Chapter 1 - IKEA Doors - Ethical and Philosophical Review.
You know how margarine was invented? It was the war and Napoleon needed to feed the masses. Cows typically not doing well during wars, so there was a shortage of milk and thus shortage of butter. Butter is essential to cooking - yeezus! I love cooking with butter - it carries the flavour of everything so well. Pastries are not the same without it. Essentially there is no good life without butter, and Napoleon knew it. So he put out a call to French scientists - 'come up with a cheaper, mass producible, more accessible alternative to butter, so that everyone can a good life!'. And the French invented margarine.
IKEA Sektion doors are like margarine - accessible and affordable to everyone. Anyone can have a good looking kitchen. With proper detailing you can replicate many cool looks - but you already know it - you've seen it done, I do it.
Why am I writing about doors? Well, someone wrote in asking about making a set of doors. I am like, 'sure'. This person shares with me her reasoning for asking me - one - she read my review of the Veddinge doors and - two - she wasn't too keen on the Kungsbacka finish - the finish apparently shows every greasy print [that's black doors for you! - I haven't reviewed the Kungsbacka doors - maybe it's time?].
And then I checked my stats and realized that particular review of the Veddinge doors is a major draw and gets some discussion on forums - 'it influences decisions'. I am not a fan of Veddinge because of very specific reasons.
But you know what? I don't want to be 'that negative guy'. No! I am going on the record and say that Veddinge is a very awesome door - READ the REVIEW. I think that if you are OK with the colour of it and can put up with the issue that I outlined [AND enjoy the benefits of Veddinge that I outlined as well!], that you should totally go for it. It is so affordable and easy to replace - and really, how often do you damage your kitchen doors? And when it does happen - You are not sweating it - because it is easy to find identical replacement - just go to IKEA! Occasionally I purchase an extra sheet of laminate for doors and give it to the client, just so I have easy sourcing in case I ever need to replace something for them.
And don't be jealous of other custom rich looking kitchens - Insta is filled with them - 'tag your bestie' kind of thing - yea....mmm..hmmm. This incredible opulence, rich finishes - typically at that price point there is a designer, so it is well executed - but I sometimes ask, 'is it necessary?' Imagine how they must 'dance around the cabinetry' - or their servants - not to damage it. Because I will tell you that it is next to impossible to do a replacement job well. And knowing the low risk of ownership of IKEA's Sektion you can now be more cavalier with cooking - even with butter!, which by the way is very greasy and will leave greasy splotches behind.
Yep, butter leaves greasy marks behind.
But that is what kitchens are - dynamic greasy environments. To take away from that would be like taking away butter from cooking - what's gonna carry the flavour?
Do you like cooking?
I like cooking. And I personally don't want to be worrying about doors and drawers while I am doing it. It's reasonable - makes most sense - brings out the most pleasure out of cooking - brings the most pleasure out of life!
I believe that it is very important to find things that work for you - serve you best. I have written about this before - IKEA hacking is the way to go with affordable cabinetry. If you are are a DIY person - meaning you will plan, design and create your own kitchen, then don't let me sway you away from purchasing Veddinge doors!
When someone hires me to do their kitchen - my first instinct is always to suggest IKEA doors - not my own! I want your dollar to carry you successfully as far as it can. I want that dollar that you've worked hard for to give you maximum results.
Alright, so we can't quite achieve our goals with IKEA doors? What are the alternatives? What is the next step? I still want to use the IKEA box and hardware - let's make use of what is readily available to us first.
I believe that it is very important to find things that work for you - serve you best. I have written about this before - IKEA hacking is the way to go with affordable cabinetry. If you are are a DIY person - meaning you will plan, design and create your own kitchen, then don't let me sway you away from purchasing Veddinge doors!
When someone hires me to do their kitchen - my first instinct is always to suggest IKEA doors - not my own! I want your dollar to carry you successfully as far as it can. I want that dollar that you've worked hard for to give you maximum results.
Alright, so we can't quite achieve our goals with IKEA doors? What are the alternatives? What is the next step? I still want to use the IKEA box and hardware - let's make use of what is readily available to us first.
Veddinge is also a great modern clean look - nice designs can be achieved. Why wouldn't you want to get that look? My only difference is the availability of colour - so if you want something other than white, like a grey or whatever - you can have it. It's a square nice profile, I design killer fillers for it - looks like a million buck$ - panels I usually build out to 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" and come with some features that make them last a long time - definitely longer than standard panels.
Ok, so if I was to make en ethical pitch for why I would consider my doors - that would be variety combined with durability. For lowers, I only do laminates - they last and they are beautiful. Most reasonable choice for lowers - they hold up best - they will look the same year after year. Bulletproof. I can stand behind a product like that.
Watch the story on Kungsbacka - this is a perfect marriage. Any kitchen doors will show grease - the question is how effortless is the clean-up. If it is easy to clean, then it don't matter that things will get dirty - CLEAN up is EASY.
IDEAL DOORS DON'T EXIST.
To be continued....
