Custom Ikea Cabinets

Are you ready for more Sarah Richardson? If so, you'll want to plop yourself in front of the TV and watch Sarah 101 which debuts tonight on HGTV Canada. I heard all about the show when I met Sarah last month and I previewed the first episode and I'll tell you, it is fan-freaking-tastic.

In the first episode, Sarah tackles a kitchen using that budget-friendly & stylish option - IKEA! But yes, this is "bespoke Ikea" (and if you've been a long-time reader here, you know we Renovators definitely like customizing our Ikea!) Sarah's doors are professionally sprayed and the end-product doesn't obviously look like an Ikea kitchen. If you hadn't considered customizing Ikea for your own projects, here's some links that may change your mind.

- An excellent and very informative article by Carol Reed on Painting Ikea Kitchen Cabinets. Definitely read the comments to the post too!

- Margot Austin's gorgeous country kitchen. She used Ikea's Tidaholm oak cabinets painted in ICI's Meeting House in a lacquer in a satin finish.

- Sarah's House 2 kitchen. A custom look by using two shades of paint!

- The folks at chezerby combine an Ikea kitchen and DIY elements with stunning results.

We ♥ ikea

Its no secret that we love Ikea here at the HandyLuster household. We've used it in many of our rooms like our home office and nursery. Mostly, we love to customize it to suit our needs - make it look built-in, tailored, bespoke. So when I come across innovative ways to use Ikea, it makes my heart flutter.

These are evocative and moody images from the new Ikea catalogue (styling by Lo Bjurulf). I've never seen Ikea look so bohemian!

Do you ever think that Ikea stuff looks 'too Ikea'? Here's some clever ways to incorporate pieces into your home, without sacrificing your personal style...

Images above are from the Ikea LIVE site, a place for tips and inspiration from real folk like me and you.

And if we're talking Ikea, we have to talk Ikea kitchens. We're planning on using some cabinetry in our basement renovation, in the craft area, work space, and laundry room. I'd like to stick with the shaker-style look we have throughout the rest of our home. Here's a fabulous & informative article on painting Ikea kitchen cabinets from interior designer Carol Reed. Its a must read for every DIY'er using Ikea, I think!

How about you? Any favourite Ikea products or projects in your own home?

Ikea, my way

You all know that HandyMan and I love Ikea, and we especially love to "hack" Ikea products and customize or personalize them to suit our home. Our hacks range from the big (like the Expedit bookshelves in the home office), the not so big (the Pax wardrobes in the nursery), and the small (the vanity in the master bedroom). Like I did with the vanity, one easy hack is to add a wallpaper, fabric, or stencil accent to your Ikea unit. Here's a product that makes that job just a little easier...

Grippiks Surface Accents are decorative films made to fit some of Ikea's most popular products, such as the Billy bookcase and Lack tables. I could have used just this thing when I was looking for wallpaper to accent the back of the wardrobes in the nursery - this yellow & grey pattern would have fit the room just perfectly too!

And this greeny floral pattern would work well in the office.


I guess with the global popularity of Ikea, it only makes $ense that someone comes up with the brilliant idea to make compatible products. Looking for a slipcover for your Ikea sofa? Yep, someone thought of that too.

Summer Shades

We've been on the lookout for lights for the back deck since last summer and these ones we just picked up from Ikea fit the bill perfectly! The rattan shade adds to the whole breezy vibe and I love how you can see the silhouette of the lightbulbs through them. We bought the globe-shaped lightbulbs at Ikea too - they're energy efficient and should last 10,000 hours. Perfect for those long, languorous summer nights... can't you hear the crickets chirping already?

Summer Lovin'

Are you eagerly counting the days to summer? I sure am. I can’t wait until Baby HandyLuster arrives and we can go for long walks, explore the back garden, or lounge out on our back porch. Ever since we built the banquettes last year and got the cushions made, I’ve been waiting for the warm weather to arrive and just get outside.

