We just bought a house (close tomorrow!!) and I want to gut the kitchen. We got a quote from a contractor, but I am also wondering about the possibility of doing an IKEA kitchen. I have read about them being great on blogs, so I am just looking for more opinions. Do you have one? Did you install it yourself? Tips about the whole process? Would you do it again?
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We gutted our kitchen and did IKEA in 2012. I love it! A few tips:
1. They have a big kitchen sale in the spring. 20% off everything! So wait for that to save $$$
2. We saved more by doing our own demolition
3. We paid for installation. Somehow, they didn't need all the trim pieces, so we were able to return the unused ones and save more. Also, a few cabinet doors were warped and the got them replaced in under an hour. Totally worth it!I love how easy it it to clean the cabinets, the soft close features, and the organization features. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
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We just gutted our kitchen and put in an IKEA kitchen, we aren't done yet :(. Yes it saves money. Yes they are easy to install and put together. We did all our own demo which was also easy. Where we ran into issues - we found mold and had to remove more drywall. We removed the bulkheads and had to re-wire half of the kitchen because the wires were too short to put up in the ceiling. We had to have some of the pipes replaced because we went from a 2 drain sink to a 1 drain sink and no one would use the old copper pipes. We are a month and a half in and still waiting on the counters to be installed. (We bought quartz from ikea and it is a much longer process then they tell you.) So we still have no sink or dishwasher until the counters are in.
So my thoughts on it are I love their cabinets and they were easy to install. If you are just swapping out cabinets for an update I think they are great. But if you plan on removing any drywall or anything it would be worth getting someone to do that work. And research a plumber and an electrician just Incase. We had to find people last minute which caused more delays and more money.
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We gutted our kitchen a few years ago and put in IKEA cabinets, but did our own counter tops. The only person we hired was a plumber to move pipes. I love them and 4 years later, they are still holding up great. One great thing is that if your toddler runs her trucks all over a cabinet and scratches it, you can easily order the front of the cabinet and replace it
My dad and husband put them together and installed them and it was pretty easy. (Besides our ceiling not being level, but that has nothing to do with IKEA) I love the organizational features and soft close. You also can't beat the price. Someone mentioned it up above, but they have a kitchen sale in the spring that is defintely worth it. I also don't think it looks like they are from IKEA (no offense, IKEA)
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Congrats on the house! We wanted to use IKEA cabinets in our kitchen but our contractor was going to charge a ton to put them together. But, we do have them (the modern shiny ones with no pulls) in our dining room as a built-in buffet and they look great and have held up so well even with a toddler who likes to run his cars over the doors.
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I just wanted to add a couple things I thought of.
The kitchen planner tool they make you use was a pain and we found out later at IKEA it doesn't run the best on Apple computers. Just an FYI Incase you have a mac
We bought during the sale they just had in August. It was 15% off if you spend 5k, and you get that 15%back in ikea gift cards.
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We did ours two years ago.
I'm actually a high end kitchen designer and couldn't afford my mill work guy doing custom work for my house.
We assembled because I find it relaxing. I had a one of my contractors assistants install. It's really important that everything is level and square and I didn't want to DIY that and Eff up.
Our kitchen is in a new location so it required all new plumbing and electrical.
We subbed all of that out. I used my stone supplier for countertops.
All in all we ended up with a gorgeous kitchen for around $13k. -
@oliviaoblivia: I would love to see pictures!! I bet it's gorgeous! We need ours updated but need ideas.
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@T.H.O.U.: I'll post one when it's not a disaster!
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@jill_a55: Our before- 1950's Original Kitchen!
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@jill_a55: And our after... well, our 'still in process' after
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@OurEastAndWest: wow!! Stunning!!
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I would definitely do it again, especially in our situation. We removed the load-bearing wall from the living room to kitchen and installed a beam, removed a half wall inside of the kitchen itself, then pushed through the back kitchen wall 4 feet into an unused garage storage closet, vaulted the ceiling, replaced plumbing, all-new electrical panel, recessed lighting installed- and that was all before we even got to putting in the cabinets!! So for our budget we really didn't have an option. My husband put them all together and installed them- with help from me plus family/friends- and we figured out how to install our own crown molding to the top to help make it look higher-end.
Though it was a HUGE pain, I would highly recommend IKEA cabinets! The soft-close features and lazy susans, all those extra little features really function so well in our day-to-day life.
