IKEA Kitchen & Bar Cabinets
One Room Challenge Week 2
The IKEA bar cabinets are in!
Last week I shared the design plans for our speakeasy basement bar and rec room space that I’m tackling as part of the spring One Room Challenge. Over the course of the weekend and one night this week I installed all of the back bar cabinetry I ordered from IKEA. I assembled them (almost) entirely by myself. (My five-year-old and three-year-old assisted with some of the nails and screws and there were many breaks for dance parties.)
I was really excited to tackle this part of the project because I’ve always been curious about the IKEA kitchen build process. (Is it complicated? Is it something that’s easy to do yourself? Will I lose my mind deciphering that many pages of illustrated instructions with absolutely zero text descriptions to explain the sometimes ambiguous parts?) I was eager to see for myself.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning :
USING IKEA’S KITCHEN PLANNER
I planned the cabinetry using IKEA’s kitchen planning tool. I simply entered the measurements of our space and started dropping in combinations of cabinetry. It takes a little getting used to and it’s not a perfect platform, but overall it’s a really valuable tool. If you don’t have access to professional space planning tools, I’d actually suggest using IKEA’s planner for any kind of cabinetry planning (whether it’s IKEA or not) because it’s a free way to get at least a general idea of layout and spacing options. After a bit of tweaking and refining (that’s a dramatic understatement) I landed on this layout:
IKEA bar cabinet plans
From left to right, these plans include 36” wide drawers (two large ones with a hidden small upper drawer inside the top drawer), a 36” wide sink cabinet (sink not shown here), another set of 36” wide drawers and an 18” wide open cabinet, which will be tucked below a side counter. Then I placed the order! (hot tip: Order your IKEA items early! I ended up having to get some parts from eBay because IKEA was out of stock.)
CUSTOMIZING IKEA CABINETS
We’ll be doing our own wood counters and I’ll be using these beautiful brass Emtek pulls and knobs with chic, modern back plates to elevate the look. (gifted)
Jasper Pull 8”
Modern Cabinet Backplate 8"
Modern Cabinet Backplate for Knob
Brandt Knob in 1-3/4"
Next, the fun part. I took a screenshot of the IKEA plan and brought it into photoshop to roughly layer in the other design elements you see below! You can see the detailed list of elements in those plans here.
moody DIY basement bar plans
BUILDING IKEA CABINETS
The number of boxes was intimidating. But once I got rolling it all came together much more quickly than I expected. I was never nervous about building the cabinet boxes because it’s pretty hard to mess those up. I was equal parts nervous and curious about the metal rail that IKEA uses to attach their cabinets to the wall. It comes in set lengths and you attach it to as many wall studs as possible and use a saw to cut off any extra metal.
The verdict: Seriously easy.
I honestly believe a beginner DIYer could build an IKEA kitchen without issue. In fact, I’d bet that a team of 2-3 people could build and install the cabinets for an entire IKEA kitchen in 2-3 days, no problem.
Did I have any hiccups along the way? Of course. Always. For one, I initially installed the metal mounting rail upside down. But that was an easy fix. The only other bump was that it took me a minute to realize that there is one slight difference in how you build the top drawer and the bottom drawer. A simple screw placement. I found these videos super helpful and was able to quickly figure out my mistake.
I still need to install the toe kicks, but I don’t anticipate any issues. (Famous last words, I know.)
Alright, so I’ve claimed that it’s easy to install an IKEA kitchen yourself. But what about the other big question?
ARE IKEA KITCHENS GOOD QUALITY?
I’ll cut to the chase: Yes.
We built our home less than two years ago with quality cabinetry and I would say the IKEA Sektion cabinets are pretty comparable. Unless you are able to fit 100% solid wood cabinets into your budget, IKEA cabinets are at least worth considering. The real selling point for me, beyond affordability, is the customization. Soft-close doors and drawers come standard, and there are tons of affordable inserts and optimizations you can add on to make the most functional space. I don’t know of any other cabinet company that offers as many ways to customize. Oh, and you aren’t limited to the cabinet fronts that IKEA sells. There are companies like Semihandmade who specialize in a huge range of fronts in all styles and colors specifically designed to fit IKEA cabinet boxes.
Next up?
Building the side and front bar – this time from scratch!
Be sure to check out my stories on Instagram to see more of the process, pivots and lessons learned along the way!
