Guides

Everything you need before you order custom fronts.

• How to make an IKEA kitchen not look like an IKEA kitchen

  The carcass, hinges and runners stay IKEA. The fronts, handles, worktop, plinth and panels are yours — and those are the parts you see.

• IKEA METOD front dimensions — nominal cm vs real millimetres

  Why a front for a 60 cm METOD cabinet measures 597 mm, not 600, and what your cut-to-size shop needs.

• Which hinges fit IKEA METOD fronts — and how the cup is bored

  The UTRUSTA hinge we checked is a Blum. What to buy, how the Ø35 mm cup differs from the mounting holes, and why it is blind.

• How to order custom fronts from a cut-to-size shop

  What to ask for: cutting, edge banding, hinge cup boring — and the mistakes that cost you a re-cut.

• What to make IKEA METOD fronts from — materials and costs

  Laminate, lacquered MDF, veneer — how they differ, what they cost per square metre, and what lasts.