How I Built Knife Storage Into My DIY IKEA Kitchen — Chroma Type 301 by F.A. Porsche

If you’ve followed any of my kitchen content, you know I’m all about making everything work together. Aesthetically, functionally, all of it. So when I was designing my DIY IKEA SEKTION kitchen build, IKEA kitchen knife storage was one of the things I wanted to handle my own way.

I didn’t see anyone doing it the way I had in mind.

What I used: a Franke in-countertop knife block, a Blum ORGA-LINE knife tray in IKEA MAXIMERA drawers, Chroma Type 301 knives by F.A. Porsche, and a Horl 2 sharpener.

Why I needed better IKEA kitchen knife storage

We used to have a wood block on the countertop and it drove me crazy. Water always ruined it, it doesn’t look good, it takes up a lot of space, and it’s clunky.

I wanted something different. Even before the kitchen build I had fallen in love with the Blum system — the ORGA-LINE organizer system for all the cutlery. We have it all over the kitchen and the dining area.

Blum ORGA-LINE knife block in the kitchen drawers

For the knives specifically, Blum makes a knife block designed to sit inside a drawer. It’s very compact, partially plastic and partially stainless steel. Super easy to clean and really nice.

So I integrated it with the rest of the cutlery and accessories on the side of the kitchen where we actually cook. That side was solved.

The dining area setup

Here’s the thing — we also have a separate setup in our dining area. A second dishwasher over there, a sink, and a small prep station with a Franke hot and cold water dispenser.

I decided we needed knives there too. Sometimes we have big gatherings and we absolutely need knives in that space. The kitchen is preparation, the dining area is consumption, basically. But we still cut food over there — cakes, all kinds of stuff.

I decided to place them differently over there.

Hunting down the Franke in-countertop knife block

My whole concept was to keep the knives right in the countertop. Vertically — half of the knife sitting down inside, handles sticking up at the surface.

I couldn’t find anything like that anywhere.

The only thing I liked was a Franke in-countertop knife block. It was made in the past, an older product, and it had been discontinued. I couldn’t get it through any normal channel. So I chased it down on eBay from another country, and I found it.

You don’t have to hunt down a Franke

I want to be clear about this, because I don’t want anyone thinking this is impossible now. Franke discontinued mine, but in-counter knife blocks do exist from other makers. Look around and you’ll find them.

I went after the Franke because of the quality. Every sink in our house is Franke. The water dispenser is Franke. The accessories are Franke. It’s Swiss, and it’s top notch — the stainless is heavier than what you usually get, the finish matches across every piece.

So for me it wasn’t only about the shape of the thing. It was about it matching everything else we already had, and being made to the same standard. If you don’t have that constraint, a different brand’s block will do the same job.

How the Franke block installs

It’s actually a super simple thing.

There’s a stainless steel bezel that matches the rest of my stainless accessories. Inside the bezel sits a plastic bracket for drainage — if something drains, like water off a wet knife, it catches all that. Then on top you drop in a synthetic black grill, and that’s the surface that actually holds the knives.

That cutout went into our Cambria Britannica quartz countertops, which is exactly why I planned it before the countertops were ever templated.

There are five slots for knives of different sizes, plus one more slot for a sharpener. We don’t have a Chroma sharpener so that slot stays empty. Five knives sit in there, from the big chef knife down to the little one.

That was the whole idea. Before I even started building the kitchen, I already knew this was what I was going to do.

I didn’t cut the countertop — the fabricator did

This is the part people ask about, so let me be clear: I never touched the countertop with a tool.

When the countertop company came out to template, I gave them the specs and I gave them the actual insert — the physical piece that was supposed to go into the cutout. They took the real part, copied the dimensions from it, and cut it at the plant.

So when the countertops showed up, they arrived with every cutout already done. The sinks, and this block too. I didn’t do any cutouts at all. I just dropped in the bezel, then the drainage bucket, then the top part, then the knives. That’s it.

And it comes apart the same way. You can pull it out, clean everything, put it back. Super easy.

The downside

There is a minus, and I want to be upfront about it.

I’m stuck with that design now. I put a permanent hole in an expensive quartz countertop for it. If I ever want to redesign that area, that hole is still going to be there. You could say I ruined a piece of the countertop, and I understand that — I knew my chances when I did it.

I love the way it looks now, and that was worth the commitment to me. But go in with your eyes open. This is a one-way decision.

Why Chroma Type 301 knives

We had a few of these before the build, so I already knew the quality.

German design, Japanese blades

Let me clear up something people get wrong, because I got it wrong myself for years. Chroma is a German company. The knives were designed by F.A. Porsche in Germany. But the blades are made in Japan, from Japanese 301 stainless steel. So they’re German-designed, Japanese-made. Every retailer lists them that way once you look.

And I love Porsche. Whatever they touch is beautiful and out of this world. So is the knife.

How they feel in the hand

Pick one up and you see the difference immediately. The knife is made of one piece — handle and blade are one piece, no separation, no lines. It’s just so futuristic and so nice.

They come in a huge variety. We only have about 10, and I recently bought a few more. Different sizes, each one serving its own purpose. You buy whatever you need, I guess.

But the moment you take one in your hand it feels completely different. Balanced. The handle is pretty heavy, but it feels good because of the weight and the shape. Completely different from rounded handles or whatever else you’re used to. There are also two little knobs at the end of the handle where it meets the blade, like a stopping point for your hand.

The knife itself is super simple. One color, just stainless steel. No plastic, no wood, nothing. And that’s what I like. I like minimalistic stuff. Something simple that still looks good.

