Kitchen Cabinets

I'm not a fan of particle board.  The main complaint is the glue that is used to stick all those little pieces of wood fiber together, which usually contains formaldehyde.  I investigated a company that produces semi-custom, environmentally sustainable cabinets and found that one base cabinet would run about $1,500. Yikes, talk about sticker shock!

Well, for just two hundred dollars more, I got my entire kitchen at Ikea and saved money by transporting it home myself.  (FYI, all the cabinets and counter-top in these photos fit in and on top of my Honda Fit in one trip!)  That decision was made a little easier knowing that they've actually eliminated formaldehyde (or nearly so) from their products.  See this link.  In fact, the cabinets have no significant smell, unlike the other particle board furniture I bought in the past.

While I'm not a fan of Ikea's no-words instructions, I liked everything else about the experience of designing, buying and assembling and installing the cabinets:

• I used Ikea's online planner and worked out a few details in the store with their kitchen experts before finalizing my order
• Once the order was placed, they rolled out all my stuff on three carts.  They had everything on my order and nothing else--no going back to work things out
• Everything is cut and drilled to precise tolerances so everything fit perfectly
• I'm used to assemble-it-yourself companies including one extra of all the screws, fasteners, etc.  Ikea counts everything exactly and there were no missing parts
• This sides of the cabinets are finished (white) so it is optional to add a finished panel to match the front style of the cabinets.  Since my cabinet faces are off-white, I didn't even bother.
• The drawers and hinges work smoothly and have up-to-date soft-close technology (I paid extra for that)
• There are many options for the cabinet faces and counter tops, and I found one that I liked.  I was particularly thrilled to find a solid oat laminated counter-top.  I expected this to be hard to find and/or pricey, but not so.

It does take time to do the installation, and there is a bit of a learning curve.  I needed a friend's help the first day to hang the cabinets, but it was a snap to do the drawers and doors myself.  A DIY person may not like the fact that the drawers/doors do not come pre-drilled for handles.  In my case, that was desirable because the hardware I chose had a non-standard 5" screw spacing.  I couldn't even find a drilling guide to buy for that size handle.  No sweat, I built on myself and it worked out fine.

Starting from left to right, since this cabinet abuts

 a wall.

In my original plan, I was going to build the pantry myself, with the clay plaster walls showing on the left side and back of the cabinet.  Well, time being in short supply I decided to buy the cabinet to move things along and maintain a more consistent look.  However, the wall outlet, which I had planned to be hidden inside the pantry, was now behind the side wall of the cabinet.  I happened to have a 5" hole saw in my toolbox (ask me about that!), so I chose to do that rather than trying to make a precise-looking rectangular jigsaw cut.  Not ideal, but acceptable.

All cabinets installed

I bought a reclaimed undermount sink, so I needed to be super careful cutting out the hole.  I bought a 4" hole saw and drilled the four corners in order to match the 2" corner radius of the sink basin.  You can also see the hole for the faucet.  I'm a big fan of the one-hole faucet with integral sprayer hose.  It make for a very clean look.

Four holes drilled and very carefully cutting out the edges.  My dad happened to have a very precise Makita jig saw with extremely sharp blades.   This is the first tool of it's kind that I can control within a pencil-line width if I cut slowly.

I probably spent an hour and a half cleaning up the hole and rounding off the edges.  Most of that time was smoothing out the rough cut from the hole saw.  My cut-out turned out to be more regular than the sink itself!.  After installation, there are a couple places where the wood and sink are about 1/16" out of alignment, but that's well within my comfort-level for exactitude.

All finished, almost.  I'll be installing a curtain over the lower part of the pantry cabinet and the area under the sink.  The curtain on the pantry is a nod to cost (doors are expensive) and convenience since I want to put a coat rack and shelf on the wall in front of the pantry that would have kept the door from opening all the way.  The curtain under the sink saves the cost of a cabinet and maximizes space.  The idea is that while you're in the kitchen, you slide open the curtain to have instant access to trash, compost and recycling.  There are no doors to get in the way of what I consider to be the most under-considered aspect of the kitchen: waste. When you're done in the kitchen, close the curtain and hide the clutter.  You'll also see that I don't have a built-in stove.  Since this is really a guest house that I plan to live in for a few years before I build the "real house"  I'll make do with a 2-burner counter-top induction stove and a large toaster oven.  This article explains the benefits of induction.  While they are pricey, that are super energy efficient, don't heat up the space in summertime, and have the instant-on/off of a gas stove without the explosion potential. (As a rule of thumb, I try to avoid technologies that explode.)