Who says you can’t get high-end quality AND style at IKEA? IKEA’s kitchen cabinet lines (AKURUM in North America and FAKTUM everywhere else) are among the highest quality products IKEA offers (Don’t believe it? Read IKEA Kitchen Quality: Debunking the Myths).  Full-extension drawers and BLUM hardware along with European styling at prices lower than your local big box store?  You really can’t beat IKEA for value.

Read on to see the many fantastic kitchens conceived, created and constructed by IKEA Fans members that show off really how versatile IKEA Kitchen cabinets can be.  We’re starting with a perennial favorite - the gorgeous pairing of high gloss ABSTRAKT White doors with the NEXUS Black-brown slab doors. Contemporary trending toward modern; I say you really can’t go wrong with this combination. Find five kitchens that prove me right after the jump…

imagineblueskies

IKEAFANS member imagineblueskies put together a gorgeous IKEA kitchen using ABSTRAKT White cabinets and NEXUS Brown-black. White countertops, stainless appliances and stainless backsplash make this kitchen sparkle!

Get more of this gorgeous ABSTRAKT White and NEXUS Brown-black kitchen with two whole sets of pictures by imagineblueskies: My “I can’t believe it’s my kitchen” Kitchen - Finished and Updated NEXUS Brown-Black and ABSTRAKT White Kitchen Pictures.

naoumoff

naoumoff puts a large space to use with white countertops to contrast with the NEXUS Black-brown base cabinets, while letting the ABSTRAKT white uppers take on interesting forms. Stainless appliances and fixtures provide a middle ground in both texture and tone.

See the complete kitchen by naoumoff in ABSTRAKT White and NEXUS Black-brown

camargo

camargo contrasts the coolness of the dark NEXUS doors and the starkness of the glossy white ABSTRAKT doors with a warm yellow wall color.

Check out the whole kitchen in the rest of camargo’s pictures of this gorgeous IKEA ABSTRAKT and NEXUS Kitchen

socal59

One of the first ABSTRAKT White and NEXUS Brown-black kitchens in our galleries (back when it was all but impossible to get NEXUS BB!)

socal59’s got more pictures for you to drool over here: ABSTRAKT White (and NEXUS!) Kitchen

Basic Builders

Basic Builders puts together a kitchen with Carerra marble on the counters and backsplash, ABSTRAKT White uppers, NEXUS Brown-Black lowers and stainless accents.  Love it!

See the full set of pictures of the ABSTRAKT White and NEXUS Black-brown kitchen by Basic Builders.

Gorgeous, one and all! Do you have pictures of your IKEA Kitchen to share? We’d love to see them!

For years, those of us aware of the high quality of IKEA’s kitchen cabinet lines (AKURUM in North America and FAKTUM everywhere else) bemoaned the fact that the VATTERN range of IKEA bathroom cabinets just didn’t measure up. The quality of the substrate as well as the finish, whether it be a veneer or a foil finish, was just sub-par. The sidewalls were thinner than they should have been, and the hinges and hardware were flimsy by comparison to the BLUM hardware used in the kitchen cabinetry. Well, not anymore…

GODMORGON!

IKEA has finally woken up! GODMORGON translates to Good Morning, and these cabinets are definitely a good thing in the morning or any time of day. GODMORGON cabinets feature the same type of component based system we love in kitchens, with the ability to mix and match bases, cabinets and sinktops based on your space requirements, storage needs and budget. These new drawers are made of solid wood slats for great ventilation and glide effortlessly on BLUM hardware full-extension drawer glides.

GODMORGON Bathroom Cabinet System

True to the IKEA style, GODMORGON is a component based system. This means that you can mix and match the components to suit your style, budget and requirements. Choose legs/bases, the drawer configuration and finally, the ‘doorstyle’  or finish of the cabinets. After, you can choose a sink to top it off, or provide your own countertop if you’ve the space for additional bathroom cabinetry.

GODMORGON Sink Base Components

Legs / Bases

Choose from three different styles of legs bases in multiple different heights, depending on the configuration of the cabinets you choose. The basic varieties include square GRUNDTAL leg bases in stainless steel (left),  or round GRUNDTAL leg bases also in stainless steel (right), or MOLGER square wooden leg bases (center).  Come to think of it, I can see lots of uses for legs like these…

Or, you could choose the MOLGER frame (Coordinates with other products from the IKEA MOLGER series) and expose everything:

Sink Cabinet Configurations

GODMORGON sink bases feature sturdy 3/4″ cabinet sides that enclose ventilated drawers with adjustable dividers for maximum flexibility in storage. The BLUM full extension drawer runners  allow for great visibility of the contents and the soft close feature prevents banging and clanging. Drawer bottoms are made of scratch-resistant melamine for durability.

