Lots of great tips on installing an IKEA kitchen from ikeafan60657

Lesson #1: If you find yourself having to drill a hole “because obviously something’s wrong with the way it was drilled at the factory,” STOP. Ikea has done this before. You have not. You are doing something wrong. Flip the piece over or try it in the opposite direction….see? That’s better.

Lesson #2: You need regular hinges for the pull-out baskets and 153 degree hinges for drawers. You cannot put both baskets and drawers in the same cabinet. You cannot put a drawer at the very bottom of a cabinet with hinges. Nothing you can do will change these facts.

I should clarify…you can put a basket in a cabinet with a 153 degree hinge, but the hinge cannot go next to the basket…it’s too large. So, if you intend on putting a basket at the very bottom of a cabinet with a 153 degree hinge, you’re out of luck…the hinge will run into the basket. If you raise the basket to other areas of the cabinet, away from the hinges you should be ok.

Regarding the no drawer all the way at the bottom, I should have said, no pull-out shelf. The mechanism overlaps the area where you would put a hinge. The only way to get one there is to do a pull-out pantry or actual drawers…no swinging doors.

Lesson #3: While you may be able to take your old cabinets down yourself or put new uppers up, yourself, there is a risk of serious injury in doing so. Ask for help. It’s ok. Really.

Lesson #4: Figure out which sink and faucet and soap dispenser you are going to use and build a template for their placement out of plywood before you assemble your sink cabinet. You may need to trim your sink cabinet and it’s way easier to do it before everything is put together. I learned this the hard way. “No, that bruise on my eye does not mean that I’m in an abusive relationship…I just hit my face on the underside of my garbage disposal while sawing an inconveniently-placed piece of sink cabinet.” It just sounds bad.

Lesson #5: If you use an upper cabinet as a lower cabinet, use a saw and cut off the overhanging parts from the back of the top and bottom. It makes it oodles easier to fasten the cabinets together. If you don’t do it and try to flip the island over, it’s entirely possible for the lip to ’slip’ over/under the other cabinet and break a cabinet. That sucks when it happens, because it took a lot of effort to find someone to help you that day and now you can’t finish.

Lesson #6: Wear eye protection. Those brads like to fly around, and they’re especially hard to put in on the ‘lip’ sides of upper cabinets. Remember, installing an IKEA kitchen is only fun until someone loses an eye.

Lesson #7: If you’re installing an in-the-cabinet hood/fan, install the door hinge before you install the fan unless you have freakishly small fingers or freakishly dexterous small children willing to help you.

Lesson #8: If IKEA says “we’re backordered, but should have them in stock in three months” learn from those of us who were told that almost a year ago when we wanted to order Nexus Black-Brown. Just pick another door style and get on with your life.

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