Ikea: WHY wait? Or, I get served a helping of crow

This is me in an Ikea kitchen in Italy. Disclosure time: this is my only first-hand experience with Ikea cabinetry. I reported in August '08 that the kitchen in the photograph had one redeeming quality, it's location overlooking the Bay of Naples.

A couple of nights ago, I posted an old post up on Twitter. I do that from time to time. It's a way to get some exposure for posts buried deep in my archives that I think warrant some more attention. Considering that no one read my blog back then, I want them to get some attention for the first time. Anyhow, the other night I posted a little gem from August of '08, IKEA can wait. It was a typically ham-fisted and inflammatory slam on all things Ikea, but Ikea kitchens particularly.

Well in the year-and-a-half since that post ran originally, a lot has changed. I know a lot more people from all sides of the kitchen and bath industry and a really cool person I've come to know int he last couple of months (through Twitter of course) is Becky Shankle. Becky is a designer from Raleigh, NC. She's also a blogger, a dedicated businesswoman and she knows how to use Twitter. Becky's business is designing kitchens using cabinetry from Ikea and her work's fantastic.

Needless to say, my ham-fisted rantings about Ikea cabinetry stepped on her toes. She wrote the following on her blog, Eco Modernism, yesterday. I'm reprinting it here with her blessing. So here's Becky:

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Ikea: WHY wait?
January 27th, 2010

Just the facts, ma'am.
Paul Anater's got a post about custom vs. Ikea cabinets over on his blog today. I have to admit that when I first started designing kitchens with Ikea components, I was highly skeptical. I did my own research on it, queried Ikea cabinet owning & using people, talking to the people at the store, checking it out myself.

Of the people who owned & used daily Ikea kitchen cabinets, they overwhelmingly said they would purchase them again, they have had them in place & in use with no breakdowns or visible wear & tear for as long as 22 years. The only negative report I got from the same group was that the countertops faded & scratched unevenly.

Here's some points to compare when shopping around for cabinets:

• Hardware: Ikea uses high quality Blum hardware on all kitchen components. Full extension drawer slides & soft closure mechanisms are *standard* on all doors & drawers. (Are you being upcharged on those custom boxes for such bells and whistles?)
• Warranty: Ikea warrants all cabinetry for 25 years.
• Strength: Every Ikea base cabinet is rated to hold 1,100 pounds.
• Organization: matching drawer dividers & other inserts made for their drawer system make small kitchens run as smoothly as bigger ones.
• Price: The cabinets for an average sized kitchen from Ikea (about 14 boxes - walls and bases) runs about $5,000.

The old standby
As for the argument about particle board, which Ikea uses in all its cabinets, I did some research on that, too. See my post here.

Don't take my word for it.
Ikea is not for everyone. And not all things that come from Ikea are fantastic & high quality (some of their furniture comes to mind). They have, however, engineered their cabinet products very well, & stand behind them with a warranty.

If you have the money & want to spend it on extremely high end cabinets (whatever "high end" actually means), go for it. But don't knock Ikea if you haven't honestly looked at it. That extra $45k could come in handy as a downpayment for a nice cottage in Naples.

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Point made, steaming plate of crow served. Check out Becky's blog, Becky's admirable business model and follow her on Twitter.

Particle board vs. plywood: final findings, advice and taking it to extremes

Last Monday I wrote a post about a little, unscientific experiment I conducted last week. I followed up on Thursday with my initial findings and here we are a week later with my final words on the subject. Maybe.

To reprise, I took two six-inch by six-inch samples made from a cabinet shelves. One was 3/4" particle board and the other was 3/4" fir plywood. They are entirely representative of the materials that go into contemporary, quality cabinetry in the US. I soaked these samples in bowls of water for 72 hours and fished them out to survey the damage.

The big surprise was how little damage there was to survey. Both were pretty much ruined but at the same time, neither had lost their essential shelf-ness. Frankly, I expected both of them to fall apart, but neither did. The particle board sample swelled and grew thicker by 1/16th of an inch. Though not exactly pretty, it would still work as a shelf.

The plywood's dimensions weren't affected at all and the veneer only bubbled and delaminated slightly. The finish got kind of funky but the underlying plywood didn't delaminate.

