Ikea Kitchen Remodel

by Rose Elder

Adam and I purchased our home in San Diego a couple of years back. Most San Diegans that have been on the market for a house know how tough it is to find one. Let alone the right one.

a) An available home that meets your family’s needs

b) A house in your price range in the area that you want

c) Then you have to survive the offer battle and actually get the house

I won’t bore you with the details but we found a house that we can grow into, at least for the next few years. The condition of the house was pretty good, the previous and only owner took great care of it. It was immaculate, but nothing had been remodeled since 1974. Little by little we have done some improvements, but definitely the major one has been out kitchen.

I am not here to say it was the cheapest, but I did my best. I opted of IKEA cabinets. Why? Well, if I could’ve I would’ve used Henry Built or any modern high end brand featured on Dwell. Ikea was right for us because it had the functionality and technology we wanted and it was in our price range. The new SKETION system was brand new (still current) when we planed out the remodel. The Sketion system is a drawer system so no more bending down to look inside bottom cabinets.

It took me about two months of intense research to know exactly what I wanted. I started to get my inspiration from looking back at all my Dwell magazines of the last couple of years. I also used Pinterest, the IKEA website, but for sure the tool that I used the most for inspiration was HOUZZ.

I used the IKEA online tool to design my dream kitchen. I did hire their $199.00 measuring and design service to make sure all my measurements and paneling were going to function properly. I definitely recommend you to use it to avoid costly mistakes.

I also used IKEA’s company of choice, Trademan I believe its called, for the instal. That company was also a life saver. They installed my kitchen in 3 days without delays. They know exactly what they are doing and the price was fair. I was impressed by their professionalism and punctuality.

Here are the after photos of the remodel:

I added cabinets on top of cabinets to take advantage of the height of the ceiling so I could get as much storage as possible. The top cabinets are meant to go above the fridge. These are 24″ deep, and the bottom horizontal ones are 15″ deep. On the highest cabinets I keep appliances I don’t use as often like my fondue maker or my ice cream maker.

Below is the view of the kitchen from the dining room area.

I did a waterfall effect on my peninsula. I just think it makes it look sturdy and modern. I also added some clear glass shelving to showcase our bar area.

I’m in desperate need to stock my wine holder.

I love having the option of dividing my horizontal cabinets with glass shelves to add storage space and not block the view of the items inside. Plus it just looks clean and bright.