Choose from sink cabinets with one, two or four drawers - all designed to accommodate the specially designed IKEA BRÅVIKEN or NORRVIKEN sink drain pipes which are as narrow and shallow as possible to allow for maximum storage in the drawers.

Cabinet Finishes / Doorstyles

GODMORGON cabinets come in a range of finishes including Birch, Black-Brown/White, High Gloss White, High Gloss Gray and Oak.  High Gloss White, High Gloss Gray and Oak doors and drawer fronts are designed with finger grips for a sleek appearance that makes handles unnecessary.  Birch and Black-Brown/White doors and drawer-fronts come with handles included.

BRÅVIKEN / NORRVIKEN Sinks

The really innovative thing about this new bathroom cabinet line is the sinks. Well, actually, it’s the drain pipes that are all kinds of awesome and make you ask, ‘Why isn’t that the norm, rather than the exception?’  The included polypropylene plumbing is designed to fit tightly underneath the sink basin, and the p-trap and drain pipes are located up against the wall.

In addition to the slim design which allows for a full-sized drawer underneath the sink, the IKEA site states that the water trap designs are flexible allowing for easy connections to “drain, washing machine and dryer.”

Single or double bowl sinks in the BRÅVIKEN series are made of a combination of polyester and crushed marble. The countertop is a hefty 4″ thick with shallow sink bowls. The sinks are sold with the above mentioned polypropylene pipe assemblies, drain and the pop-up valve included. Faucets are sold separately, however the sinks do come with an ÄMTEN cleaning agent.  I assume this is a cleanser and not a little guy with dark shades and an earpiece.

Slim and sleek, the NORRVIKEN sinks are only about 5/8″ or 1.5 cm thick! Clean lines are maintained with the shallower than shallow sink basins. Single bowls only in this lineup, but you get a nice expanse of countertop to the right of the sink bowl. The sink/countertop combos come in sizes from 40″ to 55″, with the variant being the length of counterspace available.

Wall Cabinets

Wall cabinets in the GODMORGON line are 38″ high, less than 6″ deep and come in either 16″ wide* with one door, or your choice of 24″, 28″ or 40″ wide* with two doors. Mirrored doors join the lineup of finishes available: Birch, Black-Brown/White, High Gloss Gray, High Gloss White, Oak and Mirror. Doors are self-closing the last few inches which is nice if you’re prone to bonking your head on an open medicine cabinet door.

High Cabinets

Think linen storage. Think towels, washcloths, bathmats, hand towels and bathsheets. Extra soap storage, hand soap refills, an additional bottle of shampoo or conditioner. Everything you need to store in a bathroom can fit in one of these tall cabinets designed to match your sink base and wall cabinets. At only 15″ deep, and 63″ high, you can find a place to snug one of these into just about any bathroom. Add a set of legs to keep it up off the floor and to vary the height to your liking. High cabinets come with adjustable shelves and the door can be mounted to swing either left or right depending on your configuration.

IKEA Bathroom Cabinet Quality

As with all of IKEA’s products, these new bathroom cabinets are put through rigorous quality checks to ensure that they will live up to every day wear and tear. For example, shelves - which are expected to bear the brunt of their weight day in and day out - are tested by weighting them with one pound weights for a period of one week to see if there’s any deflection.

Drawers are another area where failure can be disastrous. IKEA tests GODMORGON drawers by opening and closing them 20,000 times. That’s equivalent to over 13 years worth of opening and closing those drawers four times a day! If that’s not enough assurance for you, IKEA is offering a 10 year warranty on the GODMORGON cabinets.

Still concerned about IKEA Bathroom Cabinets because of moisture, humidity and wetness? Read what other IKEA Fans members have to say on the subject: IKEA in Bathrooms? I have my doubts.

Next in the Series - Powder Room Perfect: LILLÅNGEN

Next in the series is an overview of LILLÅNGEN, IKEA’s fit for small spaces (even powder rooms!) cabinet line with a lineup of sinks that are all kinds of awesome with niches, soapdishes and places for hooks all built right in. Makes me want to trash my space-saving, but storage-poor pedestal sink and start over!

