Buying an IKEA kitchen - any tips please?

[MissPollysTrolleyed]

The subject heading says it all .

[Mandy21]

Have you planned it with them? I'm not an expert by any means but I think one of the differences is that the base units can be a bit problematic if you have pipes behind - (have to be cut somehow) so make sure you plan property with sockets / pipes etc. We had an IKEA kitchen in the last house and loved it - got an independent fitter to fit it. The only thing I would say is that ask whether its likely to be discontinued - I think they have change designs quite often and you therefore may have problems getting replacements for things - having said that, we got a call / email from IKEA telling us that they were discontinuing the range (we had the Abstrakt black gloss) and asking us if we wanted to order anything.

We also had a worktop custom made for an island unti from their solid wood worktops and the measurements were wrong. I'd guesstimated the size (based on the dimensions of the units it was going on top of) and although I asked them to check it before ordering, they didn't. They did re-make it without a further charge, but would advise you to check and re-check any measurements to make sure you avoid any problems. Also, have heard that there are often parts missing which means you need to trek to Ikea to get them - but that wasn't the case with it, it was fine. We also ordered the whirlpool appliances - fridge and dishwasher - and they were great. We also had one of the roll front cabinets - loved that, so useful.

[MissPollysTrolleyed]

Thank you Mandy. That's enormously helpful.

We haven't planned it with them yet but are going to visit on Saturday to choose the doors, counter-tops and handles we want and we're then going to use the services of one of their independent kitchen planning consultants (£100) who will apparently come and measure up and advise on design.

We'll be replacing our floors and completely renovating the kitchen so I think we should be able to deal with sockets and pipes etc as part of that.

Getting very excited now about the prospect of a lovely new kitchen!

[topsmart]

When the kitchen is delivered, check every single item on the delivery note. It all comes in separate boxes, hundreds of them. We found lots of things were missing and had to keep popping back to the shop, v tedious. And lots of meatballs for dinner that week! Other than that, all fine.

[supernannyisace]

We have just replaced our doors and drawer fronts etc. for our Ikea kitchen.

I can't comment on fitting the base units - ours were done a few years ago - (before I lived here) hubby says he paid a joiner to fit all the cabinets and worktops etc.

I was impressed with ease of getting all the stuff - I had made up my own list on the ikea site - and took it in and discused with an assistant to ensure I hadn't missed anything off. Just replacing the doors/drawers/plinths and end panels took the best part of a day. so these jobs can take longer than you anticipiate. I am still waiting for DH to fit the new tap we bought - he isn't a plumber

I like the prices too!

[fedupwithdeployment]

We have an ikea kitchen, and I spent a long time planning it. I visited Magnet and another designer and talked through options with them before opting for ikea. Some of their suggestions were very useful, but the prices didn't match our budget.

Everything went perfectly, although I would advise going to order it on a quiet day, early in the morning. They delivered it on time with nothing missing.

My DH fitted it himself (with a bit too much help from our then 2yo) with a little assistance on plumbing and electrics.

It is great

[myron]

I have just ordered Ikea units for my kitchen & utility after comparing them to Howdens, Magnet, B&Q & local independents. None can beat Ikea on price/value for money especially when I went to town on the pan drawers and pull out larder units. It's allowed me to get high end appliances (Neff/Siemens/Franke), boiling water tap, wine cooler and a quartz worktop (sourced separately) within my budget. My joiner is fitting it though as a veteran of installing IKEA kitchens. I would advise on a good fitter - false economy to do a DIY job (if you haven't done it before!) Fingers crossed, they deliver everything.

[wickedfairy]

We designed our ourselves on their kitchen planner software. Went into the shop (we had appointment) and kitchen planner checked over the design and made a few suggestions to improve. He also helped us with little extra bits we hadn't thought of - very helpful! Definitely go when it's quiet though!

All got delivered in loads of boxes, we had nothing missing, which was good. Dh fitted it all himself and it is lovely! Much sturdier than I ever thought it would be too. We also bought all our applicances from them as they had a 3-for-2 deal on. They all function well (so far, fingers crossed) and we are really, really happy with it! Pan drawers, its the way to go!!

[Tizwozliz]

We're 90% of the way through fitting our ikea kitchen

www.flickr.com/photos/83246699@N00/7184253602/in/photostream

We ordered worktops and some appliances elsewhere but units, dishwasher and fridge all from Ikea. We've done all the fitting ourselves. We've knocked through two rooms into one so we made sure we sorted out the services at the same time so the lack of service gap wasn't an issue. Our worktops however are a bit deeper than the standard ikea ones which makes things a bit easier if your walls aren't very straight.

