Appreciation post: visiting IKEA for the first time in 5 years

Went to IKEA yesterday to grab a new desk for my home office and ended up spending 2 hours just looking at their cabinet hinges and drawer slides. They seriously upgraded their soft-close hardware since I last shopped there. The Blomsta hinges now have a built-in dampener that costs like $3 more than the old ones. I swapped out all my kitchen cabinets with those hinges last night and it took maybe 4 hours total. Has anyone else tried their newer hardware or found a cheaper alternative that works just as well?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.betty16d ago

Oh come on, are we really going to act like swapping out cabinet hinges is some kind of weekend project that makes you a hero? I mean you spent more time tightening screws than most people do cleaning their whole kitchen. And that $3 difference on each hinge adds up fast when you have a full set of cabinets. So what, you saved maybe twenty bucks buying the newer ones versus getting a whole new cabinet system? But now you're stuck with the same old doors and drawer fronts that look dated anyway. Plus those soft close mechanisms always feel like a gimmick to me. They just add something else to break down in a few years.

karen27516d ago

Did you actually try the new hinges before writing them off? I get where you're coming from on the cost, but I swapped mine out last month and it honestly changed how much I enjoy using my kitchen. The soft close isn't a gimmick to me, it keeps my kids from slamming doors and waking up the baby. Yeah, it took a few hours, but that's time well spent if it means I don't have to replace whole cabinets for another ten years. Plus the old hinges were starting to squeak and feel loose, so this was a cheap fix compared to a full remodel. Have you had a bad experience with soft close hardware breaking down?