10 ESSENTIAL MISCELLANEOUS

ITEMS FOR YOUR IKEA KITCHEN DESIGN

A Publication of Inspired Kitchen Design

Kitchen cabinets may look like they are just cabinet boxes with doors and drawers, but there are several other items required to complete them if you choose to use the IKEA Home Planner. Many don’t show up in IKEA’s Home Planner’s images or on the material list. You will not be able to install your kitchen without them.

Be sure to buy them so that your IKEA kitchen installation isn’t held up in dealing with these nuisances.

1. AKURUM ADJUSTABLE LEGS FOR BASE CABINETS

These 4 ½” high adjustable plastic legs support the base cabinets and are essential. Also, the toe kicks are attached to the adjustable legs. Four adjustable legs are required for each base or tall cabinet. In the case of corner cabinets, six legs are required.

The adjustable legs contain four to a package so that the quantity of adjustable legs is equal to total quantity of base and tall cabinets.

Plus, you will need two additional adjustable legs for the corner cabinet.

This is how AKURUM cabinet legs look before installing a plinth or toe-kick.

Four adjustable legs are required for each base or tall cabinet. In the case of corner cabinets, six legs are required.

2. COVER PANELS FOR BASE AND WALL CABINETS Cover Panels are shown in the Home Planner and general catalog. They are used to cover the open or visible side of a base, wall or high cabinet. Cover Panels are necessary so that the sides of the cabinet will be the same color as the door.

There’s not a left or right – or up or down – one panel works for all. Just be sure to select the same panel color as your door so that your cabinet colors are uniform.

a. Base cabinets – Use: 24” wide x 30” high

b. Wall cabinets – Use: 12” wide x 32” high

c. High cabinet – Use 24” wide x 79” or 88” high

Cover panels have been used at both sides of each cabinet to provide a finished look.

3. COVER PANELS FOR FILLERS

Fillers are narrow panels that cover the empty space between cabinets. Since IKEA cabinets come in standard stock sizes, it’s nearly impossible for your cabinets to fit exactly into your available space.

This creates a problem for the homeowner who is only using the Home Planner. Fillers are required at every corner and/or when a base or a wall cabinet ends at a wall. Fillers typically range in width from 1” to 3” and are 30” tall for base and standard wall cabinets.

Cover panels for wall cabinets are cut to size to make fillers. Each Cover Panel is 12” wide so you will have to calculate the linear inches of width of all the required fillers and divide by 12” (cover panel). Then, “round-up” to get the total quantity of Cover Panels that you will need to make your fillers.

This information is not available in the IKEA Home Planner, making the process almost impossible for the homeowner to work in a design without additional help.

This is where IKD steps in and helps homeowners.

Fillers are required when a cabinet sits against a wall.

4. SUSPENSION RAIL

This is a single rail from which your wall cabinets hang (an ingenious system because you won’t see any screws inside your cabinet). It’s made out of galvanized steel (meaning it has a protective seal to prevent rusting) and it is 79” long. IKEA’s Home Planner calculates the quantity without considering waste factors or overall cuts of the suspension rail. It’s wise to always buy a spare rail because you will probably need it. The cost for the suspension rail is only $6. IKEA cabinets were originally designed for the European market, where people take their kitchen cabinets with them whenever they move to a new home. However, the system proved to be highly efficient and easy for all markets, so they made it a standard for their kitchen cabinet catalogs.

5. TOE KICK

Toe Kicks cover the area between the floor and the bottom of your base cabinets and they are available in the same colors as the cabinets. Calculating the quantity of toe-kicks is done by adding up the linear inches of all your base cabinets and tall cabinets and dividing that amount by 88” (toe-kick length). Take that number and “round-up” to the next highest number to determine the quantity of toe-kicks needed for your kitchen. You’ll also have to add an additional 24” at the end of every row of base cabinets.

These are the sides of cabinets that you can see and where the toe-kick must return to the wall.

The Home Planner calculates this quantity without considering if the cuts are to be aligned with the door edges, if there are returns at the end of a row of cabinets.

Also, it doesn’t take into consideration that there could be pieces wasted due to installation errors.

We suggest buying an additional toe kick piece always. This will only cost you $15.

Toe Kicks cover the area between the floor and the bottom of your base cabinets

6. KNOBS / PULLS

Calculating the quantity of these items should be easy enough, but the IKEA Home Planner typically calculates too few or too many pieces.

When there’s too few of these items, you will have to drive back to IKEA and buy them to complete your installation. This equals more time and money wasted. The knobs and handles are tricky to calculate since they are packaged individually, or two to six to a pack. Also, you’ll have to consider if you will want a knob or handle on the false drawer beneath the sink, or on any decorative false doors that you installed on the back of an island, for example. Just add up the number of doors in your kitchen and divide this number by the package quantity.

