DIY Snack Bar with IKEA Kitchen Cabinets!

Awesome idea.

I've looked at ikea cabinets but haven't been willing to pull the trigger because I didn't know how they would work out.

Just as an FYI, I got two local cabinet places to quote me a similar bar area. They both came back between $1750-$2200 for the cabinets (no install).

At a quick glance, the ikea cabinets will run me $900.

I'm going to mull it over for the weekend and likely pull the trigger with ikea. I will let you know how it goes when I'm done.

I used IKEA cabinets to build a wet bar in my home theater room. I too had some sticker shock when I looked at more traditional cabinets ($4000+). My IKEA set up cost around $1,500. For a countertop, I went with stainless steel. I built up the plywood substrate, cut out the hole for the sink, took very careful measurements, and had a guy I've worked with before on our kitchen remodel fabricate it (with an integrated sink). It's really sharp (but cost about $700). A neighbor who is a wholesale plumping sales rep gave me the display model of a Hans Grohe bar sink that had been discontinued.

I'll post some pictures when I get home after work today. This was my first time installing IKEA cabinets and things went really really smoothly. Note that the IKEA stuff is all laminated. So if you're going to be using these in a super high traffic area where they will get lots of abuse (especially with kids), that's something to keep in mind as dings might really show (I haven't had any trouble like that - knock on wood).

One note: I didn't trust the IKEA legs to standup to the weight of the cabinets plus 1.5" of plywood plus the steel plus whatever gets put on the countertop. So I just built a base from 2x6 dimensional lumber and glued the toe kick boards onto the 2x6s. I would seriously consider going this route if you're thinking about putting something like 3cm granite on top.

Here's a picture. I still need to do the trim around the doors and some along the slate floor. We're also going to tile the entire backsplash (i.e. everything in between the steel and the upper cabinets) with multicolored 1" x 2" glass subway tile.

If you're going with a much smaller snack bar, your choice of tops is pretty much unlimited and you can get kind of creative. You could do a pounded copper top, soapstone, or an oiled wood (like a butcher block).

Your set up looks great.

I will be ordering my ikea cabinets tonight. I will post pics when it's done but the door fronts are on backorder for 4-5 weeks so it'll be a while.

Did you have any concerns about putting your free-standing mini-fridge beside the cabinetry? I know most mini-fridges state 2-5 inches on each side and on the top (unless it's a "built-in" style fridge). I plan on doing the same thing as your setup but just wanted to see if you have any thoughts on it. How much space do you have on each side?

To be honest, I never even thought about the spacing around the fridge other than the need for flexibility for different models. I looked up about a dozen competitive models, wrote down the largest sizes and added a couple of inches to determine the ultimate opening size. With that fridge, I have 2" on each side and about 2.5" on the top. I haven't had any troubles yet and cannot detect any noticeably warm air wafting up from the back of the fridge. If you make a custom base and countertop like I did, you have pretty much whatever room you want for opening size.