HS Design Studio | Kitchen Upgrade Review
Jeff at HS Design Studio called us when it was time to upgrade his IKEA Kitchen. Seeing that he was an established Designer & Contractor with a popular DIY YouTube Channel we had to collaborate with him. Jeff wanted to remove his Grimslöv fronts on his IKEA base to freshen up the look of his kitchen. He went with Midnight SuperMatte Lancaster Wide replacement doors and he couldn’t be happier. In our blog post this week we feature Jeff’s final review of our products and how well they worked for his IKEA Kitchen Remodel.
IKEA Kitchen Custom Fronts | Long-term Review of Dendra Doors
Hello. It’s been a while since I’ve sat in front of the camera. Things are busy. We’ve been out of town working on projects, but we’re here today. We’re coming back to talk aftermarket doors and IKEA kitchens. In particular: my long term review of Dendra Doors. If you missed parts one and two of this mini series or this review series on Dendra Doors, I’ll link them down below. So, they’ll be down in the description of this video.
Those of you that are new here, or maybe just don’t remember, back in the fall, I revamped the base cabinets in my kitchen, replacing the old IKEA doors with new aftermarket ones from Dendra Doors. I was never really happy with my original IKEA doors. They didn’t quite match the Shaker profile between the base cabinets and the wall cabinets, and they were a pain to keep clean.
Before I get into it, a quick recap. The install was extremely straightforward. I was able to remove all of the old doors and panels and install the Dendra Doors in an afternoon. Even the door for the 12 inch pullout cabinet with no pre drilled holes was an easy swap. I ordered the door without holes particular for this cabinet to avoid the little plastic caps that IKEA uses to cover the hinge holes when they’re not in use.
Just one of the benefits with Dendra Doors. The simple fact that I can completely revamp the esthetics of my kitchen in an afternoon is pretty sweet on its own. Never mind the fact that I can do it by myself. But let’s dive into it and talk about sort of my long term review and my thoughts after six months of use.
An IKEA Kitchen Facelift in Detail
If you remember back to the initial videos, I had two major concerns after kind of install and the initial walkthrough. The first were fingerprints on the backs of the doors. They were really showing up and becoming really obvious when I was working with them. And the second was the square profile trim or not trim, but the square profiled edge.
It wasn’t beveled on the one side of the cover panels and particularly the backside of the cover panels. First fingerprints. I am really happy that fingerprints are not an issue on the front of these doors on that matte front. Finish these doors. Yes, there is a bit of fingerprinting on the inside. On the inside face of the doors.
It’s most often seen with my littlest one’s fingerprints when he grabs the drawers and pulls them forward and kind of peeks over because he’s not tall enough to see inside. But how often you grabbing the inside of the doors anyways? In terms of the outside, there is no more fingerprints on them than any other matte finish or dark color that I’ve worked with in the past.
Second, the interior edges of the cover panels. One of the things I noted is that there is a nice beveled edge on the exterior, but the interior is more of just a sharp 90 degree corner, and I was unsure how this was going to hold up, particularly because of how I like to install my cover panels.
Cabinet End Panels – Forget the Sidekick
I prefer to scribe the cover panels to extend from the floor to under the countertop for several reasons. First, I think it provides a defined end to the design and completes the kitchen with a nicer esthetic. The second it simplifies install and makes for a better final result. This is somewhat contrary to how IKEA typically depicts these panels being installed.
If you look through IKEA’s design inspiration, you will find that they use standard 30 inch tall cover panels that do not extend to the floor. Instead, the toque wraps around the edge of the cabinet and returns to the wall. You’ll likely also see this when you look at their kitchen islands. I don’t think either way is right or wrong.
It’s just different. The one thing that I like about the finished panel all the way to the floor is it simplifies the process because when you’re wrapping that token, that’s just one more Mitford seam, one more edge that needs to look perfect. I also find when that panel extends to the floor, it gives a better esthetics, the kitchen giving a nice finished look to the end of that row of cabinets.
Now, did I have any problems with that square edge? Absolutely none whatsoever. No chipping, no nicks, no scratches, no issues whatsoever with that squared off edge that goes right to the floor, except for maybe the odd stubbed toe as I’m moving about the kitchen too quickly. But that’s more of a me problem because I have feet the size of water skis.
