Kitchen Cabinets: An Open and Shut Case

We Need Cabinets on the Cheap!

Hey, it’s all about the kitchen cabinets today! So I’ve mentioned budget constraints before since we had so many renovation projects to complete. And those constraints definitely applied to the kitchen cabinets. While we had custom cabinets already in the kitchen, they looked crazy! Best we can tell, the choice to incorporate the reproduction stove and antique farmhouse sink was made AFTER the cabinets were ordered. Hence none of the upper or lower cabinets lined up with anything because both the stove and sink are asymmetrical. I thought I could live with it but I quickly discovered that I.could.not! To accommodate the only window in the space, the uppers were mounted so high that they were pretty much useless for everyday use. I’ve included several pictures of the wonky cabinets throughout this post for your viewing pleasure!

There was also the issue of a missing island (the antique piece used as an island was sold during an estate sale). So we needed cabinets and we needed an affordable option. Enter IKEA! Land of not only affordable but also incredibly adaptable cabinets! We decided to forego upper cabinets and build a large enough island to hold full depth cabinets on both sides. This would give us all of the storage space we needed!

A Place for Everything

We designed the kitchen into stations which allowed us to determine the specific cabinets and drawers we needed for each station. The cabinets along the walls were pretty easy to figure out. We just needed a place for pots and pans, kitchen towels, and next to the refrigerator is our drink ware cabinet.

The stations on the island include a trashcan drawer which is closest to the dish washing sink. Across from the dishwasher are the silverware and dish drawers. At the end we have the “leftover” drawers where storage containers and plastic and paper goods are kept. Around the other side is a baking station where my Kitchen Aid mixer is stored on a spring-lift and plugged right into the island. Next to that are several drawers with mixing spoons, measuring cups, mixing bowls, etc. Next to that and right across from the fridge are the drawers where we store everything for food prep. There we have knives, colanders and baking dishes. We have a prep sink on the island so there is a general storage cabinet below that sink and an additional cabinet under the built-in butcher block at the end of the island.

Custom Cabinets Without the Custom Cost!

To have all of these specific cabinets and drawers custom built for the exact dimensions we needed would have cost a fortune. But our IKEA cabinets were incredibly affordable and I love the quality! After a few visits to the store to check out the options, we were able to figure out the exact configurations we needed from home. All we had to do was go into the store to purchase everything when we were ready to do so. We took everything home that same day and were ready to install the cabinets on our own time frame.

I could not recommend IKEA for kitchen cabinets any more highly! I feel as though we now have a truly customized kitchen for very little money! And this is the first kitchen I have ever had where everything is in its perfect location for me. We had so much time and reference resources to plan it all out that we have not had a single regret or “I wish we would have put that over there” moment! And for me that’s priceless! Oh and the old cabinets were put to good use throughout the house; I’ll try to point them out as we go!

Thanks for reading and God Bless!
{Shelley}

P.S. We have not been compensated in any way by IKEA nor do we have any affiliation to IKEA. Just singing their praises on our own accord because we love our kitchen cabinets!