[kevikevs]

hi everyone! amazing site, very helpful, especially to newbies like myself.

my question(s)...

i'm starting to plan a small renovation of my kitchen base cabinets. i like the idea of free standing cabinets, and am initially leaning towards the Bravad line. however, there are fewer options in the bravad line. i've read some posts here that suggest AKURUM line can be freestanding as well. is that true? would it be a bad idea to set up an AKURUM base cabinet on legs and let it 'freestand'? would i have to connect to the wall, via a L bracket perhaps? or are Bravad base cabients specifically sturdy enough to stand on their own (four) legs? i've looked @ the AKURUM legs but didnt get an indication of how much weight these cabinets can take only standing on four legs.

what do you guys think?

much love!
kev.

[NBeth]

You'll see islands at Ikea and everywhere built from Akurum plus legs, so no problem. Each set of four legs can support half a ton of weight! You should connect the cabinets to one another, however. This is no great trouble to do and will make everything look much nicer. Some will anchor the set to the floor in a few non-obvious positions, but if you don't live in earthquake country, you may not need to do that. I'm not sure why you won't want to attach to walls? Again, it will help everything look nicer as the set will be lined up and all. Is the kitchen in the middle of a loft?

[kevikevs]

thanks for the reply.

the cabinets will not be in the middle of a loft. i didnt want connect to wall for 2 reasons..

1) i like the idea of being able to move base cabinets to say.. fix a wall, clean, etc.

2) i want to do this on the cheap. and thought connecting to the wall would mean i may need to hire a professional. btw, to connect base cabinets i assumed it was more than simply connecting via L brackets or something simple)

am i waay off? what do you think?

[tomkist]

Connecting cabinets together is a breeze, and connecting them to the wall is almost as easy - assuming your walls are roughly square, flat, and standard building materials. In most cases, attaching them to a wall helps ensure they stay in place. My in-progress renovation, they're attached with screw-in metal drywall anchors, except the one place that I hit a stud (use a wood screw and washer).

Do you have plumbing that you'll have to worry about?

[NBeth]

Not to worry: attaching to the walls is easy! Ikea supplies the internal brackets and you supply whichever kind of screws are appropriate for your kind of wall. We did everything to build our kitchen except electrical, custom ductwork fabrication and installation, and plumbing (but we could have done plumbing with sufficient time available to us). That means design, assembling cabinets, leveling them in relation to one another, attaching them to each other and the walls, cutting and finishing counters, tiling, etc..

[ajikeanut]

I am using the akrum base cabs for my workroom with tops on Capita legs. They will be just fine if you don't have plumbing or tall wall cabs sitting on top.

[kevikevs]

plumbing.. great question! i am trying to figure out how to deal with the fact that my sink drain enters from what would be the middle of the cabinet side. should i be considering making a cut in the side of the sink cabinet to accommodate the drain?

another question.. with the akurum series is there a cabinet i could use to house a dishwasher?

ps. thanks to everyone for their replies. this is really helpful.