A luxury kitchen at a fraction of the cost (thanks to IKEA)

Budget-friendly design options are showcased with IKEA cabinetry

If there’s one thing we want our customers to know, it’s that an IKEA kitchen is affordable luxury. Case in point: Beth and Jim’s brand-new European style IKEA kitchen.

When potential customers contact us through our Contact Page, we’re often asked, “Those kitchens on your site. Are all of them really IKEA kitchens?”

Yes, Virginia, they are all IKEA kitchens! An IKEA kitchen is affordable luxury if you know the recipe.

1. Think of the IKEA kitchen cabinets as just boxes. The construction and Blum hardware make IKEA cabinet boxes really good quality at an affordable price.
2. Purchase custom cabinet fronts from a manufacturer like Kokeena, Allstyle, or Semihandmade. Beth and Jim’s IKEA kitchen has Semihandmade’s Supermatte doors in white.
3. Pay attention to those finishing touches. Using panels on all exposed cabinet sides, aligning doors, and using a false drawer front under the knobs of the cooktop like Beth did here make for a streamlined look.
4. Buy high-quality, true counter-depth appliances. These can be expensive, but if you look for deals like our customers Payam and Andrew did, you won’t have to dip into your savings too much.
5. Hire a kitchen designer that specializes in IKEA kitchens *cough* like IKD *cough.*

We’ll let Beth’s IKEA kitchen tell the story.

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How this IKEA kitchen is affordable luxury

After their children left for university, Beth and Jim purchased a smaller home with good bones and then gutted it. They could see a contemporary home hiding underneath the dated furnishings. So they relocated the kitchen so it could reap the benefits of the many windows and glass doors.

Beth had heard good things about IKEA, but like many of our customers she “didn’t want it to look like IKEA.” Beth actually found Semihandmade before she found us – thanks to Joanna at Semihandmade for the referral!

IKD turned out to be the magic Beth needed to turn her IKEA kitchen into affordable luxury.

Our architect Allee Architecture + Design had come up with the idea of cabinets surrounding the cooktop, which we loved. But we weren’t sure how to get this look with IKEA cabinets. Our IKD designer Ana came up with the idea of flipping and doubling the cabinets.” – IKD customer Beth

We really leveraged the flexibility of IKEA cabinets to make this configuration work. Those 15×30 cabinets at the top are actually 30×15 cabinets that would typically go above a refrigerator – so we flipped them.

IKEA doesn’t make 24×15 cabinets. So, we had her builder custom-cut them out of 30×15 boxes, and then stacked two so Beth could get the 30” height she needed. It was tricky, but we knew we could do it.” –IKD Designer Ana

Beth and Jim’s builder, Brian Wilson Construction, cut down the cabinets and side panels perfectly, and drilled the holes for the Wolfe cooktop to look built-in.

The backsplash tile and countertops came from JF Granite & Marble.

Let’s look around the rest of the kitchen.

The other ingredients to this luxury IKEA kitchen

Beth and Jim chose Wolf and SubZero appliances because they’d had such good experiences with them before. Because SubZero refrigerators are truly counter-depth, they really help this kitchen achieve the European look.

Light, natural wood flooring is another feature of a European kitchen.

Here you can see all of the lovely light that now comes into the kitchen.

The island is home to the dishwasher, sink and faucet from WM Perrotti & Sons, and waste sorting system.

The base cabinets throughout the kitchen make ample use of the MAXIMERA inner drawers, the hallmark feature of IKEA’s SEKTION line for kitchens.

With IKD, an IKEA kitchen is affordable luxury for your home – but don’t take our word for it

Beth had rave reviews for her IKD designer Ana.

IKD is so good at implementing IKEA. IKD made the architect’s plan work. Ana was so good at figuring out how to make it work and adding in all of the filler pieces needed. What she did with the cabinets surrounding the cooktop was just brilliant. Give her a raise and a week off! – IKD customer Beth

Aw shucks Beth, you’re making us blush! We’re so glad you love your new IKEA kitchen.

If you want a luxury kitchen you can afford…head on over to our package.