Final ruling? Don't have a flood where the water is allowed to stand for three days. I think either of those products will hold up to usual amounts of moisture encountered by cabinetry in a typical kitchen. Again, if there is standing water in your kitchen and it lasts for three days, you have much bigger problems than the condition of your cabinetry.

What I tested was an extreme. A more typical water exposure in real life is the slow drip from a plumbing leak. Left unaddressed, a plumbing leak will ruin either cabinetry construction. The plywood construction will probably last longer with that kind of exposure though.

With that said, I still think particle board cabinet boxes are a good option if you're looking to save a couple of bucks on a kitchen remodel. You just have to be smart about how to handle the sink base. Since the sink base is the cabinet most likely to experience a plumbing leak, there are two things you can do to lessen the impact of such a leak.

First, caulk the inside edges on the bottom of the sink base cabinet with clear silicone caulk. Water can only damage particle board by getting into the parts of it that aren't laminated, so seal all the open particle board. In most cabinets, that's in the areas where the cabinet floor meets the cabinet sides. Calk those joints and you'll preserve the life of your cabinetry.

The second helpful hint I have is to use a caterer's tray as a liner.

Slide a caterer's tray into your sink base and push it against the back of the cabinet. Be sure that the tray is directly under the P trap and water cut offs. Should they ever spring a leak, the drips will get caught by the caterer's tray and save your cabinet. Once the tray's been pushed into place, put back the all the stuff you normally keep under your sink.

So after all of that, I never get the destruction horror show I was hoping for when I dropped my samples in their water bowls a week ago.

One of my Twitter friends is Mike Hines and Mike's one of the founders of HomePath, makers of a conduit system called eXapath for wiring homes for cable, internet, sound and entertainment. Check out eXapath if you're looking for a great solution to wire your home. What makes it so great is that the eXapath system will allow you to change and upgrade your wiring in the future. It's pretty brilliant.

Mike, the good natured prankster, suggested that add some heat to my experiment. So I did.

Here's my samples in a bath of boiling water.

I boiled them for ten minutes and I got the destruction I was looking for.

The lesson here is don't install cabinetry next to a geyser or in the path of a pyroclastic flow. I was tempted to conduct tests on my samples involving throwing them from an airplane or under the wheels of a speeding train but I doubt "Don't throw cabinetry from high altitudes at high speeds" would have been a very meaningful finding.

So at the end of the day, my recommendation today is the same it was a week ago. Buy the best quality you can afford and particle board construction isn't automatically bad. I'm glad to know I haven't been giving people the wrong advice. Now I'm off to go perform some fire and acid tests on my samples.

Particle board vs. plywood: the first follow up

OK, on Monday I wrote a post and detailed my plans for finding out what happens when a six inch by six inch sample of 3/4" veneer plywood and a six by six sample of laminated 165 lb. particle board get dumped in water and left for a few days.

The water immersion part of this test ended yesterday and before I get to what I've observed so far, let me state a couple of things. For starters, if your cabinetry ends up floating in water for a couple of days, how well it's going to hold up is the least of your problems. So the odds of immersion are slim at best. Secondly, this is not a scientific experiment by any means nor are the findings that follow some kind of a sweeping indictment or endorsement of these products' categories. All this test does do is test a hunch I had about these very specific samples. OK, with that out of the way, let's get to it.

On Sunday morning at 11:15, I dropped this sample

and this sample into two separate bowls filled with three liters of tap water.

It was 73 degrees and sunny on that fine morning and here's what the samples looked like when they first went into their watery graves.

So I went about my day and waited to see what would happen. I knew they'd be fine for the first couple of hours and sure enough they were. I fished out my samples and photographed them at 15 minute intervals for the first hour. Then I photographed them again at two hours, four hours, six hours and 12 hours. I won't bore you by showing you all of this but if you really want to see exactly what these samples looked like at any of those intervals, I'll gladly send you the images. OK, moving on.

On Monday morning, I fished them out and this is what I saw at the 24 hour mark.

Both samples were still pretty intact. The laminate on the particle board had started to to blister a little bit and its once smooth surface felt almost like an orange peel.

The plywood seemed to be faring better.

Though some of the veneer had begun to delaminate. Neither sample had warped.

At 48 hours things were a little changed but nothing really dramatic.

