match and will be seamless. I also plan to build the frame for the bottom- as recommeded by my contractor- so we may easily nail my lack-of-toekick in place. I like the look of the flush molding on the bottom that you often see in English kitchens. We will do a simple crown, and a very simple molding under the cabs. No dentil, rope, or carved grapes trim in this kitchen! Your kit is fabulous btw- ever since you posted I keep going back to your pics for organizing ideas. Did you buy your cabs at College Park or Balto?

As much as I like IKEA kitchens, I'ld tend to agree with Kaismom.

You cannot achieve the look of a truly high-end kitchen with IKEA cabs (think Bulthaup for the modern ones or Peacock for traditional ones). The quality of the woods, veneers, finishes, interior fittings definitely is not the same. These kitchens look and feel like a Hermes handbag or Ferragamo shoes. They feel like a luxury product. And they do cost ten times as much as an IKEA kitchen.

However, with IKEA cabs, I do believe you can obtain the same look as mid-range brands (SieMatic and such) for a fraction of the price. These kitchens look good, have a quality look, but they do not feel like a luxury item.

It depends on what would fit the bill for you.

lennym, I have IKEA hinges and regular Blum hinges, and they look exactly the same, except the IKEA hinges have smaller insert pins. Unless there is something inside the hinge that I can't see, they look the same and feel the same.

We are still working on our IKEA kitchen with custom touches. Over Christmas vacation we did NOTHING with the kitchen, so we need to get back in the groove. In a few months I should have pictures of a finished kitchen. Hopefully, prayerfully.

Thank you all for the very well thought out posts, and for sharing your kitchens. Morton your kitchen is lovely, wonderful layout! I'm trying to decide on IKEA for the sewing room (another thread) and this one was very helpful to me.

I have a question on those legs, since they're a major selling feature to me (this room will be in the basement and it used to be a coal storage room so the floors are not flat). Are they adjustable? And I'm probably not understanding Morton's post, but are there four legs per cabinet? I need each one to stand independantly (cabinet) verses screwing them together as you do with traditional cabs. It sounds like they stick out some (the legs) so is this possible???

Now to the subject at hand...in our house in alaska we did a totally custom kitchen, I don't know the exact figure but it came out at around $175k. A great deal of that expense was cabinets and no, I don't think you could duplicate it with IKEA. Not enough options and not enough flexibility (though I do get that they can be cut down etc). I have solid wood, inset and beaded doors, light rail, toe kick drawers, 27" deep lowers and 15" uppers, very custom pieces (inset sink, and cabs for the bay window). I wouldn't even try to do that with a stock cabinet of any brand, IKEA included. It was just too much modification to not be totally custom. Without custom I would have had a significant number of fillers in the odd layout kitchen and not had the flexibility to do many of the things I did to make the kitchen really flow well.

In this house (a 120 year old victorian) I also wouldn't do IKEA in the kitchen because it wouldn't fit the look of the house properly nor would it offer the same customization I need in this oddball kitchen (I'm attracted to kitchen challenges LOL). I might consider them for the cottage kitchen but I will bet ya that the historical society would not approve them because they do look modern, even if they don't have a specific modern aestatic (I think Morton's style is rather timeless and modern at the same time).

I have checked out the drawers and would find the lower sides difficult to deal with as I'm not the best organizer LOL And we have a lot of stuff "silverware, etc" so the low sides would reduce storage capacity a bit. But I will say that they feel every bit as good as my blum hinges, soft close and full extension drawers in my custom kitchen. It's one of the selling features for me because that would be valuable in a sewing room.

Fun read :) And a lot more homework for me now LOL

igloo- the legs are totally independent of each other, and each are adjustable. You also have several options to choose from for the legs as well. I think they would work well in the space you described in your other post.

The black ones should only be used if you do the cover panels, which it sounds like you would not.

An ikea sewing room (although probably not as grand you want, igloo), but I love her rainbow cabinet:

Igloochick,
The legs are totally under the cabinet. You can use one pair of legs between 2 cabs, but I am doing 4 legs per cabinet which will make for independent cabinets. You can use the black legs without using side panels. You would probably want to use toe kicks, though to cover them. For a sewing room, the plastic might be ok uncovered, but you can get metal ones. All the legs are adjustable for your uneven floors.
Lisa

writersblock-

That room is to die for! I would love to be able to have all that custom stuff for my Bernina feet and accessories! Maybe after my boys are in college...

Hi, a bit off topic, but I just wanted to say that for Canadian IKEA shoppers, there's a 10% gift card 'sale' on this month for kitchen purchases. :o)

~Missy

I don't sew (have ten thumbs), but that sewing room is stunning! Wow. We have that Varde drawer unit, and it's fabulous. Very sturdy. Looks great. Drawers run smoothly. Incredible storage. It used to live in the laundry/mudroom, but I recently moved it into the kitchen. We love it so much that it may end up living there for a good long while.

