ᐅ IKEA 3D Kitchen Planner, Filler Pieces, and Other Questions

Hello dear forum members,

I am currently planning my new Ikea kitchen. Unfortunately, the Ikea planner keeps showing me the following messages:

1. This cabinet is placed against a wall with a gap of less than 5 cm (2 inches) for the filler panel.

I don’t understand this at all—what is it supposed to mean? It concerns the base cabinet with the sink, 80 cm (32 inches) wide, with waste separation. Yes, the cabinet is at the end of the wall, but it has a pull-out door, so why should the wall matter?

2. It is not recommended to place a drawer cabinet with 5 drawers directly next to a cooktop.

I don’t get this either, because this isn’t an oven with a door that needs to be opened. Next to the drawer cabinet is not an oven door, but just the induction cooktop on a base cabinet with a pull-out drawer.

Who has experience with the Ikea planner and these messages?

Many thanks for your help!

Hello Sunnylein,

Am I correct in understanding that your 80cm (31.5 inches) sink base cabinet is located at the end of the kitchen run, right in the corner?

So there is a wall at the back and a wall on one side?

I did it the same way, but in my case there is a gap of a few centimeters between the right-hand wall and the sink cabinet. If the sink cabinet is placed directly against the side wall, I imagine the drawer might scrape along the wall when pulled out. I think 1 or 2 centimeters (0.4 or 0.8 inches) of clearance should be more than enough tolerance.

As for what a filler panel is, I have no idea. Anna doesn’t either... Maybe it refers to a piece of cabinetry front that is installed between the wall and the carcass of the base cabinet. And to fasten it, you definitely need some space—probably the 5 centimeters (2 inches) you mentioned. If you’re just leaving air space there, 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) might be enough, but if possible, I would leave at least 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) just to be safe. You never know... walls might not be perfectly straight, measurements might be off by a few millimeters, walls might bulge slightly, etc. Bricklayers are not always very precise.

I have no ideas at all for your second question…

Best regards – fotokatze.

Hello dear forum members,

I am currently planning my new Ikea kitchen. Unfortunately, I keep getting the following messages:

1. This cabinet will be placed against a wall with less than 5 cm (2 inches) space for the filler panel.

Filler panels as such do not actually exist. The mentioned filler panel, or side piece, is cut from a side panel or a leftover baseboard strip. The 5 cm (2 inches) measurement basically refers to your "cutting allowance"; technically, it could be narrower, but try cutting a side piece only 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8 inches) wide from a board that is at least 70 cm (28 inches) and up to 217 cm (85 inches) long. You place a side piece next to a cabinet with drawers because the doors are exactly as wide as the cabinets—otherwise, as already mentioned, the door front would scrape against the wall. You also got this message because it is generally not recommended to place a sink or cooktop right next to kitchen side walls. This can cause problems when cutting the countertop because only a small strip remains between the wall and the cooktop/sink, which might break off during cutting or installation of those components.

I don’t really understand this—what is it supposed to mean? It’s a base cabinet with a sink that is 80 cm (31 inches) wide and includes waste separation. Yes, the cabinet is at the end of the wall, but it has a pull-out drawer, so why should the wall care?

2. It is not recommended to place a drawer cabinet with 5 drawers directly next to a cooktop.

Hmm, I can’t explain that either; I think it’s just a system error. Maybe the only thing between the cooktop and sink is this drawer cabinet, and the software complains because there isn’t enough countertop space for placing items in between? Anyway, just ignore it. If you chose the 3-drawer option, please note that there are no drawers directly under the cooktop. Only the pull-outs below are accessible. This is for insurance reasons. The area under the cooktop is open and thus unprotected against cutlery or similar items. The planner does tell a lot of strange things, but it wouldn’t mention something like this. There is no fastening material supplied for the top panel, by the way—just like with the so-called filler panels. You will need to get small brackets and screws from the hardware store to fix these parts from behind. If you have Ikea assemble your kitchen, you don’t need to worry about this.

I don’t understand this either since it is not an oven with a door that has to open next to the drawer cabinet. Next to the drawer cabinet is only the induction cooktop on a base cabinet with drawers.

Thank you very much for your help!!!

Well then, have fun planning. Don’t worry about forgetting something—when you go to the furniture store to make your purchase, the staff will check everything anyway to make sure it works, if you forgot anything, or if something could be done better.

Cheers,

Na.

Hello

Among the kitchen planning tips, there is a note advising that pull-out cabinets should not be installed directly next to a cooktop to prevent children from using them as a step stool. The filler strips (wall connection panels) can also be attached directly to the side panel of the cabinet if pre-drilled accordingly.

Best regards
l2, who has just ordered a kitchen herself

Hello dear forum members,

Great, now I understand quite a bit more. The thing with the drawers—well, you have to think of that first! And we also have a toddler. Good to know. And the word “filler piece” makes sense now as well. Well, I’ll continue planning then. I’m really looking forward to my kitchen!

We would like to buy the quartz countertop, but I read online that someone mentioned you first receive the kitchen delivery and then someone comes to take measurements? And that the whole process could take weeks?
Does anyone have experience with this?

@Lucky2 I wish you lots of fun with your new kitchen.

Best regards,
Sunnylein

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