Getting around the high cost of kitchen remodels

Sunset, June, 1995 by Bill Crosby

Assembling cabinets yourself can free up money for other kitchen details

Cabinets devour kitchen budgets. So cutting comers with them can allow you to upgrade other parts of a remodel. While aesthetics, not low cost, drove the design choices in architect Jon Stoumen's kitchen in Healdsburg, California, the remodel also shows how this creative trick can work for limited budgets.

Stoumen used stock cabinets from Ikea - a Swedish design emporium with stores in Los Angeles and Seattle - in combination with strictly custom details: new tinted plaster walls, custom stainless steel counters, and a radiant-heated concrete floor. Unassembled components for 15 cabinets cost $2,800. In a typical budget remodel, made-to-order cabinets could easily cost twice that amount, and you'd probably be looking at less pricey alternatives for the wall, counter, and floor surfaces.

First, Stoumen and his family rigorously studied the Ikea catalog. Once they had measured out and triple-checked exactly what they needed and how it would all fit together, they borrowed a track and made a weekend run to Los Angeles. With unassembled frames, doors, hinges, pulls, and other accessories in tow, they headed back north to put the parts together.

After the cabinets were assembled and installed, the counters were dropped down on top of them. The main stainless steel counter, custom-fabricated with an integral sink, cost $1,400; the other 9 feet of counters in the 14- by 15-foot room are butcher block from Ikea, an additional $200. The Stoumens used their existing stove and worktable.

By acting as his own contractor and by assembling the cabinets themselves, Stoumen thinks his family got the whole kitchen done for less than $12,000 - from floor to new ceiling.

"The whole experience was a great family adventure," he says. "Putting the cabinets together was like playing with life-size Tinkertoys."

Ikea stores are in Burbank, Carson, Fontana, Industry, Tustin, and Seattle. To order a catalog, send $2 to Ikea Catalog Request, 20700 S. Avalon Blvd., Carson, CA 90746, or pick one up free at any of the stores.