A couple of hinges missed off our delivery but an extra set of handles. An then we had a couple of things that we had to pop to Ikea to replace (a warped door and a damaged unit) but we're fairly close so no real problems and everything could be replaced there and then, I've heard tales of other people who are getting kitchens elsewhere having to wait weeks for replacement parts. (Not to mention a 6 week lead time on getting the kitchens in the first place)

Not sure if they're still doing the gift card thing where you get 100 pounds per 1000 pounds spent. We didn't buy some internal fittings on our original order so we could spend our gift card money on them instead.

Be aware that some internal fittings only fit certain size units. We have quite a few 50cm units and they don't make internal drawers for these.

[Gentleness]

I planned ours using the programme, and got exactly what I wanted. Given the inability of kitchen designers in other companies to understand what I wanted and include it in the plan, I decided not to waste the time with an Ikea designer, but then it was a very simple shape and newly extended, so I didn't feel concerned about the measuring.

If you can, use the tip about buying non-Ikea, extra deep worktops. We were able to do that along one wall, so the business about fitting utilities into the cabinets was avoided. And I get lovely deep worktops!

Oh - and the pan drawers. I love the pan drawers. They store a huge amount more than cupboards. And plinth drawers. Quite expensive luxury if you are trying to keep costs down, but really handy!

I love ours, nearly 2 yrs on. No signs of wear.

[Horsetowater]

I built my own - we live quite close and every night I would buy a couple of units and fit them together. Within two weeks we had a kitchen! That way I didn't have a huge delivery and stuff getting in the way.

If you are fitting your kitchen along one straight wall it's easy to do. If there is an L-shape involved it gets more complicated. Island units, therefore, are a piece of cake.

Don't use any kind of kitchen advisor - they are mostly men and have never cooked for a family in their lives. They really haven't a clue. We tried 4 different companies and they really didn't get the point of any of our needs.

Think about how you cook now, how you would like to cook in future, and take it from there. What is the busiest area, who needs access, etc. We have no wall cabinets so dcs can reach everything, also makes it feel more spacious. The kitchen triangle is a big myth. In a family setting you need a kind of kitchen octagon, where several people can skirt round each other comfortably. So we stuck our cooker out of the way, and have a special tea-making area. The dishwasher is near where the crockery goes. The larder is out of the way as it's not accessed often, the fridge is also tucked away slightly as you tend to get several things out at once. The sink is definitely not under the window but it is next to the dishwasher. Oven is under the hob. Using the space under the hob for drawers is not useful as you are standing there most of the time. Having an eye level oven just means it's more likely that if you drop your casserole it will seriously damage you as opposed to just making a bit of a mess.

I got quite bolshy about my kitchen, my inspiration came from the US - Americans seem to have kitchens exactly as they want them, they don't have any convention at all. The IKEAFANS website was very useful.

If you get larder cabinets, use shallow ones, 39cm deep. Easy to access and find what you want. Also, much cheaper. We have a wall of those for all my gizmos, vases, plates, store food, cat food etc etc. You'd hardly notice it's there as the cupboards are all the same size and plain white.

Enjoy!

[Horsetowater]

I have ALL my saucepans and frying pans in ONE 60cm deep drawer.

The drawers pull out all the way so they have massive capacity - I have 4 sets of pans fitting alongside each other in one drawer.

[sleepdodger]

Ours is ikea and brill
Make sure you spend tge time in store going through every painful detail with them because they're good and will suggest things you've not thought about (like end panels etc) things that might not be practical or cheaper ways to do same thing
We're really pleased with it 5 years on and it still looks v new when I clean it properly
Only thing I wish I'd done is been patient and ordered the customised work top length (solid oak can be custom length at greater lead time and cost, or I'm store in standard lengths) as we have a std butted together which looks v neat but reminds me daily of my impatience

[supernannyisace]

Update on our Ikea refit

Can we fit the bloody kitchen tap. No!!!

Grr..........

Appparently the fittings on the ends are different diameters to regular plumbed fittings. DH was up pratting about iwth it until 11 last night.

Will be calling a plumber shortly - le sigh.....................

[Horsetowater]

The waste pipe is a problem and you need a reducer ring, but the water pipes should be the same. 15mm compression fittings. Did you get the bendy hose bit with it?

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

Oooh- we've just finished fitting our IKEA kitchen in February, and I love it!

We fitted it ourselves, and yes, the moving the pipes so they are under the kickboards was a source of muttering for mydad plumber, and it did need a bit of extra thought, but I think the end result was worth it!