This is the plywood's edgebanded side. It's still pretty intact and hasn't warped.

This is the particle board's edgebanded side. The particle board's not faring as well as the plywood, but I expected that. It's still not warped but it's about a sixteenth of an inch fatter than it was 48 hours before.

From the side, the plywood looked like this. There's a little veneer delamination going on but for the most part it's still intact.

And this is the side of the particle board. Pretty much the entire surface now has that orange peel texture from the individual wood particles swelling.

At 72 hours I pulled the samples out of the water for the last time.

The particle board suffered the most.

This is the edge, fresh from the drink. The edge tape seems to have held the shelf together and the water got in through the seams along the upper and lower surfaces.

The side's pretty chewed up too. If you click on this photo it will expand and you can get a better feel for the orange peel texture this thing's adopting.

The plywood behaved a little better after 72 hours.

This is the edge of the plywood sample.

And here's its side. You can see some of the veneer bubbling along the left edge.

You can also see a seam where two pieces of veneer meet up. That's the line about 2/3 of the way up the sample.

All in all, this was nowhere near as dramatic as I expected it to be. And frankly, I thought the particle board would hold up better. The plywood's pretty unusable at this point too. I mean, any finished wood that's thrown in water for 72 hours will be toast. Despite that though, I expected both samples to be in far worse shape than they are. That's a good finding.

But we're not done yet. Each of these samples absorbed a fair amount of water over the course of this test and they are both drying out as I type this. As the absorbed water evaporates, the samples will start to shrink.

That my friends is phase two. What do you suppose will happen now? Once either of these engineered products endures a 72 hour flood, what do you think happens? Will either of them still be viable? The humidity's been pretty low so they'll dry out in a couple of days. I will photograph them one last time after they've dried. What wonders await I wonder wonder wonder?

Particle board vs. plywood: an experiment

I get asked a lot of questions about the relative merits of cabinetry constructed with a particle board box as opposed to cabinetry constructed with a plywood box. I find that most people who ask that question are looking for me to agree with whatever their opinion is so I don't argue. It's a topic like religion or politics in a lot of ways. I have my opinions of course and I know what I think is right, but in the interest of peace (and commerce) I keep my mouth shut and nod my head yes.

Some people really, honestly want to know what I think and my usual answer is that plywood construction isn't an automatic indicator of quality or superiority. I tell people that each method has its positives and each has its negatives. Left to my own devices I use both, depending on the job at hand. Particle board tends to cost less and if I can't see it (in the case of a drawer base) why spend the money? Plywood is lighter and can be altered in the field better. See? Each has a strength and a purpose.

Now when I talk about particle board and plywood, I'm talking about the grades of those materials used in better cabinetry. I can't vouch for the inferior versions of those materials because I never deal with them. By better grades I'm talking about 3/4" veneer plywood and 3/4" 165 lb. furniture board that's pressure laminated with a PVC film. Each of those materials carries the same lifetime warranty so I assume they're of equal quality. Further, because the 165 lb. furniture board is held together with solvent-based glues, I've always believed it to be more resistant to water. In fact, I've been told by more cabinetry reps than I can count that it is in fact, more water-resistant than plywood.

When pressed, that's my opinion on the topic, but I have to say that I've never actually tested either of those materials nor have I ever read of such a study. I've always wanted to test it for myself and this week, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Yesterday at 11:15am, I took a six-inch by six-inch square of 3/4" veneer plywood and a six by six square of laminated particle board and I dropped each of them in a bowl of water.

I've been fishing them out and photographing them at regular intervals and the results have been interesting. I'm going to let them soak for a couple of days and then write everything up in a separate post some time later this week.

In the meantime, anybody care to venture a guess about how this will end up? What do you think happens when these materials get wet? I had all kinds of assumptions about how this would go and so far most of them have been wrong. Who wants to go out on a limb here?

A kitchen that Henrybuilt

To say that New York and Seattle-based Henrybuilt builds kitchens would be to underestimate their mission. Henrybuilt builds cabinetry with a level of passion and commitment to craft that I don't think anyone else approaches. Henrybuilt kitchens, wardrobes, offices, baths, tables and seating are painstakingly engineered and manufactured to last a lifetime, several lifetimes in fact. Each Henrybuilt project is an original production and anything they produce is worth every penny that it costs.

