What great response….I too get the feeling KraftMaid is a little more substantial (I am doing wood) but like the Ikea price and am a big Scandinavian style fan. KraftMaid lead time is much longer though….this is a tough one…..
Thanks Jane for your very useful reflections; that will help.
I’ve had both Kraft Maid and Ikea. I’d have to say that the Kraftmaid boxes seem better built; one also has more choices in terms of feet, filler, caps, etc. And the Kraftmaid wall cabinets are available in taller door sizes, something essential for my parlor level kitchen.
That being said, I do find the Ikea kitchens more stylish, plus their pricing is very, very, good. I wish they mad taller wall cabinets. 39″ looks stumpy and lost in a room with a ceiling over 11 feet.
I have used both Kraft Maid (and a similar Canadian cabinet) and Ikea cabinets, when designing kitchens for my clients. I really don’t see all that much difference.. and my clients have been happy with both. The Ikea boxes, only come in 2 colors and that bugs me depending on the door color that is selected. Also, I have needed semi custom cabinets for small kitchens, in order to maximize the space and this option is not available with Ikea kitchens. On my website there’s a picture of a small kitchen I did (Small village kitchen with a view) http://www.janeinteriorsnyc.com. I could not have moved the sink to the corner, which made all the difference in the world in terms of opening up counter space, with Ikea cabinets. I also could not have had the sides and bottoms of the boxes match the cabinet door finish. In this particular space, the Ikea cabinets could not have gone all the way to the ceiling either. The automatic closing of the doors was a standard feature as well on the non ikea cabinets. After all this, I guess I am saying that there are more options when not using Ikea cabinets and using the same contractors, they felt the Ikea cabinets were easier to install. I had some headaches with all the right hardware showing up with the huge Ikea order. I always buy door handles and pulls in a better quality than Ikea offers.. it really takes them up a notch. Hope this helps in the decision making process.
My co-op came with a Kraftmaid kitchen the previous owner had installed: it’s very solid and well-made, but in looking at what my options are in terms of adding/changing it, it seems like the KM line is better for larger suburban kitchens, and the people at Home Depot have not been very helpful in terms of figuring out inventive solutions (if anyone has a better suggestion/local HD where they’ve had good service, please let me know!)
On the other hand, I’m really impressed by what family and friends have done with the help of the Ikea kitchen planners to make the Ikea kitchen stuff really maximize the storage space in tiny apartment kitchens. When/if I redo the kitchen (it’s five years old and it all looks brand new, I have to say), I will probably go for Ikea just for that reason.
I put Kraftmaid in my old co-op and my new house has Ikea. And comparing the two, I think the Kraftmaid seem a little chunkier and more substantial. I do like the design of the Ikea cabinets (I didn’t choose them, they came in the house), but they have a lower quality feel to me. The two designs are different- my house is more traditional and my co op was more modern. So maybe that is where the difference really lies. But I gotta say, I liked the Kraftmaid better.
discussing kitchen design on this blog is like discussing which religion is better. You tread lightly if at all. I installed Kraftmaid cabinets in my new kitchen. They are beautiful and solid and I am very happy with them.
I’m sure Ikea makes a good product as well.
Has anyone had any experience with ttp://www.meikitchens.com Its ready to assemble type cabinets like ikea, but it looks really nice, even comes with soft close drawers standard. Seems like a good option and pretty cheap.
We put in an Ikea kitchen. I used a thermofoil door instead of a wood door. I regret the door choice as I don’t think it’s held up well. And I think that when the thermofoil trim pieces are cut, it doesn’t look as neat as the wood door choice either.
But I really wanted cream cabinets – the Adel Cream are discontinued anyway.
But other than that, They are functionally great.
Do wonder about resale though – would people be turned off by Ikea cabinets?
What great response….I too get the feeling KraftMaid is a little more substantial (I am doing wood) but like the Ikea price and am a big Scandinavian style fan. KraftMaid lead time is much longer though….this is a tough one…..
Thanks Jane for your very useful reflections; that will help.
I’ve had both Kraft Maid and Ikea. I’d have to say that the Kraftmaid boxes seem better built; one also has more choices in terms of feet, filler, caps, etc. And the Kraftmaid wall cabinets are available in taller door sizes, something essential for my parlor level kitchen.
That being said, I do find the Ikea kitchens more stylish, plus their pricing is very, very, good. I wish they mad taller wall cabinets. 39″ looks stumpy and lost in a room with a ceiling over 11 feet.
I have used both Kraft Maid (and a similar Canadian cabinet) and Ikea cabinets, when designing kitchens for my clients. I really don’t see all that much difference.. and my clients have been happy with both. The Ikea boxes, only come in 2 colors and that bugs me depending on the door color that is selected. Also, I have needed semi custom cabinets for small kitchens, in order to maximize the space and this option is not available with Ikea kitchens. On my website there’s a picture of a small kitchen I did (Small village kitchen with a view) http://www.janeinteriorsnyc.com. I could not have moved the sink to the corner, which made all the difference in the world in terms of opening up counter space, with Ikea cabinets. I also could not have had the sides and bottoms of the boxes match the cabinet door finish. In this particular space, the Ikea cabinets could not have gone all the way to the ceiling either. The automatic closing of the doors was a standard feature as well on the non ikea cabinets. After all this, I guess I am saying that there are more options when not using Ikea cabinets and using the same contractors, they felt the Ikea cabinets were easier to install. I had some headaches with all the right hardware showing up with the huge Ikea order. I always buy door handles and pulls in a better quality than Ikea offers.. it really takes them up a notch. Hope this helps in the decision making process.
My co-op came with a Kraftmaid kitchen the previous owner had installed: it’s very solid and well-made, but in looking at what my options are in terms of adding/changing it, it seems like the KM line is better for larger suburban kitchens, and the people at Home Depot have not been very helpful in terms of figuring out inventive solutions (if anyone has a better suggestion/local HD where they’ve had good service, please let me know!)
On the other hand, I’m really impressed by what family and friends have done with the help of the Ikea kitchen planners to make the Ikea kitchen stuff really maximize the storage space in tiny apartment kitchens. When/if I redo the kitchen (it’s five years old and it all looks brand new, I have to say), I will probably go for Ikea just for that reason.
Consumer Reports.
I put Kraftmaid in my old co-op and my new house has Ikea. And comparing the two, I think the Kraftmaid seem a little chunkier and more substantial. I do like the design of the Ikea cabinets (I didn’t choose them, they came in the house), but they have a lower quality feel to me. The two designs are different- my house is more traditional and my co op was more modern. So maybe that is where the difference really lies. But I gotta say, I liked the Kraftmaid better.
discussing kitchen design on this blog is like discussing which religion is better. You tread lightly if at all. I installed Kraftmaid cabinets in my new kitchen. They are beautiful and solid and I am very happy with them.
I’m sure Ikea makes a good product as well.
Has anyone had any experience with ttp://www.meikitchens.com Its ready to assemble type cabinets like ikea, but it looks really nice, even comes with soft close drawers standard. Seems like a good option and pretty cheap.
We put in an Ikea kitchen. I used a thermofoil door instead of a wood door. I regret the door choice as I don’t think it’s held up well. And I think that when the thermofoil trim pieces are cut, it doesn’t look as neat as the wood door choice either.
But I really wanted cream cabinets – the Adel Cream are discontinued anyway.
But other than that, They are functionally great.
Do wonder about resale though – would people be turned off by Ikea cabinets?