An IKEA kitchen with custom doors is two orders that meet on site: the METOD cabinets, hinges and drawers from IKEA, and the doors, drawer fronts and panels from us. Planning it well means getting the cabinet plan right first, then choosing and pricing the fronts against that plan. These are the steps we see work, in order.
1. Lay out the cabinets in IKEA's Kitchen Planner
Design the kitchen in IKEA's free online Kitchen Planner using METOD cabinets. This sets the footprint: where each base, wall and tall cabinet goes, and which appliances sit where. The cabinets are the same in every METOD kitchen. The fronts are what make yours different, and that comes later.
Save the design. A saved plan gives you a list of cabinet sizes, and it is what our tools read in the next steps.
Include every front and panel in the plan, even where IKEA shows its own standard doors: every door, drawer front, cover panel and filler. Our planner and quote tools price what is in the plan, so anything you leave out won't be priced.
2. Check the sizes, and the gaps
Confirm your cabinet sizes against your room before you order anything, so the doors fit the cabinets you will actually install. Gaps between cabinets and walls, or cabinets and ceilings, are closed with filler panels in the same finish as your doors. Our METOD cover panels are made larger than IKEA's so your installer can trim them to uneven walls and floors.
If a gap doesn't divide into standard widths, the bespoke door builder takes orders for doors and panels in your exact millimetre measurements, up to 1200 × 2400 mm. If you would like a second pair of eyes on the layout, you can book a design appointment with our team.
3. See your kitchen with Customea doors in 3D
Copy the link to your saved IKEA design (the design itself, not the IKEA Kitchen Planner home page) and paste it into the Customea 3D Kitchen Planner. It rebuilds your cabinets, room and panels in 3D with our doors on them.
From there you can:
- change the profile, colour or finish across the whole kitchen at once;
- click any single door, drawer front or panel and change just that one, for a two-tone kitchen or a contrasting island;
- watch the price update as you go;
- save different directions to your Customea account and come back to compare them.
4. Get a firm price
There are three ways to price the fronts for your plan:
- The 3D Kitchen Planner prices your design live, and you can add the whole kitchen to the cart from it.
- The Instant Quote tool reads a PDF exported from IKEA's planner and matches every door, drawer front and panel to a Customea product, usually in under two minutes. It needs a free Customea account.
- Build My Cart is a $200 service where we translate your IKEA plan into a complete quote, every door, drawer front, panel, filler and plinth, within 48 hours.
Both quote options need a complete plan with the doors on.
5. Settle the colour with samples
Screens shift colour, so check a physical sample before you order a kitchen's worth of doors. An 80 × 160 mm finish sample costs $5 to $10, and its value comes back to you as a single-use discount code for a joinery order of $1,000 or more. A full-size 400 × 200 mm drawer front, made the same way as your order, shows the profile, edge and scale. Everything is on our samples page.
Our showroom at 600 Princes Highway, Tempe, is opposite IKEA Tempe, so you can see full-size doors and the IKEA cabinets in one trip.
6. Order and plan the timing
Order your cabinets, hinges and drawers from IKEA, and your fronts from us. Our fronts are made to order, typically in 4 to 6 weeks. We email you as the order moves through production and again when it is ready.
From that email you have seven days to collect the order or book and accept delivery. Sydney metro delivery is a flat $250, pickup from our Mortdale factory is free by appointment, and interstate or regional freight can add one to two weeks. Plan the install date around that window. The details are in our shipping policy.
7. Install
Your installer assembles the METOD cabinets and hangs our doors on IKEA's standard hinges. It is the same job as a standard IKEA install. Our METOD doors and drawer fronts come drilled to IKEA's pattern; handle holes are drilled on site. If you need someone, we keep a list of recommended installers.
What does a planned IKEA kitchen cost?
As a worked example from our How it Works page: a U-shaped METOD kitchen of 3.2 × 3 m, with seven base cabinets, one tall, five wall cabinets, twelve drawers, a corner carousel and a bin system, came to $9,317 for Customea doors, drawer fronts, panels and plinths plus $4,101 for the IKEA cabinets, drawers, hinges and shelves. That is $13,418 of joinery before handles, benchtop, appliances, delivery and installation.
Your own plan will differ, which is why the planner and quote tools work from your actual design. For an overview of finishes and systems, read our guide to custom IKEA doors.