[downtowndurham]

We are getting ready to renovated a building into a loft and have the kitchen layout done, but need to pick out cabinets. Our floors will be carbonized bamboo and our ceiling will be wood of similar color to the floors (16' high ceilings).

Anyway, our architect has suggested using stainless steel cabinets, but it is very difficult to find ones that fit in all the spaces that we have, mainly the sink cabinet that doesn't come in 24".

The appliances are in the places they have to be for the plumbing, so we have to work with what we have. We have put together a wall of red cabinets around the fridge, would like stainless on the base cabinets and glass uppers. The corners seem to be problems b/c there are no corner cabinets in stainless and not sure they will fit together well the way it is set up.

Since we don't have room to turn the corner with corner uppers, we can put the wall up to the cabinets in the corner so there isn't a huge open space.

If anyone has suggestions as to how to improve or fix the design it would be greatly appreciated.

[DesignDiva]

How do YOU feel about stainless, though? Because your architect isn't going to be the one constantly wiping off fingerprints!

Your plan shows a 24" hood over a 30" range...you'll likely want at least a 30" and possibly a slightly larger one depending on the type of range you get.

One possible issue is the lack of any drawer space wider than 18". And a 24" sink is pretty small, especially if it is your only sink.

Do all the walls actually exist, or is the space more open? There are other options besides the blind corners that might work for you.

[downtowndurham]

We like the stainless steel and would like to have it, but not if we can't get everything to match on the lower cabinets.

Range hood will be 30" but not from ikea.

24" sink will be the only sink and that seems to be the way we will have to go. We don't really need a lot of sink space though (it's just my wife and I). And when we have parties everything goes straight to the dishwasher.

The walls that exist are behind the range and fridge. The other 2 sides will be open. The sink side will have a larger counter height bar and will be open to the large open living area.

[DesignDiva]

If you're going to have access under the bar, consider using a cabinet turned to open from under the bar rather than one of the blind corners. That way, you'll be able to access the entire cabinet.

[yankeelawyer]

I am installing stainless steel cabinets in my kitchen. I don't worry about fingerprints because I use the handles to open things and have had stainless appliances without fingerprint issues. But then again, I am pairing these with honed Carrera marble counters and ebony-stained oak floors, so I guess I am pretty brave!

There are two companies I have spoken to regarding custom stainless doors, and I have received very nice samples from both. One is Maplecraft USA (maplecraftusa.com ). The other is Lasertron Direct Lasertron Direct - Stainless Steel Kitchens, Stainless Steel Cabinet Doors, and Outdoor Stainless Steel Kitchens. . Lasertron offers a fingerprint-resistant coating as an option, as well. I have a sample of it and it is very hard to make a print on it. If you contact Lasertron, you can arrange to have a sample door sent to you, and they also provide a very helpful binder with a number of small samples of the various finishes they offer. Either company can do any size you want, and the doors can be pre-drilled to accomodate the IKEA (Blum) hinges.

Also, if you need an odd cabinet size, you can get that cabinet from another company , have it made custom. or modify one of the IKEA cabinet boxes.

I have collected a lot of pics of stainless kitchens recently; if you want to see any I can post some later.

Regarding the bamboo, I know it is popular because it is "green," but I would think hard before getting that. We had it in our other house, and replaced it because it is softer than one would think. We chose white oak most recently because it is more durable. There is another poster on this board who installed dark-stained bamboo and said he regretted it (though his pics looked great to me).

[Peggy Deras, CKD, CID]

You might take a look at the various sizes of 24" upper cabinets to see if the doors could be used on a 24" base as full-height doors, or as a pair of doors below a false drawerfront.
Lots of manufacturers make base cabinet doors the same height as a wall cabinet doors to simplify how many door sizes they have to make.
Ask the engineers with IKEA if there are any doors in stainless that could be ordered to replace base cabinet doors.

[yankeelawyer]

Originally Posted by Peggy Deras, CKD, CID

You might take a look at the various sizes of 24" upper cabinets to see if the doors could be used on a 24" base as full-height doors, or as a pair of doors below a false drawerfront.
Lots of manufacturers make base cabinet doors the same height as a wall cabinet doors to simplify how many door sizes they have to make.
Ask the engineers with IKEA if there are any doors in stainless that could be ordered to replace base cabinet doors.

In the US, IKEA does not have upper cab doors in stainless. Or at least they dont anymore (they may have had them when it was called numerar, which has now been replaced with the Rubrik line). But, I believe that in Europe they have the upper cabs in stainless. I do know that in Europe the IKEA upper cabs are not installed on a rail system as they are here, and my understanding is that stainless upper cab doors pose a weight problem for the US rails. In any event, even if one were able to procure the doors from Europe, at that point it would be much less expensive to simply get custom.

As I had wanted to do mostly full height doors, I was disappointed to find that IKEA has no stainless doors that are 30 inches high in the US. They only have the 15 and 18 inch wide with the drawer on top; the 30 and 36 inch wide 4 drawer base cabs (with the two top drawers working or false), and the stacked 4-drawer base in 18 inches wide.

I believe the maplecraft usa stainless doors are comparable in price to the IKEA ones, and imo, they are nicer quality as they do not have extra hinge holes that need to be plugged (the inside of the Rubrik stainless doors are drilled on the right and left sides, so you always have 2 unattractive, extraneous holes on the inside of the doors), The maplecraft ones are also slightly lighter in color and brighter. The lasertron fingerprint resistant ones are excellent, but more expensive.

[ianai]

Hi! I tried to pull together a design, but based on your requirements couldn't come up with much worth posting. I'm having trouble visualizing the look you're going for, mostly because it looks horrid in the planner. Obviously the Abstract Red is gorgeous, and the stainless is quite sharp as well - my how the planner detracts from that on both counts. Anyway, I think you're going to have to make some compromises to say the least if you wish to go with IKEA cabinets. I'll upload what I did for the heck of it, but with advanced apologies as it simply doesn't comply with your guidelines.

[yankeelawyer]

ianai,what format is your design in? I couldn't open it, even when I tried opening it with the IKEA planner. I wanna see too! : )

[ianai]

Ahh, I fixed the attachment. The name was so long it cut off the .fpf and just left .f .