*Cabinet widths rounded off for simplicity’s sake. Please see IKEA.com for exact cabinet measurements.

Mary Ann Esposito at IKEA College Park November 5, 2009

Host of the longest running cooking series on PBS ‘Ciao Italia’, Mary Ann Esposito will present the fifth and final cooking seminar in a series offered by IKEA in connection with Family Circle Magazine and Food University at IKEA College Park on November 5, 2009.

Mary Ann Esposito’s cooking show, ‘Ciao Italia’ has been aired on PBS since 1989 and is viewed on more than 270 PBS stations nationally, as well as in New Zealand and Japan. She is also the author of 10 cookbooks, including many best-selling titles such as Ciao Italia–Bringing Italy Home , Ciao Italia in Tuscany: Traditional Recipes from One of Italy’s Most Famous Regions , and the classic Ciao Italia.

This cooking seminar will be held on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 from 6:30pm until 8:30pm. Each presentation in the series focuses on cooking with fresh, local ingredients and enhancing flavors with spices. Also, tips and tricks will be offered during the demonstration of recipes from Family Circle magazine. Space is limited, so arrive early!

Watch each week! As we learned last week in How IKEA’s ‘Easy to Assemble’ Broke 1.9M Views (Without Cheating), the IKEA Fan site that

gets the most genuine views throughout the season will get written in to Episode 11, the season finale of Easy to Assemble where viewers find out who won the fan-voted ‘Co-Worker of the Year’ between Illeana and Justine.

How fun! Easy to Assemble meets IKEAFANS.com in the virtual world!

National Geographic is going behind the scenes to deconstruct IKEA factories all over the world in the latest episode of Ultimate Factories to air Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT.  See after the jump for the program description as well as how to see 2 video previews!

Ultimate Factories: IKEA

To build and deliver IKEA’s furniture, it takes a global factory network of over 1,000 manufacturing plants, 27 distribution centers, and 300 stores.

In Zbaszynek, Poland, IKEAs largest wood production plant in the world, creates 2 million tables, chairs, sofas and recliners each year. Nearby, in Nowe Skalmmierzyce, IKEAs the companys textile supplier builds over 500 pieces of upholstered furniture daily. In southern Sweden, three ultimate factories create IKEA staples. In Almhult, the prototype for every product is born and an advanced mass produced carpentry factory creates state of the art kitchens. In Kattilstorp, the classic Billy Bookcase is manufactured. And in Hultsfred, the foundation of most IKEA furnishings, the strong, hardwearing particle board is born.

National Geographic’s Ultimate Factory series has been inside some of the most fascinating factories in the world and in the process, has given viewers insider tours of the facilities for Caterpillar, Winnebago, Harley-Davidson, as well as car-makers Porsche, BMW and Corvette. Don’t miss this insider’s view of how IKEA furniture is made!

Ultimate Factories: IKEA Previews

IKEA SELMA Chair & IKEA LACK Table Preview

Watch National Geographic’s Ultimate Factories Online

Watch Ultimate Factories episodes on Hulu.com.  Available right now:

UPS Worldport

Ferrari

Oliver Saucy at IKEA Sunrise November 3, 2009

World renowned chef Oliver Saucy of Darrel & Oliver’s Cafe Maxx in Pompano Beach, South Florida, will host the fourth in a series of cooking seminars presented at IKEAs throughout the US in connection with Family Circle magazine.  The cooking demonstrations are presented by Food University.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Oliver Saucy has been the Executive Chef at Cafe Maxx for over 20 years, innovating and creating extraordinary American food to please the palettes of South Florida gourmands. Rated the best restaurant in Broward County by the Zagat Survey in 2008, Cafe Maxx is also a favorite of Food Network, Gourmet, Bon Appetit and Wine Spectator.

This cooking seminar will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 from 6pm until 8pm. Each presentation in the series will focus on cooking with fresh, local ingredients and enhancing flavors with spices. Also, tips and tricks will be offered during the demonstration of recipes from Family Circle magazine. Space is limited, so arrive early!

Food University at IKEA

Upcoming cooking seminar includes:

November 5, 2009, College Park, MD from 6:30-8:30 PM with Mary Ann Esposito

More IKEA Commercials after the jump!