We used to have German knives, Japanese knives, other knives, and I do like them — but they didn’t look as good as these. I needed something to match the rest of my theme. I know I have shiny object syndrome :)) and I like things that go together. My whole purpose was to match the knives to the kitchen and integrate them into the concept. And I think I really did it.

My honest take on the blade quality

They’re perfectly fine for a household, but they are not professional chef knives as far as I can see.

They’re softer than most professional knives, for sure — but not too soft. I’d compare them to Global, if you know what I’m talking about.

Once again, I love them. We’ve had them for years. The ones we use a lot get sharpened maybe once a month or once every two months, depending how hard we’re using them. No problems whatsoever. The blade stays nice, clean, sharp. No waves, no nothing. Zero problems with these knives.

Where each knife lives

Five knives in the dining area, in the Franke in-countertop block.

Four knives in the kitchen, in the Blum ORGA-LINE drawer system, next to all the appliances and fixtures on that side of the room.

And then there’s one more — the ham and prosciutto knife.

The knife that didn’t fit anywhere

It’s super tall and thin, specifically made for slicing Italian prosciutto or Spanish jamón very, very thin.

That knife is so long we couldn’t fit it in either system. I had to create a dedicated space for it in a drawer in the dining area. It has its own spot over there now.

Are Chroma Type 301 knives dishwasher safe?

There’s a sticker on them that says no dishwasher.

I have to be honest with you — we wash them in the dishwasher and we have had no problems. Years of it.

How I sharpen them — the Horl 2

Let me tell you how I sharpen these, because I came up with something I really like.

We used to sharpen with different things. I tried this and that. But I don’t have the time and I’m not a professional chef, so I don’t need something super precise. I need something I can do often, by myself, easily, without complication. I’ve seen those complicated sharpening setups and I’m just not going to do it.

I found a thing on Amazon called the Horl 2. Second generation — there might be a third by now, I don’t know. It’s designed in Germany.

Super simple. A wooden block with two angles, one side 15 degrees, the other 20. Most knives, including ours, want 15 degrees, and that’s hard to hold by hand without a jig.

The block has magnets inside. You don’t see them, they’re just there. I use the 15-degree side, lay the knife on it, and it sticks magnetically, blade facing up.

How the Horl 2 works

Then there’s a barrel, like a roll, with two sides — one rough, one for finishing. Start rough, then switch. You just roll it along the flat surface of the countertop next to the blade. Because the angle is already set, it takes a very, very thin line off the edge. It doesn’t remove a lot. It just touches that little area.

A few passes and it’s done. The knives aren’t dull when I do it — they’re still sharp. I just like to keep them maintained.

I usually keep a wet napkin or towel next to me. After a few passes there’s some residue on the blade, so I wipe it wet and keep going. I wipe the sharpener surface too. Then flip the knife and do the other side, same process.

Sharpening a tall chef knife

For small knives it’s straightforward. For bigger ones — a tall chef knife, for example — put a book or a stack of magazines under the barrel and roll it on top of that. Raising the barrel lets it reach the upper part of a tall blade’s edge.

That’s how I sharpen them, and I love it.

Final thoughts

Two spaces, two systems, one look. Different knives for different purposes, but they blend in nicely in our IKEA kitchen in multiple places.

The Chroma Type 301 knives match the stainless steel theme I was going for. The Franke in-countertop block gave me exactly the solution I couldn’t find anywhere else. The Blum ORGA-LINE keeps everything organized in the drawers.

If you’re planning something like this, the one thing I’d tell you is decide before the countertops are templated. That’s the kind of thing I work out early with the free kitchen planner I built for exactly this reason.

If you want to see how the whole room came together, here’s the whole kitchen from dated to done. And if you’re still collecting ideas, I keep a kitchen ideas gallery with hundreds of designs sorted by style, layout, color and material. The same thinking went into the cabinets overhead: a pull-down shelf for IKEA cabinets, so nothing is stored where you cannot reach it.

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FAQ

Who makes Chroma Type 301 knives?

Chroma is a German company. The Type 301 line was designed by F.A. Porsche in Germany, and the blades are manufactured in Japan from Japanese 301 stainless steel.

Are Chroma Type 301 knives dishwasher safe?

The manufacturer says no. We’ve washed ours in the dishwasher for years with no problems, but that’s our own experience and it goes against the label.

How often should you sharpen them?

I do the knives we use most about once a month, sometimes once every two months. Because I use a Horl 2 at a fixed 15-degree angle, each session takes off very little.

What is an in-countertop knife block?

A stainless bezel set into a cutout in the countertop, with a drainage tray inside and a slotted top surface. Knives sit vertically with the blades below the counter and the handles above it.

The Franke in-counter knife block is discontinued — what else is there?

Other manufacturers make in-counter knife blocks, so you don’t have to hunt down a Franke. I went with Franke because every sink, the water dispenser and the accessories in our kitchen are Franke, and I wanted the finish and the quality to match.

Can you add an in-countertop knife block to an existing countertop?

Technically yes, but it’s much harder. Mine was cut at the fabricator’s plant — I handed them the actual insert and they copied its dimensions, so the countertop arrived with the cutout already done. Doing it afterward in installed quartz is a different job entirely. Plan it before templating.

Is an in-countertop knife block a permanent decision?

Yes. It’s a permanent cutout, so if you redesign that area later the hole is still there. The block itself is simple enough that nothing really breaks — you can replace the top insert or swap the knives — but the hole is forever.