Your new doors showed up, you hung them, and now the gaps look off. One door sits a little proud. Another sags at the top corner. That is normal on a fresh install, and the good news is it takes minutes to fix once you know which screw to turn.
Short answer: To install IKEA cabinet doors, clip each hinge onto the mounting plate that is already fixed to the cabinet frame until it clicks, then square up the door using the hinge's three adjustment screws: one for side, one for depth, and one for height.
This guide walks you through how to install IKEA cabinet doors step by step, then how to adjust the UTRUSTA hinges so every door hangs straight and the gaps line up. It works the same whether your fronts came from IKEA or are custom fronts made to fit Sektion boxes.
What you need before you start
Installing doors on a Sektion cabinet is a hand-tool job. You do not need a drill for the hanging part.
- The doors, with hinges already clipped in or set aside.
- UTRUSTA hinges, IKEA's soft-close cabinet hinge for Sektion.
- Mounting plates, which should already be screwed to the inside of the cabinet frame.
- A Phillips screwdriver. A drill on a low, slow setting is fine for driving plate screws, but do the adjusting by hand.
One note on custom fronts: a good semi-custom door arrives pre-bored with the 35 mm hinge cups already drilled, so the hinge drops in and clips onto the same IKEA plates. Kitch doors are drilled this way, so they hang on your existing Sektion boxes with standard UTRUSTA hinges. No new holes, no guessing.
How to install IKEA cabinet doors, step by step
Here is the full sequence, from an empty frame to a hung door. Do one door at a time.
- Confirm the mounting plates are on. Look inside the cabinet. You should see one small metal plate per hinge, screwed to the side wall. If they are missing, fit them first using the holes IKEA pre-drilled in the frame.
- Fit the hinges into the door. Set each hinge cup into the 35 mm recess on the back of the door and drive the two small screws to hold it. On many doors the hinges come pre-fitted, so you can skip this.
- Line up the hinge arm with the plate. Hold the door up to the frame and slide the metal hook on the hinge arm onto the front lip of the mounting plate. Support the door's weight from below so nothing strains.
- Push until it clicks. Press the back of the hinge arm toward the plate until you hear an audible click. That click means the hinge is locked on. Give the door a gentle tug to check.
- Repeat for every hinge, then step back. Once all hinges are clicked on, close the door and look at the gaps against the doors beside it. They will rarely be perfect on the first try. That is what the adjustment screws are for.
The three hinge adjustments, and which screw does what
Every UTRUSTA hinge moves the door in three directions. Once you know what each screw controls, fixing a crooked door is quick. The exact screw positions vary a little by hinge model, so identify each one by what it does rather than by where it sits.
| Adjustment | What it fixes | How to do it |
|---|---|---|
| Side (left / right) | An uneven vertical gap between two doors, or a door that leans | Turn the screw closest to the door. Small turns only. It can feel backwards, so turn a little, then check. |
| Depth (in / out) | A door that sits proud of the frame, rubs, or sinks in too far | Turn the middle screw to slide the door toward or away from the cabinet face until it sits flush. |
| Height (up / down) | A door that sits too high or too low next to its neighbor | Loosen the plate screws slightly, shift the whole door up or down, then retighten. |
Adjust in this order
Work side first, then depth, then height. Make a quarter turn at a time and close the door to check after each one. Chasing big turns is the fastest way to make a door look worse, so go slow and let small moves add up.
How many hinges does each door need?
More weight and more height means more hinges. A standard base or wall door usually runs on two hinges. Tall pantry and oven-housing doors need more, often three to five, to carry the weight and keep the door from bowing.
The safest rule: use the hinge count that IKEA's kitchen planner specified for your cabinet, or that came packed with the box. If a door feels heavy in your hands, it wants an extra hinge, not fewer.
Fixing a door that sags or won't stay shut
A sagging corner is almost always a side or height issue, not a broken hinge. Start with the side screw on the lower hinge and make a small turn to lift the drooping corner. If the door still hangs low against its neighbor, raise the whole door at the plates.
A door that drifts open or bounces instead of closing softly usually has a hinge that did not fully click onto the plate. Open it, press each hinge arm firmly until it clicks, and try again. If one hinge feels loose in the door itself, check that the two cup screws are snug.
Not handy? Here is the honest take
People worry this is a pro-only job. It is not. Clipping a hinge onto a plate and turning three screws is well within reach for most first-timers, and the soft-close hinges are forgiving. The part that trips people up is patience: small turns, checked often, beat big confident ones every time.
The other common worry is fit. If you are putting custom fronts on IKEA boxes, the doors only hang cleanly if the hinge holes are bored to the IKEA pattern. Fronts made for Sektion, like Kitch's, come drilled to match, so they use your existing plates and hinges with no drilling on your end.
The takeaway
Hanging IKEA cabinet doors is a clip-and-adjust job, not a construction project. Click each hinge onto its plate, then square the door with the side, depth, and height screws, moving a quarter turn at a time. Give it fifteen unhurried minutes per door and the whole run will line up.
Want the room-by-room version you can keep on your phone while you work? Download our free measuring and install guide and hang your doors with confidence.
FAQ
Do IKEA Sektion doors come with hinges?
IKEA doors are sold separately from hinges, so you buy UTRUSTA hinges to match your door and cabinet type. Custom fronts made for Sektion are usually pre-bored for the same hinges, so they clip onto your existing plates.
Which way do you turn the hinge screw to move a door?
The side screw can feel counterintuitive, so make a small turn, close the door, and look at the gap. If it moved the wrong way, turn back and past center. Small checks save you from over-correcting.
Can I put custom cabinet doors on my existing IKEA hinges?
Yes, as long as the door is bored with the 35 mm hinge cups in the IKEA pattern. Fronts built for Sektion drop onto the same UTRUSTA plates you already have, which is what makes a door-only refresh so quick.
How long does it take to hang a full kitchen of doors?
Plan on roughly fifteen minutes per door including adjustment, so a small kitchen is an afternoon. Do one door fully before moving on, and use the finished door as your reference for the gaps on the next.