Tidy Up

Four commercials in a series for IKEA by ad agency, Leagas Delaney.  These ads were originally aired in France in September 2001 and though they’ve often been described as banned, there’s nothing I can find that supports that claim.

Credit Where Credit’s Due

Creative Director: Pascale Gregoire

Art Director: Sylvain Thirache

Copywriter: Aude Mee

Agency Producer: Marie Massis

Film Director: Brian Beletic, Propaganda Films, Les Telecreateurs

Director of Photography: Joaquin Baca-Asay

Producer: Eric Liekefet

Editor: Katz at Cosmo Street

Colorist: Beau Leon

Visual Effects: Phil Brennen

Audio Mixer: Lorin Silber

Sound Design: Sam Londe, Reinhard Denke and Gus Koven

Music Composed by: Chez Jean

Robot Designed by: Cinnebar

All week long, we’ve been bringing you articles about IKEA’s offerings for Halloween in our Halloween Series. From IKEA Soft Toys to IKEA Candy Treats to IKEA Halloween Hacks and Props and even IKEA Halloween Costumes, IKEA has something for everyone on this All Hallows Eve!  Read on for a round up of activities at IKEA US Locations tomorrow to celebrate the haunted holiday!

Halloween Special Events at IKEA US Locations on October 31st, 2009

IKEA Frisco

Saturday, October 31st while supplies last

All kids in costume will receive a FREE Halloween soft toy on October 31st! Stop by the Bistro to pick one up! *while supplies last, all kids 12 and under, one per child.

IKEA Tempe

Halloween night - Saturday, October 31st

KIDS: Stop by IKEA Tempe in your costume on Halloween night - Saturday, October 31st - and you’ll be rewarded with a free gift (value of $14.99) for showing us your special outfit. Valid from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for children 7 and under.

IKEA Woodbridge

Saturday, October 31st from 12:00 - 3:00pm

Join us at IKEA Woodbridge for a Halloween SPÖKA Event. Saturday, October 31st from 12:00 - 3:00pm in the restaurant. Enjoy snacks, play games and Miss Lyn will be painting faces. Entrance fee is a $5 donation that will benefit UNICEF.

IKEA Charlotte

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 Trick or Treat Night at IKEA 5:00-7:00 pm

Looking for a safe place to bring your children on Halloween? Bring them to IKEA Charlotte on Halloween for a safe and fun night of trick or treating. Stroll throughout the store and stop at various spots along the way for some tricks or treats for your little goblins and ghouls. This event is free and open to children 3 -12 years old.

IKEA Seattle

Saturday, October 31st from 10am to 3pm

Kids 12 and under are invited to dress up in costume and trick-or-treat throughout the store for goodies and prizes. Plus, see some of our IKEA co-workers dressed up in their Halloween costumes!

IKEA West Sacramento

Saturday, October 31st Trick or Treat Night at IKEA

Looking for a safe place to bring your children on Halloween? Bring them to IKEA West Sacramento on Halloween for a safe and fun night of trick or treating from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Stroll throughout the store and stop at various scary spots along the way for treats for your little ghouls and goblins. This event is free and open to children 3-12 years old.

IKEA Schaumburg

TRICK OR TREAT IKEA: Saturday, October 31st

All kids 14 and under can trick or treat IKEA on Halloween. Visit three locations throughout the building. (IKEA Restaurant, Smalland, and the bistro) Must be in costume to participate. Halloween: Saturday, October 31st

IKEA Twin Cities

Saturday, October 31st

All day trick or treating for kids under 12. Must be in costume to participate. Halloween: Saturday, October 31st

IKEA Detroit / Canton

Trick or Treat on Halloween!

Halloween Trick or Treating throughout the store! From opening until 7pm, the kids in costume can trick or treat while you shop!

‘

Wow, I vote for Illeana! Illeana Douglas sent a personalized video thanking IKEA Fans for our support of her web series for IKEA: Easy To Assemble. In an article  published this week on Tubefilter.tv, How IKEA’s ‘Easy to Assemble’ Broke 1.9M Views (Without Cheating), Tubefilter co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Marc Hustvedt discusses the importance of IKEA Fans in the early success of the web series with Wilson Cleveland of CJP Digital, and yours truly (that’s me!) of IKEAFANS.com.