Kitchen by Henrybuilt

Henrybuilt is not for everyone, including me by the way. Oh would that I could afford this kind of bespoke cabinetry. But alas, I spent too much time finding myself when I was younger instead of spending that time accumulating a net worth. Oh well, there's still time to build an empire...

Viola Park


Anyhow, Henrybuilt is as aware as anyone that their level of exquisite is beyond the reach of a lot of people, and they've come up with a solution in the form of a brand called Viola Park. Viola Park is a system of made-to-order cabinetry made with the same level of care and passion that's so lovingly heaped onto Henrybuilt-branded cabinetry. In fact, it's hand made in the same Seattle facility where all of Henrybuilt's offerings are made.

Viola Park

Viola Park is different in that it's only available directly from Viola Park, and it eliminates dealers form the equation entirely. Without a middleman and since Henrybuilt delivers everything they make directly, there are savings galore to be had with Viola Park. Even though Viola Park cabinetry is made by hand and to order, they limited some of the options and that brought the price down further.

Viola Park

There are a wide number of layout options available in Viola Park's website, but they are there to illustrate a point and to give some representative prices. In order to render a design and place an order, someone considering Viola Park will be assigned a designer in Seattle who will execute the design and supervise the final product. This is a very good thing. Designing cabinetry and placing cabinetry orders requires a lot of expertise and having someone capable on your side will save you a whole lot of heartache. Not to mention expensive mistakes.

Viola Park

I've been playing around with Viola Park's layouts and prices for the last couple of weeks and it almost hard to believe that the cabinetry prices on the designs I'm showing here can be had for less than $20,000; some times a lot less. It's amazing, really. These layouts are even more proof that a low budget doesn't have to mean a bad result.

Viola Park

Viola Park's website has a page dedicated to determining a reasonable budget, and on it holds some of the most sound advice on kitchen renovation budgeting I've ever come across. There's even an Excel spreadsheet that will help you work out a budget for yourself. What a service that is and it's definitely something that just found its way into my client first meeting agenda from now on. Seriously, if you're thinking about a renovation of your own, please use this spreadsheet. 

Viola Park

Even though the very idea of Viola Park cuts me out of the picture completely, I can't help thinking that Henrybuilt is on to something big with Viola Park. Business models have life cycles and I really believe that the model I depend on for a living is headed toward a significant shift. Who knows where it will end up? But I honestly believe that it's going to look a lot like Viola Park when it gets here.

Christopher Peacock's back

Many thanks to Gina Milne, the super sleuth who writes the great blog Willow Decor. Thanks to Gina's eagle eye, I am happy to report that the darkness is lifting.

Christopher Peacock, the man who has single handedly saved us from the dreaded Tuscan kitchen is making a comeback. In September, 2008; Peacock sold his namesake cabinetry and home decor line to the British company Smallbone. Smallbone hit the skids of the global recession shortly thereafter, leaving the fate and future of Christopher Peacock, the brand, in limbo. Well, Peacock just bought his company back from the flaming wreckage of Smallbone and just rehired his employees. Bravo Christopher Peacock! Here's the press release:

July 7, 2009 -- Greenwich, CT – Christopher Peacock is best known for his cabinetry. For more than 15 years his work has included many private estates and residences throughout the United States, France, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia, Bermuda, Ireland and Puerto Rico. His clientele have come to know Mr. Peacock as the benchmark of quality and exceptional service where all of his cabinetry is produced in the United States. The privately held Corporation had its best year ever in 2008, with gross sales of $20M.

Riding on this success, Mr. Peacock successfully sold his company in September 2008 to Smallbone PLC – a publicly traded UK holding company who already owned a collection of high-end luxury brands. These included Smallbone of Devizes, Mark Wilkinson Furniture, Paris Ceramics and Hopton Works. Sadly, the PLC Group, which was primarily based in the United Kingdom, hit hard times due to the global economic collapse. This turn of events provided Mr. Peacock the opportunity to return to his roots and now re-start the brand that bears his name.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of and lead this dynamic group of designers and craftsman who are all dedicated to excellence once again. We still have so much to offer. In my heart I’m an entrepreneur, and the significant demand for our products and our way of doing business could not be ignored. I felt I had no choice but to continue onward with the brand and the reputation for being the best. By launching a home products collection I will continue to offer well-designed and well built products to designers, architects, builders and consumers alike” said Peacock.