Igloo, they have a new hanging rail for the base cabinets as well as the uppers. The base cabinet rail functions as a ledger but you can also install an actual wood ledger instead of the rail or the legs for the back edge of the cabinets. I agree with the above posters saying the plastic legs are almost the weakest link. My vote for weakest link is the particle board and the fasteners used to assemble the cabinet.

The base cabinets do get screwed to each other as well as into the wall. The uppers use a system like a metal french cleat - more like a cleat and a hook. Uppers are also screwed to each other.

You guys have made my day by saying such nice things about my Ikea kitchen.

I do agree that the high-end modern kitchens are in a different league... of course they are. My kitchen has a couple of asymmetries that would probably drive some people batty, but for me the cost savings was worth the quirks. Ikea is the "ready-to-wear" version of the couture modern kitchen, and it's great that it's accessible to so many!

I don't believe that every house with a jumbo mortgage deserves a couture kitchen -- sometimes location will earn you a jumbo mortgage even though the house has vinyl siding. Nor does everybody want to spend 10% of the home's value on a kitchen. Obviously, for most people there will be competing projects and expenses. That said, if you can afford to do a very high-end kitchen, and that makes you happy, that's great-- just please post pictures so the rest of us can admire!

Amberly, I will be watching the progress on your kitchen-- sounds wonderful!

That sewing room is spectacular. Igloo, hopefully you are clear on the legs now... particularly if you plan to use a laminate or butcher block top on the cabs, using 4 legs per cab and leveling each cab will work fine.

I live in Fairfield County, CT - some of the nation's nighest price real estate is around these parts.
My GC, who has built some extremely high-end kitchens, observed that once the trim, appliances and countertop were in, you would never know where my cabinets came from. If you surround them with high quality things, they take on the same feel.
In the 18 months we've had this kitchen, not one person has known the cabinets were from Ikea, unless I told them, and then their surprise was clearly genuine.

The original quote for custom: $18,000. The cost from Ikea: $2,600. No contest. And now, having lived with them, I'm in no doubt that if I had a limitless budget for a future kitchen, I would STILL get Ikea cabinets.

LOL Morton great comment on house values and kitchen values...they often have nothing to do with each other. Our wonderful kitchen cost about 1/3 of the house value (aprox). Sure that's a lot to spend on a kitchen, and we won't recoup it likely, but we built the kitchen because for us it's the most important part of a home and we wanted it to be perfect for us. We also spent a fortune (in comparison to suggested amounts) on the master bath and our son's room...but again, they were important to our life so we spent the funds there and got creative in the less important rooms to allow us to use the budget where we wanted. Whatever anyone does...just don't go bankrupt doing it and do it for yourself...not to impress the neighbors :oP

We looked at several homes when shopping for our victorian. In many million plus homes in duluth and port townsend the kitchen was abismal or non existant...cost does not mean quality by any stretch of the imagination if what we saw is typical.

Thanks so much for the help on the legs, it's important to the space given the floor issue. Probably the top reason I thought of IKEA actually. Toe kicks won't work due to the uneven area (those darned victorians didn't do a great job leveling the cement in their coal storage rooms LOL).

Writersblock...LMAO ya that sewing room pales to anything I'd want LMAO Ummm gad what a fabulous room...and the organization is almost sick heh heh But I really do appreciate it being posted...mine won't be so fancy :) But it was a great idea room. I loved that center cabinet for both ironing and cutting!!! I'm changing my layout as we speak with that included (though I guarantee that lovely rainbow won't be as cool in my house heh heh I'm just not that neat). But it would be a great way to store my silk scraps by color for crazy quilting. I could see them and access them easily (I currently dig in a large plastic bucket and grab whatever feels good). And sheesh it would be wonderful for lace storage and ribbons (I collect them obsessively). I could see doing two back to back!

I actually already have a rail system that we purchased from IKEA for the corporate rental house. We never installed it and I have oddles of options (buckets, shelves, etc) and I'm really excited to be able to use them in this house. They're perfect for this room.

OK I should post this in the sewing room thread LOL But thanks all!!!!

"I will always see my cabinets and know that the grains are not matching because I saved money. Either you notice stuff like this or you don't!"

I think a lot of us notice but many of us can struggle past it. Kitchens are after all utilitarian spaces if you find yourself with a lot of time to worry about whether the grain matches you might consider doing a bit more cooking in your new kitchen or think about getting a hobby. To each his own but I prefer lived in to magazine ready when it comes to aesthetics. I'll take the savings.

