[HMB Kitchen]

Hello Fans!

I'm a new member - and feel as if I've just come over to the Ikea side! Here's my situation:

I live in Maryland (for the next month anyway) and will be moving to California in about5 weeks. The new house currently has agutted kitchen where I thought I could use my original cabinets and paint them white - but no such luck - or maybe, at the end of this, I will think that was actually good luck. Anyway.... I find myself in the situation where I have to have new cabinets in a short window of time... and I am 3000 miles away from the kitchen.

I hired a kitchen designer and then went all over pricing cabinets - Ouch - on both fronts. THEN, I stared reading everything I could find on the Kitchens Forum and decided to check out Ikea. I have since then been slowly gravitating into Ikea fan-dom. I visited the store today and now I am currently working on incorporating as much of my design as possible with the Ikea cabinetry.

So I have started... but I would love any advice on what to do next. As you can see from the above, I haven't been the best about doing things in the right order.

The new house is quite dark (Northern Cal), but we're working to lighten it up (skylights, more lights in kitchen). I like the Adel in MB because it looks so finished - we also have a very open floor plan since we ripped the wall out from the dining room into the kitchen. But I worry about the Adel being too dark. Hubby likes the Adel Birch... which I think I would like as well. We have white oak floors throughout the house (new in kitchen to match the rest of the house) refinished as light as possible (I have no idea how light these will turn out to be.) Therewillalso be an island in the kitchen, which I would like to put a butcher-block countertop on. Would any of you mix the 2 finishes (MB and Birch)? Like birch on the island (and maybe the pantry on the side of the frige) and MB around the perimeter? I also want to have carrara white marble on the perimeter base cabinets.... although I was surprised that I really liked the white marble laminate at Ikea....hmmmmm. The kitchen is L-shaped. I also considered MB on all of the base cabs and nat-birch on the uppers. What aboutusing the MB with Adel white on the island. Would the wood mixed with the thermafoil be strange? I like the idea of some contrast with the color, but maybe I would be better off to do one finish only?

What else?! I guess the biggest challenge is getting the cab dimensions to fit my current design. And I want to get the most storage out of my cabs as possible with all the pull-outs and whatever else you recommend.

I obviously have just begun my Ikea journey; I have so much to learn! I’ll keep reading as much as I can (great site by the way!!) and will appreciate any advice from you.

[Lisa]

I just wanted to jump in and welcome you - then we can start handing out design advice.

Plus, I need to re-read your post



But have you considered Tidaholm (oak)? Do you like contrast with your flooring?I really like the Tidaholm style and I think it looks even sharper than the more popular ADELs.

[GardenOfDarwin]

I second Lisa in welcoming you! Thanks for joining us!

I, personally, like to see a mix of finishes in a kitchen, but I kinda like that unfitted look. Right now, I have old wood cabinets, circa 1960 (?), painted yellow on top and green on the bottom in the main kitchen (haven't gotten to it ripping it out yet) and new Stat White cabs with a soapstone top in the breakfast room along with a black painted free-standing island cabinet with a wood top. Talk about a mix!

Do you have any pictures of your California home that you can post? Often, being able to visualize your space will help others come up with ideas. Use thebuttons in the top right corner of thePost Reply box to add your photos, either inline, or as a hyperlink. Also, if you have measurements, give the Online Planner a try. I'm going to put up a FAQ on posting the results of the Online planner so that others can see and comment on designs. Something else for the list...

Susan

[Lisa]

An island made up of ADEL cream with a butcherblock countertop would be lovely. The woodworktops really look sharp with the white/cream cabinets.

I do think they are discontinuing the marble effect laminate...but they have the Numerar wood (the thicker one) in acacia (oak). And I think either of the remaining wood tone ADELs would work with that scheme.

[Tigratrus]

I can certainly reccomend theRATIONELL drawer/pullout shelves we added one to a 12 inch unit on the end of our cabinet, later got two more drawers and added them too! It's a wonderfully effective way to use what would have been mostly dead space... I second (or is it third)the request for pictures as well. People tend to much more apt to pitch in with advice if they have a frame of reference... Off the top I would maybe consider the butcher blockcounters referenced above but door style for the cabinets is a bit to subject to influence by other colors in the room... Assuming that pictures are a possibility of course, given the distance involved...

