How To: The Ikea Kitchen Cabinet

In 2009, Dwell reported on the Ikea kitchen cabinet phenomenon, and five years later it is still going strong. From off-the-rack to custom, these kitchens use them best. Slideshow

This tiny Stockholm kitchen is outfitted with cabinets from Ikea, painted a serene powder blue— a custom shade matched to one of resident Saša Antić’s favorite cashmere scarves. Photo by: Jonas Ingerstedt

Writer Dan Maginn’s Ode to the Ikea Cabinet says it best: “O CABINETS, thou art affordable and shall fit like 
Careless laughter on our walls! Yet ye remain incomplete. 
’Tis time to cloak you properly. What color are thy doors 
And drawers? Be ye wood’n made, or be ye glossed in shiny Resin? Do steely knobs populate thine countenance? Companion! Like siblings at play with Mr. Potato Head, let 
Us now select a proper face for our Kitchen-Tuber. Duvbo? We smileth not at thee. Ärlig? No—thou art too white. Lo! Who’s this? Companion! What think thee of Linjär? Aye! 
Blue of face, sleek of handle, (shines she not brighter
’Pon our approach?) LINJÄR! Thou art ours!”