Anonymous wrote:We rented a vacation home on the west coast that happened to have an ikea kitchen. We didn't love the way it had aged. Everything still looked nice, but the hinges weren't working well. In some cabinets this meant the doors didn't close well. The cabinets felt cheap, and the shelves may have warped.

That's weird. Maybe they were really old, because Ikea has been using Blum hardware for years. My parents had $80k custom cabinets made for their kitchen and my mom almost had a heart attack when she saw hers were the same hinges, etc as my $5000 ikea kitchen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents just ordered from CliqStudios recently and were very impressed. The cabinets are high quality and look nice - thicker than standard builder grade. Paint job looks great on theirs, they went with a white/cream color.

Are they local? Any recommendations for someone to measure and install the cabinets in Montgomery County would be great!

Sorry, they are installing them themselves!

We rented a vacation home on the west coast that happened to have an ikea kitchen. We didn't love the way it had aged. Everything still looked nice, but the hinges weren't working well. In some cabinets this meant the doors didn't close well. The cabinets felt cheap, and the shelves may have warped.

Ikea cabinets are laminate on the inside. However - bear in mind that most people with experience in kitchens will tell you that a laminate or particle board door and inside is actually far preferable to a low-end "solid wood" door. A cheap wood door is more prone to warping and damage than a particleboard door.

My least favorite look in the world of kitchens is a cheap solid wood maple or oak cabinet. Of the 4 houses i've bought in the last 10 years (don't ask - we have to move a lot for jobs) i have always flagged the maple cabinets as a must-do reno before we move in. I much, much prefer any lacquer, painted or veneer door.

check out Denbrook Kitchens

Are ikea cabinets really laminate on the inside?

I love my ikea cabs - got the glossy white fronts (which are unfortunately the most expensive) but they're awesome and also a design favorite among architects and the Remodelista crowd. I do like a clean, modern look tho so I can see if you want a more vintage kind of look, IKEA wouldn't really work. They have shaker style fronts but I think those look cheap. As others mentioned, you could do the cabs from IKEA but get fronts from a company like Semihandmade. That's a lot of work and hassle tho so I might be tempted to just go with a regular cabinet maker and pay the extra $.

We got a kitchen plan for Diamond from Lowes for $16,000. We almost went with Cabinets to Go, but their reviews are horrible and the showroom guy didn't really know what he was doing. We ended up ordering RTA cabinets online for about $10,000 less and they are very high quality.

Anonymous wrote:My parents just ordered from CliqStudios recently and were very impressed. The cabinets are high quality and look nice - thicker than standard builder grade. Paint job looks great on theirs, they went with a white/cream color.

Are they local? Any recommendations for someone to measure and install the cabinets in Montgomery County would be great!