Are ikea kitchens really so much cheaper?

[YesItsMeYesItsMe]

Their online planner thing is not working for me at the mo and it’s such a schlep to get there with 3 kids, so I just need to know if it’s actually going to be worth the trip. 3 people I know rate their ikea kitchens but how much are we looking at for similar to below from ikea?

This is £22k at magnet 🫣 with 50% off cabinets and 20% off something else. The same is £20k at benchmarx. All my research has people saying ‘our kitchen was 8k’ etc so no idea where we’re going wrong!! Nothing fancy - lower range cabinets and laminate counters etc.

Just had an updated estimate for our extension and, my god. So trying to cut costs as much as poss!

Are you comparing like-with-like though? Those people saying theirs was £8k are probably only talking about the units? Our kitchen did cost £6k and £1.5k for the utility room but that's for the units alone.

That amount doesn't include appliances, fitting, tiles, decoration etc. What's included in your Magnet quote?

Also size of kitchen - the picture looks like quite a big kitchen. How big were the ones that were £8k?

Do the virtual session with Ikea. It’s excellent. I have had three as I work with the designer to make changes etc

We were quoted over £15k from Wren minus appliances.
we went with ikea and paid £6k with appliances but had to pay separately for a fitter.
The real issue was the fitter for us - so make sure you get a good one, ours cost just shy of £2000 and made a few bodge jobs.
it’s been in now for 4 years and couldn’t really fault it.

The cost of a fitter wouldn’t be £2000 where I live. Double that!

When people say what their kitchen cost, it often omits fitting. DD had a John Lewis kitchen. £13,000 for all units, electrical work and fitting. Some appluancws were retained. A friend had £8000 ikea kitchen and her dad fitted it. DD had templated worktop, her friend had laminate. Etc etc. You must compare like with like.

I would not have ikea in an expensive house. Look at sizes and variety of units and you obviously won’t get bespoke solutions.

Yeah our house is a basic 3 bed semi (will be 4 bed but still 1970s semi, you know the kind).

Just spoken to friend and her similar kitchen from IKEA was £5k with appliances but without countertops 😯 definitely worth an investigate! I tried their online virtual thing last night but wasn’t working so will try again.

Don’t get ikea appliances. Get a decent brand. Bosch or similar.

My kitchen was £8K but I had half the number of units in yours!

Have you looked at DIY Kitchens - yes, I know Mumsnet is obsessed with them but even my fitter recommended them. Also to get your worktops separately at Worktop Express.

Try Wikes design service for kitchens minus the fitting and with fitting.

Their kitchens units are made by Blum, a German company that also make howdens units.

Howdens are more expensive and fitters prefer they come pre-made and not flat pack. Like Wikes

Are you saying the £22k is before or after all the discounts?

But yes, Ikea are likely to be significantly cheaper, and the quality is excellent.

We paid about £5/6k for a similar size/layout as that picture, including a tap and induction hob, but they weren't expensive, under £200 for these two items. But this was all about 5/6 years ago.

They also have some really good design features (eg drawers in base units, hidden shallow drawers in the top of the base unit under the worktop that are good for spices and other small items) that they didn't have when we looked at Howdens (who were dreadful in many ways so didn't get past the design appointment).

@BarbaraofSeville £22k after the discounts which expire on Sunday apparently. But it’s one of those things where I’m not sure the items are ever full price. Wasn’t keen on their sales style tbh.

Thanks for all the advice all! Definitely worth checking out for the units at least. Builder rates Howdens and Wickes but it’s all just overwhelming!

Fitters like Howdens because of their pricing structure that allows them to make money from you buying a kitchen from them.

Kitchen unit priced at £200 will cost the fitter £50 but they'll tell you it was £100, that sort of thing.

Flat pack shouldn't be a significant factor for most people. It takes no time at all to put a unit together. I did most of ours myself as DP and his kitchen fitter mate were doing the install.

Definitely worth checking IKEA. My large kitchen was £3k for the units, doors and counter tops but that didn't include appliances or the fitting (we did it ourselves).

Discounts expire on Sunday. And start again on Monday.

I looked at Magnet and MFI when we were doing up the kitchen in our old house in the late 1990s. Their discounts 'expired on Sunday' then too, and I don't think there's ever been a time when Magnet and MFI when they were still in business, haven't had a sale on, yet are still a lot more expensive than everywhere else, despite just about all of them (Magnet, Ikea, DIY, Wickes, Howdens, B&Q) being much of a muchness as far as quality goes as far as I can see.

I have an ikea kitchen and a Wikes kitchen

The builder moaned less fitting the Wikes one 🤣 something to do with the ikea cabinets being deeper with less space behind for pipes etc and the cooker cupboard and extractor fan cupboard had to be adjusted. But maybe he was having an off week.

The Wikes one is better quality, and has lasted longer.

Ikea prices have gone up but they will be much less than that
I've had Howdens, wickes and ikea and ikea is the best one

I nearly bought an ILEA kitchen. The kitchen was quite cheap and their fitting fee seemed reasonable. Then the fitters came to do a survey and the price increased hugely! The fitting was estimated to be higher then the cost of the kitchen.
In the end I went with Magnet trade. I had been to Magnet got a design and price, Magnet trade offered a lower price and recommended a local fitter. I got a quartz worktop from a local company. I had actually been to Magnet trade first but was shocked at the quote at the time for both the Winchester and Dunham. A few months later when I went back I got the Dunham for less than the original quote for the Winchester.

Be aware that IKEA cabinets are not like other UK manufacturers. They don't have the recess at the back to allow for plumbing, electrics etc. Can cause issues and some fitters won't touch them.

I had an expensive magnet kitchen with quartz worktops in last house.

I've got a much cheaper IKEA on in this house. I bought them both.
I honestly prefer the IKEA one.

I've got an ikea kitchen, it's about three years old. Yes it was loads cheaper than everywhere else. It's sturdy and looks good. You can tailor it to what you want eg I bought a Neff hob and oven to be fitted and a kitchen sink from elsewhere too. I disagree with the poster who said don't buy the ikea appliances; we have a dishwasher and washing machine and they are excellent and both have a 5 year warranty. IKEA don't make their own white goods, Whirlpool and Electrolux manufacture them.

Haven't got a clue but we've recently moved into a house with an ikea kitchen that was installed 15 years ago and it's still going strong!

I've had a quote for £5K from B&Q
Going to see about DIY Kitchens as they get a really good review on MN!

Ps. Should've added, the previous owners chose Ikea integrated microwave and dishwasher and they both perform miles ahead of the brand new Bosch (dishwasher) and Panasonic (microwave) equivalents in our previous home.

We just got an ikea kitchen (including island) put it. We bought all appliances from ikea too. It came to 9k. The worktops are great quality and I oiled them myself. We found an independent worker to fit the kitchen for 1k. Happy with my budget kitchen!

We had an IKEA kitchen at our old house and used their fitters. Came to about £10K all in, including composite worktop.

It was amazing quality and the number of options are second to none. Our new house has a fancy kitchen that cost several times what we spent in IKEA (not our choice!) and it's by no means any better.

That said - we bought our own appliances as the IKEA ones don't get great reviews.