This Company Behind Epic IKEA Kitchen Hacks Is Launching Its Own Cabinet Line

For years, Semihandmade has been a cabinet gamechanger. The original concept of the California company was to elevate IKEA cabinet boxes with designer doors and panels, bringing affordable luxury to IKEA’s sturdy, reliable products. Since their founding in 2011, they’ve transformed the cabinetry in over 40,000 kitchens, bathrooms, closets, garages, and mudrooms. But now, the IKEA-hack company is releasing their own cabinet line. 

In February, they launched Semihandmade Cabinets, a line with over 40 customizable door choices for their own affordable, easy-to-assemble cabinet boxes, available in white or maple plywood. The cabinet boxes will be compatible with all of Semihandmade’s designer door collections, including the exclusive fronts by Sarah Sherman Samuel, a celebrity and AD100 interior designer responsible for some of the most Instagrammable cabinetry. 

“It’s exciting how versatile the line is,” Samuel says. “We’re launching two wood cabinet fronts too—Walnut and Rift White Oak Quarterline! Adding the natural wood finishes to our line of painted and paintable fronts gives the customer endless design options.”

Courtesy of Semihandmade

John McDonald, the founder and CEO of Semihandmade, says their customers and partners have been requesting an original cabinet line for years. In March 2021, they came out with their first line with BOXI. The cabinets are affordable, fully assembled, and used to be available across the U.S. But now BOXI only ships in the West, and the cabinets are not compatible with Semihandmade doors. McDonald says they tried to develop a line of BOXI cabinets with Semihandmade fronts and sides, but logistical complications got in the way. 

“At the end of the day, Semihandmade cabinets make the most sense,” McDonald says. 

In 2023, Semihandmade shifted their focus to crafting their original line with the help of design partners like Samuel. McDonald says the designer was instrumental to getting this collection off the ground and emphasizes his gratitude for the partnership. It was Samuel’s original cabinet front collection that truly put Semihandmade on the map.

Courtesy of Semihandmade

And Samuel is in the process of using the line in her projects: two homes in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, and actress Mandy Moore’s ADU. “In our Clover Tudor House project we are using DIY Beaded for the uppers and DIY Quarterline for the bottom,” Samuel explains. “For the island we are using walnut Quarterline fronts with plywood cabinet boxes. It’s a 100-year-old home that’s been taken care of really well outside of the kitchen basically. So we’re un-renovating the house, taking out the drop ceiling, etc. Making the kitchen more in line with the rest of the home. We’re using plywood boxes in the island for extra strength, an option that was previously unavailable.”

The rollout for Semihandmade Cabinets started in February, and McDonald says they’ll be releasing new collections from four or five renowned designers in the next 12 to 18 months. Semihandmade will still offer cabinet doors for IKEA hacks, but the upcoming collections will only be compatible with Semihandmade Cabinets.