pimp an IKEA kitchen?

[MissWing]

Hi all, IKEA kitchens seem to get good reviews, esp for the price.

We're considering getting one and then putting an engineered stone worktop on top (compac probably). Then adding Jeff appliances from the John lewis outlet/ boots electrical. With Franke sink and taps.

Is this going to work?

Is it daft to put a whole bunch of mid-high end stuff (worktops etc), on IKEA carcasses? Eg will our stone and the sink outlive the kitchen?

We're planning to get our builder to fit it.

V grateful for your views!

this is exactly what we did.

ikea kitchen - granite worktops, fired earth tiles on wall and floor, fired earth paint, franke sink and taps (about £1k worth!)

only had ours a year but i love it! go for it.

This is exactly what we did. The IKEA carcasses and drawer mechanisms are pretty solid and hard-waring (10 years down the line).

We put a black granite worktop on all of it and also had Maple doors made to fit. If you buy a set of the cheapest doors and take it to a door maker they can use the holes as a master set so that hand made doors fit IKEA units etc.

Go for it.

"living the good life"

That is crazy spooky. You wrote your post whilst I wrote mine. I hadn't seen yours and we both started and finished our posts with exactly the same words!!!

"This is exactly what we did."

and

"Go for it"

Thanks, gals! I mistakenly posted this thread twice- sorry! The other version is getting more action so it might be best to retire this one? But your lovely advice is super helpful. I WILL go for it!

I have a friend who is a bespoke cabinet maker. He is often asked to make doors and worktops for ikea carcasses. He says that from a maker viewpoint is a faff but quite often does it so it seems quite common. It makes it a far more affordable way of doing things.