Handles can change the look of a kitchen, ordering the right amount is important.

7. PERFEKT COVER PANEL TO CLOSE GAP AT CEILING

Most ceiling heights are 96”. The problem with this is that the space leftover after installing 30” wall cabinets is 12” - or 3” with 39” wall cabinets. Most people want to seal off this dead space because it accumulates dust and it doesn’t look finished or professionally done. To close off a space greater than 4” (if you used a 30” high wall cabinet) you’ll have to use a 3 x 8 Perfekt cover panel and then cut it down to size. You need to determine the height of the space that you want to close off in order to select the plinth/toe-kick or panel.

Then, total up the widths of all the wall cabinets - along with 12” for every open end. This is the amount of linear inches of plinth/toe-kick or panel that’s required.

Finally, divide the linear inches by 96” (panel/plinth length) to determine the quantity that you will need to buy. You’ll have to buy this material separately when you buy your cabinets.

This step-by-step process is not included in the IKEA Home Planner. In other words, the Home Planner doesn’t calculate this automatically for you.

Close the gap between wall cabinets and the kitchen ceiling for a finished look.

8. TOUCH-UP KITS

IKEA doors can get small scratches or chips; also, they may scratch and chip during installation. All of this is normal and for this reason, professional installers always have small touch-up kits. However, IKEA’s catalog does not offer a touch-up kit. A very simple method to make these small repairs is to simply buy crayons that match the door color. Also, felt-tipped pens work just fine to fix slight damages. For larger blemishes and gashes, you will need to take your door to a home center for a paint sample or stain match.

9. INTEGRATED APPLIANCE PANELS FOR COUNTERTOP SUPPORT

Most countertops require additional support where there aren’t enough cabinets below. For example, this occurs when there’s a dishwasher at the end of a row; or when there are two appliances together such as a trash compactor and dishwasher; or lastly, if there’s an open space for a desk without a cabinet at the end. To provide the required additional support, you will need to cut a 30” x 40” Integrated Appliance panel to the 24” x 34 ½” that’s required for this necessary backing. It’s important that you buy the panel color that’s the same as your cabinet door because the edge or side will be visible. One Integrated Appliance panel is required for each support. IKEA’s Home Planner will not calculate or automatically suggest this for you.

Most countertops require additional support where there aren’t enough cabinets below.

10. PERFEKT COVER PANEL FOR REFRIGERATOR PANELS

The Home Planner won’t show you, or let you, design a framed-in refrigerator. With other cabinet brands, this is done with specifically-sized panels. IKEA doesn’t offer these options. To frame in your refrigerator, you will have to cut a 3’ x 8’ Perfekt Cover Panel. A 3’ x 8’ panel is 36” wide and 96” high. If you’re using 30” high wall cabinets, cut the panel to 25 ½” wide (or your countertop depth) and 84” high. With 39” high wall cabinets, use 25 ½” wide by 93” high. It’s essential that you buy the panel in the same color as your cabinet doors because the edge or side will be visible.

One 3’ x 8’ Perfekt Panel is required for each support.

Design a framed-in refrigerator with PERFEKT cover panels.

You know how it is.

You want a stunning new kitchen design to bring your house or apartment to life, but when you get to the IKEA showroom, you wonder how it will fit into your place. And you also wonder how you will ever bring this ambitious vision to life.

At IKD, we have skilled designers and we use professional design software to accurately calculate the necessary materials for your project and adapt to the specific needs for your IKEA

kitchen design.

Let's get started with your IKEA kitchen design!

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A PROFESSIONAL DESIGN FOR YOUR

KITCHEN

Ikea’s Home Planner is not for everyone

About IKD

We’re a group of eight professional designers who have been skillfully creating kitchens since 2006. This eBook carefully evolved out of a desire to provide personalized and dedicated design services to customers looking to use IKEA products for their home remodel projects.

Our goal is to enable our customers to have their design ideas come to life when using IKEA kitchen cabinets and furnishings, to provide inspiration and technical advice and support, to provide assistance with planning and to help with questions about modification and installation. Finally, we aim to provide answers to both common and uncommon inquiries, specifically about IKEA kitchen design issues.

It is not our intention to impersonate IKEA stores or services. We do not sell IKEA products. IKEA products are sold solely in stores operated by the IKEA Retail System–franchised by Inter IKEA Systems B.V. of The Netherlands.

We are not affiliated with IKEA in any way; we are not IKEA co-workers, partners, affiliates, sales representatives, nor are we sponsored, financially or otherwise, by Inter IKEA Systems B.V.

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www.inspiredkitchendesign.com