Long story…. Long? The edge isn’t something that you’ll need to worry about no matter how you like to install the panels in your own kitchen. Now let’s talk about durability. My kitchen is by no means a showpiece. It needs to be a workhorse. Whether we’re working and cooking in it every day, whether it’s baking desserts or breads, or whether we’re preserving stuff come fall time.
a More Durable Kitchen w/ Dendra Doors
The kitchen needs to hold up to daily abuse all the way to the extent it’s in our main living area. And playtime for our kids extends right into the kitchen sometimes. Some days my toddler thinks the cabinet fronts are the perfect backstop to his whizzing cars across the floor. Other days, the older kids think the roundabout are the main central area of our house is the perfect place to play tag or chase until it inevitably gets out of control and one of them wipes out into the cabinets.
Or maybe they’re throwing toys for the dog. And well, again, those faces of the cabinets are the perfect backstop to a game of fetch. Point being, our cabinets get hit often. Well, after more than six months of daily abuse. I am incredibly impressed with how good the cabinets look. In fact, they look no different than the day I installed them and they are head and shoulders above the previous cabinet doors we had from IKEA.
Now, did I have any problems with that square edge? Absolutely none whatsoever. No chipping, no nicks, no scratches, no issues whatsoever with that squared off edge that goes right to the floor, except for maybe the odd stubbed toe as I’m moving about the kitchen too quickly. But that’s more of a me problem because I have feet the size of water skis.
In terms of durability, when it comes to cleaning, I would put them right in line with our Grimm’s Love doors on the wall Cabinet. The molded shaker, a not a true five piece shaker makes cleaning a breeze. Every now and then, we’ll just give all of the cabinets in our kitchen a wipe down, just a wet cloth with some warm water and soap just to freshen up the space, you know, wipe down any dirt or grease that’s built up, whether it’s fingerprint grease or hand and skin oils that build up on the cabinets just from touching them every day.
We just give everything a fresh, clean look. I love the fact that I don’t need to do anything beyond that to keep these cabinet fronts looking great. The last thing I want to talk about today and wrap up this conversation is with a discussion about why I think you should consider aftermarket doors. And the first is selection. IKEA provides fantastic value for a kitchen system.
Custom Options - IKEA Kitchen Remodel
You can purchase literally everything you need to complete a kitchen rental from IKEA. Don’t recommend this, but we’ll save that for another video. Where I can’t really fall short though is in the esthetic department and they just they don’t have a great selection when it comes to different doors, styles and colors. Now they have to choose. And, you know, limit the selection they have because they can’t do an infinite amount.
It’s just not a viable business model. However, what it does mean is there’s a lot of kitchens out there with a pretty similar esthetic. Aftermarket doors, on the other hand, allow you to take advantage of the guts of the IKEA system, the affordable and easy to assemble cabinet boxes. The top of the line bloom hinges and drawer slides and access to their just tons of internal organizational options, all well, using a unique doorstop.
Whether that is through color or style, I mean, just look at the number of laminate fronts offered by Dendra Doors and the numerous colors they can come in. The second reason is quality. IKEA’s quality ranges from their cheapest options to that are most expensive. And it’s different, obviously, or they would all be a similar price point. The problem then lies in: If you want a specific door style, let’s say a slab door in matte white, you’re stuck with whatever IKEA makes in whatever quality that door is.
At least when you go the aftermarket option, you can pick your level of quality, whether you want a full wood door painted or whether you want, say, a laminate door and then choose your slab white within each of those options. Again, aftermarket doors lets you achieve that quality with the style you’re after without being sort of pigeonholed into one or the other.
Final reason is anything with wood tones. Well, I will give IKEA credit. They are getting better here, albeit at a snail’s pace. It just doesn’t hold up. Their new option, their new oak door, looks really good and is a huge step up from any of their previous options. But if you’re after that real wood lock, your best bet is to go aftermarket.
Aftermarket Doors Vs Standard IKEA Cabinets
Hands down, when we renovated our kitchen the aftermarket door economy just wasn’t what it is today. My wife and I were grad students. We were on a tighter budget and we didn’t think that aftermarket doors were going to be feasible. Prices were a whole lot higher for aftermarket doors, and the selection just really wasn’t that good at the time.
So we just accepted that we were stuck within the IKEA system and the doors IKEA offered. However, this meant accepting, like I said, what the IKEA system had, and we were never overly happy with the color, the wood tone of it, the style, the clean ability, pretty much everything with those doors, I guess, from day one. While I don’t think esthetics are everything when it comes to our kitchens, I do think they’re pretty dang important.
How we feel, how we love our kitchens is ultimately going to impact how much time we spend in there and how much we enjoy that time. So if I was to go about the renovation today, there’s no way I’d be making the same concession and just accepting my choice that IKEA, with the amount of selection and options and price points that are out there. As always, thanks a time for watching another video here at HS Design Studio. And until next time, bye bye.
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