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10
Saving Big $$$ on an Upscale Kitchen Renovation
Last Sunday's (Feb 9th) edition of "The New York Times" has a sensational article entitled "No Budget for a Custom Kitchen? No Problem—Here's how to get the look of $40,000 cabinets for less than a quarter of the price."
Wow! That got my attention right away. The article explains how architects and designers are saving money for their clients with Ikea cabinets covered with high-end doors and drawer fronts to give an upscale look. Here's a quote:
"Ikea makes a great box," said John McDonald, the founder and chief executive of Semihandmade, a company based in Monrovia, Calif. And inside its Sektion cabinets, he added, Ikea "uses the best hardware you can get." Those hinges, drawer slides and other pieces, he said, are from Blum — the same brand of hardware that many custom cabinetmakers use, although Ikea's products are far more reasonably priced."
Since New York City has lots of small apartments, the article only mentions prices for a one-bedroom apartment where the owner might spend $1,500 to $2,000 on Ikea cabinets and $5,000 on doors and drawer fronts.
The process involves getting ideas from the more expensive cabinet manufacturers like Semihandmade, Reform, Kokeena, The Cabinet Face, Dunsmuir Cabinets, and Scherr. After measuring the dimensions of your kitchen, you can use Ikea's online kitchen planner and experiment with different layouts. Or you can hire a design firm, like Inspired Kitchen Design (InspiredKitchenDesign.com) and for $295 they will create a design from start to finish.
After that, you contact the manufacturer of the doors you like and from your design they will give you a cost estimate and a parts list. Then, depending on your patience and skill, you can install it all yourself or hire a contractor. Also, Ikea has an installation service called Traemand which will do the work for you. For any plumbing or electrical work you should use a licensed contractor.
The article adds that while Ikea can usually deliver in a few days, the doors may take weeks or even months, if the manufacturer is in Europe.
(All photos are from The New York Times)
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