IKEA or DIY kitchen - how do they compare?

[another20]

Will be getting work tops elsewhere and know that DIY units come ready assembled. I know the exact colour and style that I want (flat, modern, matt black) which IKEA do -- is it worth me travelling to Yorkshire to look at DIY kitchens ? Are they a much higher quality product?

I think the main differences are that the sizes are limited to 200mm multiples with Ikea cabinets and they can be a bugger to fit as there's no service void. We're going for DIY Kitchens, but I've seen the Matt black one in Ikea and I think it's a fairly unique kitchen that you wouldn't replicate it easily with DIY Kitchens.

Judging by the price examples in DIY's showroom, they can't beat IKEA on price. However, DIY have many more cabinet sizes and their cabinets are supplied rigid, so already built rather than flat pack.

Thanks 4years - I will be having 700 worktops so will have space for a service void. Good to know that they are 200 multiples - didn't know that.

I also was thinking that if I went for a painted DIY in matt black, I could respray to something neutral if we put house up for sale - or I got bored?

But it might be just as easy to change the doors in that case.

Definitely if you went for a painted black door you could change the colour. They do a dark graphite grey as standard, but not black.

Although Ikea have a 25 year guarantee on their kitchens, the one we installed in our old house discoloured badly and the wrap lifted away from the door. Once our tenant moves out, I'll be cashing in the guarantee!

No idea about DIY but I love my ikea kitchen,

Love my DIY kitchen. We found they had a better range of cabinet sizes than ikea which fitted our design better.
Ordering and delivery from then was good too. I would happily use them again.

Have had both (although it was the old Faktum kitchen from IKEA, not the current METOD) and I would saw the DIY kitchen felt "smoother" - drawers etc and when you opened the cupboards it looked higher end. No real tangible reason, just the 'feel' of the kitchen. The other thing is that should you ever wish to reconfigure the kitchen / add to it, DIY kitchens are standard depth / standard height whereas IKEA units are deeper.

What is the lead - time on DIY kitchens?
Can anyone point to similar painted door design and colour to Kungsbacka (I thought Pitch Black F&B

www.google.co.uk/search?q=kungsbacka+kitchen&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB776GB776&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjlr5DeprzaAhXLL8AKHQ_IDN4QsAQILQ&biw=1473&bih=715

The lead time on diykitchens was around 4 weeks when I ordered mine 1.5 years ago.

DIY Kitchens are solid wood whereas Ikea are not. DIY Kitchens are also UK standard size meaning if you want to change the doors only in several years time you can change the colour and style from most UK shops whereas Ikea you have to buy from them as their frames are European size not UK size.

The lead time depends on what model you choose and whether it's a standard colour or not - you can find out by setting up a shopping basket.

DIY Delivery time was about 4 weeks when I looked last month. I actually ended up going to Howden s though as they were cheaper.

We’re looking at a Matt black kitchen too and I put our order into diy kitchens last night to get an idea of the the costs. Ikea’s price was around £2000 and DIY kitchens was £2700. I went for the Carrera bespoke painted doors in F&B Pitch Black and it said delivery from 4th June but I don’t know how accurate that is.

I think we’ll go for Ikea because the Kungsbaka is really unique in style and sustainability. I also like the idea of getting a designer in to come and tell me exactly what I need to order as i’m worried about missing essential items out.

DIY kitchens - when we looked at them a few years ago -

Not much different on price (depends on door style of course)
Ikea smaller choice of unit sizes but exclusive drawer units and more on trend designs you can't get anywhere else.

DIY carcases are solidly assembled, better edgings, thicker back panel, choice of finishes (but may not make much difference if you just want white), also they have the service gap. And are a standard size for appliances.

However an Ikea kitchen properly assembled and installed should stand the test of time just as well, they have put a lot of thought into them. Because the back panel is flush to the wall it's less likely to get pushed out than say a Homebase kitchen.

I understand they both do range of doors from melamine/MDF to painted or natural wood so you takes your choice there.

Sorry to hijack - hoping to get our new kitchen from Ikea but I a struggling so much finding an island style dining table to seat 6/8 people any suggestions much appreciated ! X

BellaMoo - do the IKEA designers come out on a home visit?

BellaMoo - what colour/materials are you going for floor, worktop and splash-backs? Are you also going for black full height and wall cabinets?

They do. It’s only £40 which I think will be worth it as we’re going to need filler panels and corner posts - I want to be sure we’ve got everything right. You can register for it online and they’ll contact you.

The floor is engineered oak which we’re not changing and I think we’ll go with oak worktops and some sort of white tile. I’ve got white flat, Matt metro tiles laid in a chevron pattern in my current kitchen which I love so I might even just do the same again. I think we’ll have one 40cm wide full height cupboard but I want to maximise worktop space so will have black ceiling height wall cupboards in the rest of the kitchen. The only thing I really can’t decide on is handles.

What finishes are you planning?

I would really recommend getting the DIY kitchens door samples, I actually have a carrerra painted one currently, they are lovely smooth touch doors.

Diy kitchen door sample i have is so heavy. It must be well built. Are their carcasess much stronger than ikea or not? i am worried that heavy doors will reduce the life of kitchen as they might rip out hinges.
I have inherited a terrible kitchen where carcasses are rubbish and doors are very heavy. And everything is falling apart like this

We are moving and will need a new kitchen and are having the very same debate and unsure which way to go.

Our current house has a DIY kitchen and we can't fault the quality and all the different cabinet sizes were great for making the most of a length of wall without having any gaps. Also they come ready assembled which was a godsend.

Even so I am tempted by Ikea partly because I think it'll work out cheaper, and there's a store near us. I do love some of their styles (though worry about no service void and incompatible with standard appliances) and DIY are starting to look a bit samey but that might just be because I've spent too much time browsing their website!

I like DIY's Shaker cabinets but would want a plain drawer front and I don't think they will mix and match like that but we're going up to visit their showroom tomorrow armed with questions so I will report back.

Have you looked at nakedkitchen.co.uk they make bespoke doors for ikea & others carcasses. Some of them are a real thing of beauty!

Sorry ignore that web address it’s www.nakeddoors.com.

The Child spoke to me between thinking and writing!!

We had a matt black ikea kitchen in our old house and all the laminate wrap peeled off the doors within 2 years, Iwouldn't have another one.

Following

Ikea kitchens on Watchdog. Luckily we already knew we will go to DIY kitchens but if I had been thinking of Ikea this report would have steered me away.