I was watching a "Home to Flip" marathon over Christmas and the host did an Ikea kitchen in his flip and it didn't seem to hurt him - he was selling for around $850 000.0 in an improving neighbourhood in Toronto.

caryscott and others....
I did not mean to come off flippantly.
we all chose to spend money where it is important to the person who is writing the check. For me, this is where I might spend the money where as I may not think $1000 sink or $10,000 refrigerator are important or affordable.

For those us that wish to have a certain design look, all I am saying is that IKEA will not deliever a certain vision. IKEA delievers a great value, which I agree. The OP asked what IKEA lacks. I answered honestly what it lacks. It does make a difference in the sale at a certain price point, and I am a buyer in the price point of mil plus. If the kitchen did not fit the home, I may not be interested in the house. For example, in certain homes, I would expect to see painted inset doors. In a downtown condo that are selling for $1 mil, I would be disappointed to see an IKEA kitchen. Morton's kitchen looks great as is. If the house was in a suburban subdivision, it fits right in. However, I would not expect to see that in a home in a historic neighborhood or a house done by an architect with a very modern exterior. The kitchen has to fit the house. I am sure she did a great job of doing that.

If people only built utilitarian spaces in the kitchen, there would not be this HUGE kitchen and baths industry. Most of us do put in esthetically expressed kitchen and baths in the budget that we can "stomach".

http://blanketonbeacon.com/

Having said that, the web site is to the homes that just got built and sold. They used ALL IKEA finishes for their kitchens and baths for this project. It looks fabulous. You can get fabulous looks with Ikea.

Peace.

kaismom-

Although I am certainly not in the over $1 million category, my home IS in a historic neighborhood, and I consider myself pretty historic-minded, since my college degree in in preservation. So, my IKEA remodel will reflect not jsut my aesthetic, but the aesthetic of the house itself.

Good design can come at ANY price point. Any good designer worth their salt will agree with that. What someone chooses to put in their home, expensive one or not, should be the choise of the homeowner. Honestly, most of the real estate listing that I see in my area (and I live near some VERY expensive old historic homes, the kitchens are just awful! And these are not dated kitchen either! Often times, they are just poorly designed. I would rather have a really well thought out IKEA kitchen in my $1 million+ home anyday to a poorly planned, and overly pretentious one.

This is from a house visible from my parents property owned by a footbal player- which is listed for $3.5 million. Although not a terrible kitchen, I don't see it warranting the rest of the price tag.

{{gwi:1566000}}

sorry about the spelling ;)

I think IKEA's affecting resale depends on one's market. I live in a ridiculously expensive town. Many homes above $1 million here have very dated kitchens or poorly done kitchens. I cannot imagine a beautifully done IKEA kitchen would damage resale unless one went quite beyond $1 mil. With the right vision and implementation, IKEA can go beyond a merely utilitarian kitchen...or "suburban" kitchen. I think morton and redrange are great demonstrations of this. Saying that IKEA cannot meet any aesthetic demand beyond suburban is simplistic.

And yes, I agree that IKEA cannot equal Peacock or equally upper-upper-echelon brands. But I think the comparison isn't quite valid. It's like telling people that they shouldn't buy a Coach bag because it can't meet the resale value/style/name value of Chanel. It isn't quite apples to apples. More like apples to vintage Krug.

IKEA kitchens aren't for every home. But for modern, it's hard to beat what you get for the price. I would not spend what a very high-end modern Italian custom kitchen would cost. But I got a fabulous kitchen for a fraction of the price. No, when people come into my kitchen they don't go "Aha! Cheap IKEA kitchen!" LOL. They say, OMG! What a great kitchen!

I don't think value of the home plays much of a part, its more where the house sits in the market, low, mid or high end.

In my area a $500K is low to mid - a properly executed ikea kitchen i think can work.

I have one in my house, priced at $399K, everyone loves it, although I don't tell buyers its Ikea, part of the don't ask, don't tell policy. I love the function of the drawers, all the accessories etc.

I am not thrilled with the doors, I do feel the finish is more fragile than I like. I had to return a lot of them to find ones that were acceptable when I opened them, dents, thin paint on the panel. Also, I'm not thrilled with the choices of doors, can't they just have a normal shaker style door like Adel in a thinner profile?

kaismom- those Beacon Hill units are gorgeous,huh? I think that the Ikea baths work especially well in them because they retain an industrial feel with the raw concrete, etc. I don't think they'd play quite as well in an older home (I tried to make them work in mine!)

Interesting, too, how in the lofts they used all that carerra (looks like) stretched all the way up the side of the wall.... and then Ikea's oak cabinets. (Those, and the glossy enameled ones, are my favorites of Ikea's in person, I think!)