On the Importance of Brand Fans

From Hustvedt’s article:

Cleveland likes to throw around the phrase ‘pride of ownership’ when talking about empowering the brand’s fans. “If there’s a brand sponsoring a show and that brand clearly has an existing community of enthusiasts, you want to give each of them some pride of ownership in the show and making sure it succeeds,” Cleveland added.

“Being able to embed the player into our site’s architecture and knowing that the number of views from our players were to be counted for a competition made it a lot of fun,” Martin said when asked about the competition. “After revamping our site’s infrastructure last year, we’re also in a better position now to participate in promoting the show, to feature the series on the homepage and as an ongoing feature in our sidebars.”

“Smart companies know who their fans are,” said Cleveland. “Having an entertainment property associated with a brand not only gives its enthusiasts something to discuss and enjoy, but it can always engage those audiences who weren’t fans before.”

Since the premiere episode on October 8th, IKEA Fan sites have contributed over 510,000 views (see chart below) of the branded show set in IKEA Burbank, starring Illeana as well as c0-stars Justine Bateman, Tom Arnold, Ricki Lake, Cheri Oteri, Jeff Goldblum, Keanu Reeves, the guys from Ask a Ninja: Kent Nichols and Doug Sarine as well as a myriad other Hollywood stars.  See all of our coverage on Easy to Assemble, and watch each new episode on Wednesdays, right here at IKEAFANS!

Easy To Assemble Views

Series launch date: October 8, 2009  (Data measured through October 28, 2009)

• My Damn Channel’s onsite player: 545,131
• My Damn Channel’s YouTube channel: 6,601
• My Damn Channel’s Dailymotion: 1,019
• Easy to Assemble’s YouTube: 29,153
• Easy to Assemble’s Blip.tv player: 251
• Easy to Assemble’s Facebook player: 702
• Easy to Assemble’s Dailymotion: 364
• Easy to Assemble’s Funny or Die: 55
• easytoassembleseries.com: 4,846
• IKEA fan site players: 511,497

I join Illeana in saying Thank You to all you IKEA Fans for helping to make this such a success!

TGIF - Thank Goodness It’s Finished! Long overdue but just in time for the weekend, here’s installment three in our series on How to Stock a Home Bar Like a Pro (For Cheap). During this three-part series, we’ve found that it’s possible to stock a home bar cabinet for less than $100 easy at IKEA.  Now find out how to store your bar accoutrements in style! Read part one on glassware and part two on utensils, barware and equipment.  And please - drink responsibly!

Hacking IKEA Cabinets into Bars

Over on IKEA Hacker, we found this EXPEDIT cabinet by Mike:

And this bar counter made by Eric with and EFFEKTIV high cabinet, a PRAGEL countertop and 2 VIKA BYSKE legs.

IKEA Sideboards, Cabinets and Bookcases for Bar Use

Here are some of the ideas we’ve come up with (or have been suggested to us!) for use as bar cabinets.  Below, three radically different styles of sideboard - each equally suitable as a bar cabinet, and can double as a serving area as well. From top to bottom: TROLLSTA sideboard in Yellow, also available in black ($349); IKEA PS Cabinet in Red, also available in white ($99.99); BJURSTA Sideboard in Black-Brown, also available in Birch and Yellow-Brown ($249).

For the more vertically oriented, you have many options not the least of which are the BJURSTA in Black-Brown, also available in Birch or Yellow-Brown ($349), the IKEA STOCKHOLM cabinet with the cool round door in warm oak for $299 or good old BILLY with BYOM doors in Black-Brown or any number of other finish options.

We recently picked a couple of the discontinued ESTETISK CD/DVD cabinet for only $10 each:

Lighting Up Your Bar Cabinet

Non lights light up the inside of Mike’s EXPEDIT shelving unit cum bar:

IKEA TRETTIOEN LED lights light up the interior of this BONDE bar cabinet by A.J.Kandy, seen at Flickr.com

Liquor Storage

E-gullet brings us cabinets and shelves overflowing with liquor!

So, there you have it! Everything we know about stocking a home bar at IKEA. I’m sure we’ve missed a bunch - what do you know that we missed?  Tell us by clicking on reply!

NOTE: *IKEAFANS does not condone drunken underage partying. This article is directed at those ‘back to college’ after a hiatus … long after their 21st birthdays.Everyone knows college kids drink out of beerbongs and funny beer hats anyway.Please, if you’re going to drink, drink responsibly.