Trying to think of "IKEA" niggles that came up (there were many for dad to moan about!)

-the sinks don't have predrilled holes for the taps but you can buy a tool on IKEA to drill the hole, not a big deal (not as big as dad and uncle made it out to be, anyway!)

• As others have said, units go all the way to the back, so need to move pipes
  
• because units don't go all the way to the back, standard worktops (from somewhere other than IKEA don't overlap the units as much (again, not as much of an issue as dad would have it!)
  
• wall cupboards are also deeper
  
• some of the instructions could be clearer, if you are fitting it yourself!
  

But on the whole, although there was lots of moaning along the way, I have no regrets! Love my new kitchen!

[Horsetowater]

Ze Inglisch plumbers don't like ze Swedisch vays of doing ze buildwerk.

But that extra 2cm is very much needed - I've seen kitchens where they have used a standard worktop and it looks horrendous. It's essential to get the right size. Moving the pipes and wiring is a good idea.

[CutItOutAndRestart]

well my tip of the day is don't rely on them to deliver it when they say they will.

I am we had a text A TEXT today to say they will be delivering 3 days later than planned. This is despite carefully choosing in store the delivery date and having a long conversation with their staff member about us not being able to move the date.

The result is we now have a fitter and all the trades booked but no kitchen to fit and they want to deliver it on a day when there is no one available to take the delivery. Its not like they can drop it off at the post office for us to pick it up later it is a HUGE kitchen!

can you tell I am slightly miffed?

apart from that everything else had been great, the service we had received in store was fab. However, this has messed things up big time and on that basis I would say either collect it yourself or go elsewhere (sorry)

[supernannyisace]

Tap fitted successfullly. I called a plumber in -who only charged £25 - so it was still a bargainous new tap.

[pinkhousesarebest]

Tiz your kitchen is stunning. Is it Tidalholm but custom sprayed?

[chocoroo]

We had ours from Ikea at the end of 2010. We planned it ourselves and they checked it out in store.

We also employed their fitters which worked out well for us. Obviously we could have got it cheaper but they were able to do additional work for us (plastering, boxing in a chimney breast) for a very reasonable prices so we didn't have too many tradesmen to deal with. They also returned to deal with snagging. I should add our kitchen was fitted in the middle of the bad snow at the end of 2010 and they were always prompt despite this. Because we used the fitter the build is also guaranteed for 10 years which is not the case if you do it yourself/get another contractor.

[itdoesnthurttohavemanners]

Buy the carcusses, but not the worktops. The sinks and taps are overpriced for the quality. The basic units are great though, and are actually from exactly the same supplier as B+Q and Magnet. Appliances - seriously, don't bother, buy elsewhere. If you're going instore and want advice, don't go on an evening when generally there are only temps working (who don't know as much and the department is understaffed) - go at 10am in the morning when the permanent full time staff are on. Kitchens dept is one of the few departments in IKEA where full time perm staff still work. The installation service is outsourced, which explains for the delays in delivery/fitting which can happen. Personally, if it were me, I would buy the kitchen from IKEA and use my own fitters. If you're ordering custom made worktops, ensure your measurements are absolutely accurate! Don't rely on the staff to guesstimate what size you want! (just being honest). Don't bother buying OAK worktops unless you have free time on your hands to constantly oil them. Buy the handles you want instore there and then - buy extra just in case.

Source : Used to work as a Kitchen's Manager for IKEA! If you want to know anymore, happy to help!

[seb1]

How much does ikea fitting cost roughly?

[annalouiseh]

Ikea don't get there carcass from the same sources as B&Q or Magnet
All 3 are different levels

[Tizwozliz]

pinkhousesarebest the doors are off white Adel.

One of the things I like about Ikea is the price is the price. We had a quote from Homebase and they give you a figure and then pretend that for this week only they've got 60% off, except they've always got 60% off! Ikea still came in at 75% of their 60% off price too.

[MissPollysTrolleyed]

Tizwoz your kitchen looks beautiful.

Thanks to everyone for the tips. We went to IKEA on Saturday. It was a long morning and my DH and I didn't agree on the doors we wanted but we got lots of ideas and agreed on everything else.

We're intending to use their kitchen planning service so they can measure up for us and give us some advice on some structural work that will need doing as part of the job. We'll use our own fitter though and, based on the advice here, will probably buy our own customised worktops.

Itdoensthurt I'm loving their Belfast style sinks but want a solid oak worktop. I'm guessing that's really impractical as we use a draining board all the time so the wood will get warped???