Kaismom, Not a good idea to stereotype. Most of the finest estates in this country are in the suburbs. Thinking inside a box is limiting.

Would you agree that many old castles in Europe are historic? Would you be surprised to know that many mega-centuries old mansions, castles, estates in Europe have Ikea kitchens? They do. They function well. Less servants required to maintain!

And many high end modern kitchens do NOT have matching grain patterns-which does annoy me too.

I thought Kaismom's comments were fine, and that she made some valid points. And, she clarified herself when she thought she was misinterpreted.

Haven't been on the site for a long time, since we finished our fabulous, gorgeous, wonderful IKEA kitchen. My husband did it all himself (except for the electric and plumbing) and we have a very large kitchen. It was about 5 years ago, and believe me, I am enjoying using it every day. We like very contemporary, and used some red Abstrakt and some birch. We do not live near an IKEA so went to Chicago to finish up the design and order the pieces, and then had to have it shipped from New Jersey.

One of our favorite parts is the large island. We used two cabinets back to back, so it is very wide and I have the cooktop there and lots of room for serving or rolling out cookies with the grandkids. Plus lots of drawer space of course. We are so happy that IKEA has now opened a store near my son's home in Florida. When they are ready to remodel their kitchen, we will be there to help!

We got all drawers and pullouts except for one cabinet, and I wish that I had made that into a drawer too. We also did our sink cabinets a bit differently. We put the doors on top and underneath a drawer so it can be pulled out. No more searching for stuff under the sink! The bids we got for remodeling our kitchen were around $75,000 and we did the IKEA for less than 1/3. Really looks sensational and like an Italian custom design.

My husband wants to add that after a year we went back up to Chicago and returned the extra pieces with no problems. I think they take things back up to a year.

We had IKEA cabs in our previous home. Bought it that way. We liked the look and functionality. the corner lazy susan broke and one hinge (that the kids hung on) broke out of the MDF (never could fix it). Other than those problems we thought ti was just fine. When we sold the house (in the hard market), people said how much they loved our kitchen.

Absolutely a fantastic topic, I read every word with great interest. AND I bookmarked it to return frequently for any follow ups.

We are nibbling away at the projects on this 2 bedroom 1950s stucco cottage, with a tiny kitchen that will be expanded to take in the existing back porch. When the walls come down, that is when IKEA comes into the picture. Our nearest store is in Atlanta, 400 miles away. Let's hope they prosper and open more stores in the SE.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and your insights.

We are in the early stages of the Ikea kitchen planning and will be using a contractor that the Palo Alto Ikea recommended. I won't be assembling and installing them myself.

I note that someone here suggests gluing the backs of the cabinets and caulking the sink cabinet. Should I ask my contractor to do that? The gluing of the back of the cabinets would of course have to be done as they are being assembled and before installation. I guess I could do the caulking of the sink cabinet after it's in with a caulking gun. I assume that means running a bead of silicon caulk around the joints?

Having installed many IKEA cabinets, I would not bother glueing the backs of the cabinets. Running a caulk bead inside the sink base sounds like a good idea for any cabinet. I had a mini flood from a defective faucet in my own kitchen.

morton5, what a beautiful kitchen! i love it, i don't know how to send a personal message on this site but morton5, was this a reno or did you build your house?

Morton5, I also LOVE your kitchen so much! to me it looks like a modern very high end kitchen. I love the backsplash and keeping the cabinets off the ways to show it off and make the room not dark. I love the very dark cabinets and modern hardware. I would buy a house with this kitchen. I wish I had all that room for a kitchen like this. Thanks for sharing.

I agree with kaismom. I actually put in an IKEA kitchen in my house, and it's the one thing that bugs me about it. People come over and say "hey, nice ktichen...is it from IKEA?". I cringe a little every time. The system itself, and the underlying components (the hinges, the cabinet boxes, etc.) are very good quality, and very sturdy. I've really happy with that part, just no so much the stuff you "see" that gives it the "IKEA look."

I'm trying to solve that problem now. I'm really passionate about DIY and kitchens (I don't know why, I'm not much of a cook). So, I'm exploring the idea of a marketplace where you can get custom doors from many different manufacturers and custom makers, made (predrilled, etc.) specifically to go on IKEA cabinets.

I'd love your feedback on the idea. If it was really easy to do, would you order custom doors to go with the IKEA system?

Morton5,
We are using IKEA cabinets for a large island. Have built the 2x4 but worried about how to attach the base cabinets to the toekick base since the cabinets are particle board. Did you use normal cabinet screws? And just pre-drill to minimize splitting? Any help is appreciated - thanks!!!