He is a busy man. Along with the five Peacock Home showrooms across the country, he owns Christopher Peacock Paint, and Peacock Manufacturing Company (his workshop in West Virginia). Additionally, he co-owns Peacock & Beale – a fabulous home furnishings store in Greenwich, Connecticut with the renowned designer Connie Beale. “When Christopher Peacock Cabinetry was forced to close down, it left many clients and staff in a very bad place. I was determined to do everything in my power to honor those commitments to the company, and now with the start up complete we have been able to do so. I am happy to say that we have been able to honor all of the client deposits lost to the old entity and everybody is getting the products that they had hoped for.”

The new company plans to introduce many new products for the home, beginning in the kitchen. His MOTRA™ Collection will be the first. This new Collection of high quality, well-designed and affordable cabinetry will be debuted this fall. Under the MOTRA™ label will be a modern line and a traditional line where a typical kitchen from this new Collection will begin at $45,000. “Obviously, the world has changed. To continue to lead our industry we must evolve. Frankly, many lesser brands and mill shops haven’t made it. I believe we are responding to a need in the marketplace and listening to our potential clientele. We are going to be aggressive and fight hard for market share in this multi-billion dollar industry.” said Peacock.

In March 2009, Peacock introduced his Contemporary Collection of fitted and free-standing furniture. The Collection includes beautiful new contemporary hardware designed by Mr. Peacock, many new choices of interiors of cabinetry for clients to choose from as well as new wood, stain and paint choices to compliment the new Collection. The new Collection can be seen in several Christopher Peacock Home showrooms in kitchen, dressing room and bath displays.

Welcome back Christopher Peacock, the brand and the man. US design needs you desperately.

Even more fun new stuff from Medallion Cabinetry

My pals at Medallion Cabinetry just released a host of new styles and wood finishes on Friday and I'll post more about them later. For now though, I am so impressed with their new publicity shots I'm going to use them as a tease. These rooms are fantastic and I love seeing what's possible in the world of modular cabinetry. Each of these photos shows a design rendered in Medallion's Platinum Line of inset cabinetry. If you'd like more information about these or any of Medallion's offerings, feel free to drop me a note.

Bahamas and Fiji door styles

Bayside and Stockton door styles

Camelot door style

Catalina and Picadilly door styles

Devonshire door style

Gable door style

Hudson Falls and Trinity door styles

Newcastle door

Taunton's All New Kitchen Idea Book: a review

The latest version of Taunton Press' Kitchen Idea Book is on the shelves and sits ready to inspire. As with the previous editions of the Kitchen Idea Book, The All New Kitchen Idea Book was written by Joanne Kellar Bouknight. Bouknight authored Taunton's Home Storage Idea Book and is a regular contributor to Taunton's Fine Homebuilding magazine. 

Photo by Randy O'Rourke, used with permission

Her All New Kitchen Idea Book is not just another picture book. Bouknight is an architect emeritus and brings an architect's penchant for details to her book. With that said, the photography's stunning but it's explained and described perfectly. There's enough information presented here that this Idea Book could be considered a how-to book easily.

Photo by Huyla Kolabas, used with permission

The All New Kitchen Idea Book's nine chapters cover everything from style and layout to lighting and windows; from cabinetry to counters; and from pantries to floors. She goes out of her way to highlight the unusual without dismissing the expected. This is a tough line to follow and Bouknight does it gracefully.

Photo by David Duncan Livingston, used with permission

Taunton Press' entire family of publications highlight and describe a tasteful, sensible and designed life that I can't get enough of. Any time I see a Taunton imprint, I know what follows can only be good and worthwhile. The New Kitchen Idea Book is of a piece with the rest of Taunton's titles and further rounds out one of the most expansive collections of titles in the home improvement category.

Photo by David Duncan Livingston, used with permission

The New Kitchen Idea Book would be a great addition to any home improvement library. If you have a renovation in your future, please pick up a copy. If you like the idea of a renovation in your future, pick up a copy perchance to dream.