Overcoming the Unexpected with a Traditional IKEA Kitchen and Bath

A review of how an IKEA customer’s kitchen and bath were designed after a flood

In this Article

• Creating a Traditional-style kitchen using IKEA cabinets.
• Unique storage solutions featuring IKEA’s AXSTAD cabinet doors.
• How IKEA cabinet hacks can transform your kitchen and bath.

As an IKEA kitchen customer, when you decide to remodel your existing kitchen, time is always of the essence. There are deliveries to schedule, measurements to take and IKEA products to select which may require repeated trips to IKEA. That all takes time! Add in an unfortunate circumstance, such as a burst pipe that floods your home, and the stakes are raised even more. This was the situation facing IKD customers Shaunach from Dallas, TX, and her husband, who sought out IKD online to remodel their existing kitchen and master bath after facing these exact circumstances.

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“We were always planning to do renovations, but then a burst pipe flooded our home. We were fortunate enough to have insurance. The kitchen and master bath were the two rooms that sustained the most damage, so the flooding was actually a rather fortunate event,” Shaunach says.

And good thing, as not only was the couple under a tight timeline because their house had flooded and they were renovating way sooner than ever anticipated — but this was also their first time ever doing renovations!

Working with IKD designer Albert, Shaunach had a clear vision for her two projects. This included maximizing space; establishing a sense of symmetry and consistency; and lastly, to ensure her finished IKEA kitchen and bath offered some design surprises such as IKEA MITTLED lighting in all the IKEA MAXIMERA drawers, pull-out drawers that hold a trash can (in the kitchen layout) and a laundry hamper for towels (in the master bath). After Shaunach did some research she determined that the kitchen remodel would cost about $35,000 alone.

“We had a quote from our insurance company and the construction crew which included all repairs for the whole home. But that was just to replace like-for-like cabinets in both rooms. We added a lot more cabinets and there were many other whole-house repairs happening simultaneously. That drastically impacted these rooms for the next seven months. I would say it cost about $45-$50K for the total project,” Shaunach adds.

Specifically, the couple combined IKEA’s SEKTION modular framework with IKEA AXSTAD cabinets in Matte White for the upper and base cabinets in both the kitchen and bath. This established a very clean, Traditional style and added new kitchen and bath storage solutions to make both spaces more functional. Shaunach notes that she decided on IKEA cabinets for its cost, quality and versatility. This allowed her and her husband to add in bells and whistles without breaking the bank. The kitchen also features a 24″ beverage cooler from Amazon; quartz countertops from Vicostone and a George Oliver  Cournoyer Single Pendant lamp over the sink, among others.

Also notable is that the couple elected to flip their kitchen layout from its original configuration, including closing the “bar” opening on the South wall and moving the refrigerator to this wall, while also relocating the sink and dishwasher that were previously located here. Once the refrigerator was moved from the North wall, there was now new space to add more base and wall cabinets. The couple also allowed Albert the freedom to incorporate a few of IKD’s signature IKEA cabinet hacks as well, such as thin panels that were custom cut for the dishwasher and custom configured cabinets around the wall oven and microwave area.

Summarizing her remodeled kitchen and bath, Shaunach says: “I would say the overall style of both spaces is pretty traditional. My home décor style is brightly colored maximalism, so I always like to keep some elements, like cabinetry and trim, simple and traditional for a bit of balance.”

Let’s see how Shaunach’s IKEA kitchen and bath projects came together!

Traditional IKEA Kitchen

Shaunuch explains that her semi-open concept, Traditional-style kitchen was only possible by using IKEA’s SEKTION framework with IKEA cabinets.

“The biggest driver in my selection process was the modular nature of the cabinets. I love having the option to add extra shelves as needed or swap out drawers for cabinets and vice-versa if my needs change in the future. We’ve already done some new modifications (we added extra 5″ drawers inside some of the 15″ drawers) and it’s great that we can do it ourselves!”

The kitchen — which has a 109′ ceiling — features the IKEA AXSTAD cabinet doors in Matte White. These cabinets begin with upper and base cabinets around the stainless steel IKEA KONSISTENS wall oven and the IKEA HUVUDSAKLIG built-in microwave, and then continues above the 22.6 cu ft stainless steel IKEA STJARNSTATUS French door refrigerator, offering extra storage options for holiday dishware and serving plates, for example. The run of upper cabinets continues over the quartz countertop and sink area, which houses a 22.75″ drop-in sink from Kohler and a stainless steel IKEA RENGJORD built-in dishwasher. The cabinets continue over the IKEA BRANPUNKT 30″ stainless steel gas cooktop and finish with hanging wall cabinets with a glass front display liquor bottles and glasses, just over the 24″Wx24″Dx34″H undercounter wine fridge.

The custom-configured base storage start under the microwave and oven and feature a 30″ IKEA MAXIMERA low drawer and medium drawer. The base cabinets continue on the other side of the stainless steel refrigerator, running under the sink area and dishwasher and again extending to the undercounter beverage cooler. Not only does this provide a consistent and clean design theme with add extra storage options, but again the drawers feature IKEA MITTLED LED kitchen drawer lighting with a dimmable sensor, adding some clever design surprises as Shaunach requested.

“I love the practical functionality of our kitchen and all the hidden features. This layout really maximized our space and provided the symmetry and consistency we wanted. My original kitchen layout was challenging. It was impossible to execute perfect symmetry throughout. However we were able to compartmentalize spaces and create symmetry within those areas to achieve something that I love,” she says.

Other IKEA products featured in the kitchen include: A stainless steel IKEA HUVUDSAKLIG microwave trim kit; an IKEA NYTTIG support bracket for the microwave trim kit; an IKEA UTRUSTA shelf in white and an IKEA UTRUSTA reinforced, ventilated shelf in white.

Working Together
Shaunach and her husband were very active during the entire process while also relying on kitchen and bath design professionals and contractors to complete the projects.

“The biggest challenge in designing the rooms was knowing all the options IKEA has. They have a lot of little trim details, etc. that aren’t always obvious unless you’re looking for it. With the installation, I learned that the original build of our home wasn’t truly squared so we had to adjust filler panels here and there to ensure everything was truly level and straight. I do wish I had IKEA come by to take “formal” measurements of the space. The specs I took weren’t 100% accurate so we had to work through those with minor adjustments along the way.”

Shaunach notes that since they had never done any renovations before, she and her husband had to take a leap of faith and assume everyone else was taking everything into consideration.

“Getting those final designs and seeing callouts for electrical placement, etc. instantly calmed my nerves. I knew this wasn’t just a pretty picture, but a true roadmap for execution!” she says.

This was crucial she adds, as her regular handyman crew had never installed IKEA cabinets before. She says having IKD’s design visuals and Extra Items list was very helpful and assured the installation was a success.