How to Add Crown Molding to Ikea Cabinets...at least how we did

A common inquiry with Ikea cabinets is how to make them look built in. Ikea cabinets are not really designed to go all the way to the ceiling. They have what's called full overlay doors meaning the doors completely cover the cabinet boxes. That would cause the doors to swing very close to the ceiling. It also means there is nothing at the top of the cabinet box to attach crown molding to. If you have high ceilings in your kitchen, you could leave a several-inch gap above your cabinets. We didn't have have that luxury with our 8 foot ceilings. Plus I love the look of built-ins so we chose to take the cabinets all the way to the ceiling with a small crown molding.

This is how we added crown molding to our Ikea wall cabinets.

1. Assemble the cabinets.

This may seem overwhelming at first...seeing a good half of your garage overtaken by countless Ikea flat-packed boxes with strange names and ambiguous shapes is a daunting site. But after deciphering the assembly instructions for the first couple cabinets it becomes like second nature and you'll be able to crank out cabinets in your sleep.

2. Install the suspension rail.

The height you install the rail depends on your trim. Our crown molding had a profile height of 1 1/4", so we lowered the suspension rail by 1 1/4". Ikea wall cabinets come in heights of 30" or 39". We used the 39" tall cabinets because that left a decent space between the cabinets and the counter.

3. Add cleats to the cabinet tops.
You'll need some lumber to make the cleats. The cleats serve as a place into which to nail the trim. Brandon used 1x2 cellular vinyl (from Lowes I think) because it was easier to cut than wood, but either will work. He cut them to size and used epoxy and finishing nails to attach the cleats to the cabinets. Epoxy can cure on non-porous surfaces without needing air. Note that the cleats are not necessarily attached at the edge of the cabinet. The cleats slightly overhang some edges in order to account for the door and cover panel depths. Brandon found it helpful to make a mock-up corner of trim so he could visualize exactly where he wanted the trim to go and thus where he needed to attach the cleats.

4. Hang the cabinets.

Make sure to get all the cabinets level using the nifty Ikea hardware provided. Their hardware allows you to fine tune each cabinet's height to not only level the cabinets but also to make micro-adjustments for the crown molding. This step was exciting because it was actually starting to look like a kitchen!







5. Install the trim.

Install your trim...easier said than done when you have an uneven ceiling. It's a bit nightmarish in fact. On some stretches of wall cabinet the ceiling varied from 1/4" to 1/2"...that's pretty significant. We almost gave up on the trim at one point. In some places Brandon had to shave down a good bit of the trim using a planer and other places he had to leave a gap to later be filled with caulk. He found this video helpful for cutting inner 90 degree angles.

We fretted and fretted about the ceiling, but after it was all painted and caulked we really couldn't tell how uneven the ceiling was.

He set the nails in with a punch and filled with wood filler. We color-matched a Ramsjo door front at Sherwin Williams and then painted and caulked and painted again. Using paintable caulk really helped disguise the areas where we had to caulk huge gaps.

So there you have it. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments!

If you want more information about why we chose Ikea for our kitchen check this out on one of my favorite blogs House*Tweaking!