[HMB Kitchen]

Hello All - Thanks for the replies. I've been on a much needed 24 hour hiatus from the computer... catching up on some sleep from late-night kitchen forums!

The only computer work I've done is to design my new kitchen with the help of an IKEAN! Very exciting. As soon as I get brave enough... and decide about door styles and finishes, I'll fax the order in.

Susan - I also love the mixed finishes. I picked up a copy of This Old House magazine and they have an article about varying the types and finishes on cabinetry and tables in the kitchen. The pic in the article is great. The idea works well in my 1930 bungalow, but my new house is a 1959 California ranch. I still would like some variety.. Not sure what to do. (By the way, any pictures of your kitchen?)

Lisa - Thanks for the Adel cream suggestion. I read your post and immediately thought "I'm doing it!" - An hour later I'm wondering if the cream would look too close to the natural Adel. Hmmm... As for the Tidaholm, I just can't do the straight up oak. I think I've had too many oak kitchens in my lifetime. The IKEAN I was working with yesterday at the store did try and talk me into the Ulriksdal though. The display kitchen was beautiful. But I don't think DH will go for it.

Tigratus - I'm all over the Rationell! Thanks for the tips. I plan to get as much of it as I can and make the most of my space. I'm not sure if I read this on the fan site or on THS-Kitchens but someone suggested taking out the shelves of a 15" andorder gliders (she gave a source) as a place to put your trash can. I'm going to do that in one of the units.

As of this moment, I'm planning the whole thing in Adel Birch (although a neighbor just popped in and asked if I've considered the Askerum light grey...hmmm...) with thethicker oak countertop from Ikea and slate around the perimeter.

I'll post some pictures of the before kitchen and the demo...

Thanks!

[HMB Kitchen]

Here is the link to my photobucket. There are pictures of the original kitchen and the demo.

http://photobucket.com/albums/b201/H...amp;interval=3

http://photobucket.com/albums/b201/H...amp;interval=3

[GardenOfDarwin]

Pictures? Of my kitchen? I giggle. I've got pictures all over the place...since it's my site, when I need a shot of something for illustration purposes, I just take the camera and snap one! I figured most folks are sick of seeing my pictures!

The truth is, I've only redone the breakfast room at this point...the main kitchen is adjacent to it, and is still sporting it's 1950's-1960's-ish wood cabs that I painted out of sheer desperation when we moved in. The breakfast room recently graduated from "storage/catbox/catchall room" to "classy room with cabinetry and plumbing". Believe you me, though, I'm plotting the main kitchen.

Here's a shot of the IKEA cabinets' part of the breakfast room, in Stat White:



And that's it, so far.

Can't wait to see your pictures! Askerum is a nice cabinet, although gives alot of people a LOT of headaches in terms of matching colors. But nice.... In the end, you'll go with what you love. Or, in my DH's case, with what your spouse loves.

Susan

[HMB Kitchen]

Thanks Susan! I love your picture- and it is inspiring some varying heights in my upper cabinets.

Arethe headaches that come with matching colors in the Askerum cabinets from the boxes not matching the doors? Can you tell memore? Thanks~

[GardenOfDarwin]

Thanks for the compliment! It's not hard to have varying heights--just use 2 suspension rails. Just bear in mind that if you want to have crown moulding, you'll have to also have varying depths, and that's not as easy. Not impossible, mind you, just not as easy.

With Askerum, it's more an issue of finding other colors (i.e. paint, countertop materials, tile, grout, fabrics, etc) to match, or at best....complement. Askerum is kind of a chameleon. Looks different in different lights, and at different times of the day in the same room. Some say it looks gray, some say it picks up on pink tones in their room, some say yellow. Others have noted a greenish cast at times.

It's a very nice door style and the color can be quite the conversation piece if done well. I've seen some gorgeous Askerum kitchens...just depends on what you put WITH it.

Susan