I've always been told that Ikea cabinets are poor quality, and I believed it based on the quality of all the bookcase and other furniture pieces I've purchased there. But I can't find anywhere that actually tells me specifically what type of melamine or substrate Ikea's boxes are made of, so I'm going to just go buy one and figure it out for myself. If anything, when I look online, I only find people that rave about the product.

There are different types of melamine applications that do affect the quality of the materials, and there are different thicknesses and densities of melamine substrates that are available. These things do make a difference in the structural stability of the boxes. However, I don't yet know what category Ikea's boxes fall into.

So, I'm on a mission. And I'll report back once I have more info. Regardless, you've opened my eyes. I love what you're doing and I'm excited to learn more!

Honestly, I though, I think you guys undervalue the quality of the IKEA product.

My company, Handmade, does high-end custom jobs here in LA. Kitchens, bathrooms, built-ins. We use pre-finished maple for the boxes, or Apple-ply at twice the cost of even that.

IKEA uses melamine. Melamine, like it or not, is the standard in the kitchen cabinet industry. Some of the largest, most high-end manufactures in the world use it. And frankly, a box is a box once it is properly installed. Get it level and square and plum and it's not going anywhere. Glue the IKEA box for additional strength, if you like. We do. Then there is hardware – all of IKEA's is made by Blum, which is top-of-the-line: hinges, Tandembox slides, even the flip-up hardware I pay $100 a pair for. IKEA sells it, including the 30" wide cabinet, for $41.

From there, we make all the custom doors, drawer faces and panels – everything that defines the space. We use furniture-quality veneers-on-MDF, relaimed lumber, laminates-on-multiply. As good as it comes, really.

So yes, at the end of the day, a full-on, top-to-bottom custom job would be better…. the same way a Porsche is better than a Toyota.

The question to us at SEMIHandmade – and that which we are posing to the majority of homemowers and renters out there, though – is, "Is that massive gap is cost actually worth it?"