A trip to Ikea last week got me even more in the mood. Have you seen their new summer collection? Its phenomenal! I’m loving their outdoor furniture, patio umbrellas, and especially outdoor cushions. I contemplated getting a few to use as floor cushions for Baby’s room, the colours were so fresh and vibrant. And what about the Solig mobile? Baby would love that too… multifunctional, people! We have a few more things to finish on the porch this summer like adding lighting and breezy curtains so I’ll be on the lookout for those things as well. Head out to your nearest Ikea before all the goods get scooped up!

Baby Steps

Today is a holiday here, Family Day, and what better way to spend it than working on the baby's room. Our weekend has been a flurry of trips to Home Depot and Lowes for materials to build the banquette and filler panels to make the Ikea cabinets look like built-ins. Dumb mistake on our part... we could have saved ourselves alot of trouble and cost by pushing the wardrobes into the corners of the room and having a longer banquette in between. The window would have looked off-center - but once we install the curtains you won't even notice the difference. Ah well, live and learn.

We're scrambling to get it all done - wardrobes installed, banquette built & painted, filler panels built and painted - before carpet is installed on Thursday. HandyMan is working so hard... I fall in love with him even more when I see everything he's doing for this little baby :) A few pics of our progress:

...the Ikea wardrobes and the rough banquette frame. You can see the pale yellow walls and blue ceiling too.


...the closets. I can't wait to fill them with Baby HandyLuster's tiny outfits!


... and a close up of the wrapping paper we backed the closets with. We went with something a bit more subtle & sweet than what I originally considered. We found the paper at The Paper Place; they have such a wonderful selection of papers.


It's all starting to come together - and so quickly too! Seeing the room and feeling the bigger movements of the baby more lately...its all seems much more REAL. Ohmigosh - we're having a baby in two months!!!

Pretty Paper

I wish I could post progress on the nursery. But I can't :( HandyMan and I have been hit with a mix of colds, vertigo, Braxton Hicks contractions, fevers, and stretching pains. Makes for a very unproductive few days. I've had to content myself with some low-key tasks like framing a few prints for the room and doing some online shopping.

I'm currently on the hunt for wrapping paper. We bought some Ikea PAX wardrobes which will flank the window. I thought it would be fun to cover the back wall of the wardrobes in wrapping paper - a bit of unexpected colour when you open them. I considered using wallpaper, but I wouldn't need a whole roll. Plus, the smaller scale of the prints on wrapping paper are better suited to the narrow wardrobes.

Here's a few options I've found on Paper Source. Not sure where else to find pretty wrapping paper...any suggestions?

Fabric fun at IKEA

When did IKEA get so good at fabrics?? HandyMan and I went to IKEA last night to return some things (and for the meatball dinner – so bad but so good) and ended up finding a great fabric for the new office space. I’ve always known IKEA to be good with prints and linens and rugs… but fabric? Not one of the top places that comes to mind. Well, that seems to have changed. We found the awesome Gunvor fabric below with a retro black and white oval print for $5.99/metre! Awesome price – and the fabric is a nice sturdy cotton. If you're looking for a broad selection of bold, graphic, colourful fabrics, those clever Swedes have got your back.

From L to R: Gunvor, Fialena, Bodil, Stockholm Blad, Katrin, Patricia, Pernilla, Fredrika, Gisela

Office Progress

Who knew that installing two bookcases and two countertops would turn into a full day's work. It did... but our end product makes it all worth it. We finally have an office space for two. With digs this nice, maybe its time to start up a new home business!

We started the day with some of the 'behind the scenes' support done. HandyMan had run a support strip of MDF around the perimeter of the room upon which the countertop would sit. He also installed one on the wall for the horizontal bookcase. We painted it out to match the wall and eventually plan to hide it with cork board. The two file cabinets which support one end of the countertop had been built. We did switch out the castors for stainless steel feet 'coz we liked the look better.

