Tell me bc about your IKEA kitchens!

[TheOnlyAletheia]

I’ve had DIY Kitchens for my last five kitchens and really rate them but unfortunately they don’t have the black wood grain effect that I’m looking for. IKEA do but never had a kitchen from them before, so Mners please tell me about your IKEA kitchens!

Kitchen fitters don't like fitting them because they don't have a void at the back for services. We had one at our old house though and it was very good. No issues in 8 years and it still looked good as new.

We bought one 2 years ago. Their fitters put it in as their was an offer 15% installation if you used their fitters . Thought it was great . Old kitchen removed / rewire done. Re plaster done and fitted in just over two weeks. Heard after that we were lucky the fitters we had were great I've heard not so great stories elsewhere . Still looks as good as new

I loved my Ikea kitchen! They really make the most of having limited space, unlike most kitchen places who seem to think everyone has a huge area to work with.
We’ve moved and I really miss it. Would definitely look at them again if I can ever afford to get this kitchen redone.

In 2018 we bought a house with an approximately seven year old ikea kitchen. It was truly awful - extremely poor quality and the door design (lots of vertical ridges) was a real dirt trap. We couldn't wait to rip it out. I'd never choose one myself, although they do seem to be popular.

Mine is 18 years old and still looks good.

We designed ours and fitted it ourselves despite never having done anything like that before. It's only been in for about 9 months so I can't speak to longevity, but I am very happy with it. It cost us a fraction of what it would have to have it professionally done.

There is a very helpful Danish chap on Youtube called Rannes who puts up some really helpful videos. He installs the US/Canadian SEKTION which is very close to the European METOD.

You can choose between METOD, ENHET and KNOXHULT, Knoxhult is all pre-made designs which can't be customised. Enhet is the basic version which can be customised to an extent and Metod is the luxury version coming with soft-close hinges/drawers and a lot more options.

I started out playing around with Enhet which was easier because you have fewer parts, and then DH fell in love with the Metod doors so we switched to that which wasn't that much more expensive anyway. I would recommend doing it this way because I would have got overwhelmed starting with METOD but once you've got your head around all the ENHET pieces, METOD doesn't have that many extra options, it's just it looks like a lot when they show you every possible combination at once.

The only part I wish we'd done differently is not bothered with the special upper cupboard to hide the extractor fan - but that is because I got impatient and bought it in the wrong size and then tried to Frankenstein two pieces together and it's been a PITA. I should have just planned a normal cupboard for that position and then put the extractor fan into it, which you can also do.

We had an Ikea Kitchen. Never again. They fitted it, they couldn't fit the worktop properly so it didn't have the proper joins. The inbuld dishwasher broke several times, partially doe to poor fitting, then the bit of filler board they put in to bridge the gap between the dishwasher and the next unit fell off. Then after being fitted for 5 years the whole kitchen cupboard unit fell off the wall. the fitter had not installed it correctly- the fittings thyey used were only suitable for 80kg of weight, they were holding a triple cupboard that weighted 67kg on it's own, so would havbe only held a few plates and mugs beore being overweight (remember triple cupboard, so size wise could hold a lot more than I had in it). Finally the deep pan drawers broke several times. they only had pans or snacks in. Really really would stay away

I have an IKEA kitchen and it was a fraction of the cost of anywhere else I found. It was fitted about 8 years ago. I had people come in to fit it. I have recently renovated my house and changed the kitchen door fronts and it was so simple as IKEA doors are all standard sizes. Definitely recommend.

I recently got metod cupboards installed and after a couple of false starts lucked out and managed to get a very experienced joiner in to fit them (he used to teach joinery at the local college and fit kitchens for John Lewis). He said he hadn’t fitted IKEA previously but thought the units and mounting system were good.

The other thing I like is that there is such a wide choice of finishes that you could easily change the doors for a new look if you got bored if the original

Ours is 3 years old. We fitted it ourselves, which was straightforward.
Bought handles and worktop from elsewhere, as didn't think the Ikea ones were good value / particularly nice.

I had mine in 2019. I did all the homework, had people around had designs from various brands, looked at diykitchen, went with ikea eventually. I am very happy with the results and it still going strong after this many years.

Things I like about IKEA kitchen

1. price, not just that it is significantly cheaper than others, but that the pricing is transparent. With other companies, the price depends on how thick skinned your are at slashing the asking price.
2. service, this includes the planning stage with ikea designer and the design programme on their website which I find very useful
3. organiser, I have 2 corner carousels, highly recommended. Also things like dividers, inserts, all fit in nicely.
4. larger capacity. Ikea units do not have the 15cm workman access at the back and also the cabinets are raised only by 8cm instead of 15cm like normal uk cabinets
5. easy to replace parts if you have parts missing

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT GETTING AN IKEA KITCHEN
you must get fitter who is familiar with fitting Ikea kitchens. You have to specify this. As mentioned earlier, they are different from normal UK kitchens. My kitchen fitter wisely told me ‘your kitchen is only as good as the fitter’, wise words.

10 plus years, fitted ourselves with lots of swearing. Love the high cupboards above the unites, we put ours up to ceiling height so no disgusting hidden grease and grime! Regret using drawers for plates etc, kids always wiping sides while drawers are open so everything gets filled with crumbs!

Also had a nightmare with built in dishwasher and the door keep coming off. Possibly our fault since we'd never fitted a kitchen before (and won't again 😅)

Price was brilliant especially with self fitting.

Oh I have thought of a tip. If you are having a hidden drawer behind a larger drawer front e.g. for cutlery (seems v popular where we are, not sure if this is a global trend) if you install it one set of holes further down than they suggest, it still works perfectly fine and you can fit things like ladles and potato mashers in it as well without them constantly jamming the drawer closed.

Ours has been in 12/14 years

We planned it in store with help, built it and fitted it ourselves

What we loved about Ikea was how we could mix and match to get the most out of the space we had, we did butcher customise some cabinets which you can do easily because they sell so many extras

We finished it with a granite counter and Franke sink and tap and it looks as good as any high end kitchen

Which magazine rate the two best kitchens as John Lewis followed by Ikea.
We opted for one in a holiday home - we added good quality quartz countertops from a specialist supplier with quality door furniture ( not Ikea) and floor tiles. Kitchen has a lovely ercol table and chairs. it looks very nice and the units, sink and taps were moderately priced.

Our first two kitchens were Ikea. We fitted them ourselves and they're still going strong. The first one is now in a rental property and looks like new 20 years later. Absolutely bombproof! Our new kitchen is from Howdens as Ikea didn't have what we wanted but the price difference - ouch.

Hi,
we bought an IKEA kitchen two years ago and had them to install it and also got IKANO finance for it as well.
After six months the pattern on the edging strip had started to wear away. After numerous phone calls and photos sent they refused to send anybody out to look at the problem and determined that it was wear and tear.
Their decision completely so the 25 year guarantee is completely worthless. They make the rules and you haven't got a leg to stand on.
The strip is now feeling off and there is water ingress happening so the woodchip underneath the laminate is starting to blow.
We now have to start a whole new claim again.
I wonder if they will say it all our fault again?

We designed and installed ours ourselves. Ten years on and it still looks amazing. I love all the storage solutions. The built in appliances are fab. We love it.

Oh I have to add, my hob failed after 8 years - replaced straight away