[parable]

[sub]I'm currently installing Hallarum doors, and I have one cabinet that's significantly darker than the rest. My husband and I moved it around to see if that would hide the difference, but it's pretty obvious that it's from a different color lot.

Has anyone else had this happen? And can anyone tell me how I might get a door from a color lot that's closer in color to the rest of the ones I have?

Any info would be much appreciated.[/sub]

[probookie]

Don't panic, parable! I have not had to return many purchases to Ikea, but Troy, the kitchen customer service adjustmentsguy atCollege Park, isa prince. Our cabinets were delivered in February last year, and we didn't install the last cabinet door untilNovember. Ten months, but we weren't in any hurry.

The last door! **roll of drums, please** Butour ta-da! moment turned into an augh! moment when the last Tidaholm door proved to have an ugly dark knothole on it. I left an anguished voicemail on the Ikea customer service line, describing with some drama the depth ofour disappointment. I included our customer number from the cabinet order, and ended with "How doI go about replacingthis defective door?"

No response. Four days with no indication that Ikea had gotten my message or cared about my door. On the 5th day, a voicemail was waiting for me at work: Troy telling me that a replacement door would be shipped pronto. Thepackage wason the porchthat afternoon. I still have the knothole door and will use it to experiment on if I ever want to try something outrageous with the finish on the cabinets.

If you live near an Ikea and it has your doors in stock, you could probablyreturnthemiscolored one for quick turnaround, butI have had good luck so far withIkea order adjustmentover the phone.

[pmcall]

For those who live near Ikea: I've returned Nexus birch doors on more than one occasion because of wild color variations. Never a problem with the return -- just said "store credit" and then went inside to order another. (They would've exchanged it at returns, but I had something else to look at.) Last time, I took a drawer front of the right color with me and opened the door box right at the pick-up counter, explaining why. The Ikean there was very willing to go get more for me to look at -- he seemed pickier than I was about the color match. This is at the Seattle store.Â* Pam

[parable]

Thanks so much for the advice. I plan to return it, order another, and match it with one of the ones I already have. Ahh the Ikea Odyssey continues...

Thank you again for your help!

[seaweed]

My Hallarum doors too didnt match very well...

[Brutus(swe)]

To be sure that the color is consistent on all of the articles, you should make sure that they are all from the same vendor (the 5-digit number on the package, usually below the bar-code).

Different vendors may vary slightly in color.

[penthesilea]

When we did our Hallarum kitchen we had a 1/3 changeout rate, seriously, and then a 1/3 of those got re-changed out before we got a full set of doors that were acceptable. Different colors were the least of the problems--badly applied veneer, chips, etc. were others.

Luckily, Seattle Ikea was very patient and let us do our changeouts. We ended up with a nice set of doors.

We *still* then got them coated with an extra coat of conversion varnish for protection. They look much better.

[dece9410]

I'm glad you mentioned this. I was planning on using Hallerum, but now I think I'll use the new Brown-Black. Sounds like it would be very tedious to keep exchanging doors, though I like the style.

[penthesilea]

Oh well, didn't mean to scare you off them, since I really love them--just thought I'd share the process. After one evening spent on the floor opening boxes, we're very happy with them now, and it may just be my pickiness anyway...

[laurie]

penthesilea: We're considering using the Hallarum. I'm interested in the varnish you used. I wouldn't want to make the cabinets shiny. How did it look after applying it and how have they been holding up?

Laurie