Next step was to mount the bookcase. We don't think the bookcase was meant to be mounted on the wall... they didn't have any examples in the IKEA showroom and the salesguy wasn't too sure. But we figured with enough brackets and support the bookcase won't come crashing down on top of our heads. First, Handyman had to find the studs in the wall. Then we had to figure out where those studs fell on the bookcase and put brackets there. Here's a tip: HandyMan wanted to make sure he didn't drill too deep (IKEA products typically are only reinforced around the edges and are particleboard otherwise). So, he measured up the screw size and put a piece of masking tape around the drill bit. He'd stop drilling once the tape hit the top of the hole.




With the bookcase up (after a few missed studs, ahem), we moved on to attaching the countertops to the wall. The first went in easily, again with supporting brackets underneath. The second, which sits under a window, was a bit more difficult. We had to notch it out bit by bit (not easy when the thing weighs 100 pounds). We decided to use the $5 seam cover to hide the chipped end where the countertops meet.

All that was left then was a bit of dressing. We installed a curtain rod, and some of the pre-made drawers and doors that you can buy for the bookcase. All that's left is a bit of finishing touches- curtains, paint out the rad, install filler panel behind the file cabinets, prints on the wall, new lighting fixture. Oh, and a few grommet holes so we can rid of the mess of cords sitting on the countertop.




Shopping list for this room: 2x expedit bookcases, 2x Mikael file cabinets, 2 -4pk capita legs, 2 Numerar countertops (double sided, aluminum & white, 96"). All from Ikea.

Apron Front Sink

We're considering having an apron-front or farmhouse sink in the kitchen. I've heard of the Ikea one below but not sure if it will work with my Lowe's cabinets. Anyone have comments on this sink (or apron front sinks in general)? Are they durable? Any special considerations?

Galley Kitchen Design

We've met with two kitchen designers so far, Canac Kitchens and Altima Kitchens. Since our kitchen layout is fairly simple (i.e. a rectangular box), we were hoping to go the semi-custom route. This means that we'll work with cabinet boxes of standard widths and have some customization where required. While not totally ready to assemble (think Ikea kitchens), going the semi-custom route does save some $$ as opposed to a custom kitchen. Canac was more traditional in design and could meet our semi-custom needs. Altima, on the other hand, is more contemporary and the designs are customized from the cabinet paint colour, to the drawer sizes, and everything in between. We're still waiting on the quotes, but amazingly, both kitchen designers came up with almost identical designs.

First though, we provided them with our list of "must haves"
- shaker style door fronts
- deep pot drawers
- slide out trays for small appliances (the toaster, KitchenAid stand mixer, George Foreman grill...)
- drawer for the cookie sheets and cutting boards, preferably in the lower cabinet as there is no way I can reach above the new refrigerator
- good mix of shelves and pull out drawers
- pantry with a mix of slide out shelves and fixed shelves
- ample counterspace
- glass front doors beside the window
- either granite or Caesarstone countertops
- room for workstation centre, with upper and lower cabinets, shelving, and ample headroom to install a wallmounted small tv on a swing arm
- full height uppers with no bulkhead
- slide out recycling drawer

So what did they come up with? Here's a mock-up I did with the Ikea online planner, along with a few before shots:








View towards the dining room:


View towards the window:


All in all, its a pretty simple design. No major structural changes except for the removal of the small pantry we currently have to the left of the dining room door. That'll be changed into a workstation with room for TV/computer monitor. It'll be great to surf for recipes or watch an episode of "French Food At Home" right in my kitchen! We had considered angling the corners of the cabinets on either side of the dining room door, but it would have created a more traditional look. I think with this design we can easily go sleek and contemporary. Just what I wanted.

Amazingly, this has been a simple process so far. I don't expect any surprises (though the sagging floor near the stove suggests a few rotting joists may need to be replaced) and our timeline is fairly quick... measurements before demo, demo near the end of March, fix the floors, electrical, plumbing, spray insulation, drywall, tiling, and cabinet installation. Should take about six weeks, no? Yes? All you experienced renovators out there, am I being too ambitious? I guess time will tell.