e kitchen is where the budget conversation usually gets serious. Most of our projects get a fully custom kitchen, but when a budget is tight, homeowners naturally look at IKEA or other prefab options. Before you decide, it's worth knowing what you can and can't get with each.

What custom makes possible
With a custom kitchen, the sky's the limit. A few details we see often:

• Built-in range hoods. The fan unit hides inside a surround built to match the cabinets, in the exact same paint finish and style.

• Narrow Shaker frames. Slim frames (around an inch and a quarter) are very popular right now, but prefab lines don't offer the hinges needed to mount doors that narrow.

• Metal-framed glass doors. Another option you won't find in a prefab kitchen.

• Continuous wood grain. On this walnut kitchen, every drawer front is cut from a single sheet on a CNC machine, so the grain flows uninterrupted from drawer to drawer. With a prefab stain-grade finish, how the grain lines up is completely random.

The trade-offs of an IKEA kitchen
The big upside is cost: an IKEA kitchen can be a quarter of the price of custom, or less. But there are downsides many people aren't aware of:

• Door construction. Paint-grade Shaker doors are a single slab of MDF with the centre routed out, not a true frame and panel. That leaves rounded inside corners, a visible V-joint and softer outside edges.

• Range hoods. There's no cabinet designed to house a hood fan, so you're left with a freestanding hood or an under-cabinet unit.

• Cabinet height. The tallest units top out at 90 inches. With nine-foot ceilings, that leaves an awkward gap that needs tile or crown moulding to finish.

• Appliance fit. Custom kitchens are built around your appliances. Stock sizes often leave gaps, like the space above a fridge, and filling them means custom work, which undercuts the savings.

• Finished ends. Exposed island and peninsula ends need custom-made gables, because prefab lines don't include them.

How to decide
Write out your wish list, then decide where you want to spend. You can save a lot with IKEA, but you won't get the same details. And since the kitchen is where you'll spend most of your time, if you want to enjoy real craftsmanship every day, custom is the way to go.

Weighing custom vs prefab for your renovation? Contact Lighthaus Built to talk it through.

Watch next: IKEA vs Custom Cabinets for Laundry Rooms