And even tried to talk to local builders (who couldn't be bothered to return calls!). For the cost and flexibility, the IKEA won hands down.
In addition, the IKEA cabinets are low VOC and with my allergies I had to have that. Some of the local cabinet builders advertised oil finish only or other materials I can't be around. Even straight out of the box the IKEA cabinets didn't set off my allergies.
I used Tidaholm oak in my kitchen, a style now discontinued. It's sort of a Shaker style with finger joints at the corners and a perfect style to go with my house. I used STÅT in the bathrooms so they were neutral colors. Oh - my kitchen sink is the IKEA Domsjo sink. We got the original for $99 in the As Is room - it had a small defect under the bottom that didn't show at all. The tile guy broke it and had to replace it, but even by then the price on that big farm apron sink was only $299.
I went against current wisdom and used tile counters - a dark blue 18" square tile with very precise edges so the grout line is tiny, then put the darkest blue grout make in. The building inspector thought it was soapstone, which is exactly the effect I wanted. I couldn't find or afford soapstone and the tile has been great.
The back splash is mostly white Georgia marble we bought from a state surplus sale. It came out of the Florida capitol building when they restored it. My husband's step grandfather had sold the marble to the state so it is a sentimental thing for him. I found a place that prints images on tile and PhotoShopped a picture of our farm with our horses and had that printed on tumbled marble. That's the back splash behind the cooktop.
I was going to send you a link to my blog with the kitchen pictures, then remembered I never took photos of the finished kitchen. I need to clean it up and do that!
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