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A better angle of the main kitchen area- we did IKEA cabinets and sink but everything else we purchased elsewhere (like Restoration Hardware cabinet pulls to class it up a little)
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And this is the back area of the kitchen we are STILL not done with! We need to build a valance to cover the a/c unit we installed because our kitchen was not part of our central a/c system
We used wood countertops instead of granite in this area to save money too. We also need to install a pendant over the kitchen sink and install the marble back-splash but details, details haha
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@hellobeeboston: Thank you so much!! Look at it with half-opened eyes so you can pretend that the back-splash is up and the under cabinet lighting is installed so there aren't wires still hanging ha
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@OurEastAndWest: wow! How do you like your down draft vent? We will be having our stove top in the island too and want to get rid of the overhead hanging cabinets and hopefully vent too.
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@T.H.O.U.: I know it looks like a down-draft stove but it actually isn't! It's the GE Cafe series I believe? We were supposed to buy a down draft because I had always wanted a cook-top facing into the living room so when we entertain, I can still be apart of everything while cooking. The week before we bought the same down draft stove that my in-law's have, we actually stayed at their house for a week while they were out of town. Honestly, I don't think their down draft stove helped a THING! We tried it every day while there and were not impressed with it at all. So we gambled and actually don't have any sort of vent for cooking- I know, we were super nervous about doing it too
However, after 3 years of almost daily cooking, our no-vent is not an issue in the slightest! We have vaulted, open ceilings, plus we have two windows right next to the stove so we can open those up to let more air in if needed.It really has only gotten overly smokey in the house once but that was using cast-iron skillets for 15 filet mignon steaks on Valentine's Day one year. Obviously that was because we seared 15 steaks in a row! That was an usual case; especially since we cook vegetarian at home 90% of the time ha.
I would still say if you are concerned to do down-draft but I haven't once regretted our decision to forego a vent!
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Thank you so much for all the info! It sounds like everyone loves the cabinetry, but the normal kitchen demo/renovation process is what the pain is, so that's great! We are really mostly going to be just removing existing and replacing, so I don't think there should be any major issues when it comes to plumbing, etc...
Our IKEA told us there is a kitchen sale starting in October, so we would take advantage of that for sure!
@OurEastAndWest: thanks for sharing photos! Your kitchen turned out so nice! That is the style that we'd most likely be going with as well.
@oliviaoblivia: yes, please share pics! My mom is a designer as well, so I have resources for everything that we'd want to do, but kitchens are so expensive!
@pinkb: thank you for the tips! I do have a Mac so I'll keep that in mind, I'll have to do some kitchen planning at work
@lioneyes: thank you! -
@OurEastAndWest: beautiful kitchen!
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@OurEastAndWest:
that's amazing!
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: @MrsB2012: Thank you so much!! I am terribly embarrassed to admit that we started it 3 years ago and still haven't put up the back-splash or finished all the moldings yet
Life gets crazy!! @jill_a55: Also, don't remember seeing this mentioned but there is an option for the company IKEA recommends for cabinet installation to come out (I want to say it was either free or like $99 maybe) and they work with you in the space to design the kitchen. Big bonus was that they add all the necessary pieces for that design into the cart for you as well, including a ton of things we didn't even think to order!! We had our layout a little different at first and with his suggestion we changed the pantry location and it became so much more functional! They also give you a quote on what installation would cost by them but it's pretty expensive- at that point we could have just ordered the cabinets from Home Depot. The guy was super nice about us not wanting to go through them for install and to do it ourselves. If they have that option at your IKEA I would 100% take advantage of it, even if there is a cost!
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How do Ikea cabinets stack up against semi-custom wood cabinets, in terms of overall quality and durability?
What are the differences that account for the cost savings?
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Another question.
Has anyone compared to like Cabinets.com.
We had to replace just a single cabinet so we ordered from them and are pretty happy with it.
My dad and husband put them together and installed them and it was pretty easy. (Besides our ceiling not being level, but that has nothing to do with IKEA) I love the organizational features and soft close. You also can't beat the price. Someone mentioned it up above, but they have a kitchen sale in the spring that is defintely worth it. I also don't think it looks like they are from IKEA (no offense, IKEA)
We used wood countertops instead of granite in this area to save money too. 
However, after 3 years of almost daily cooking, our no-vent is not an issue in the slightest! We have vaulted, open ceilings, plus we have two windows right next to the stove so we can open those up to let more air in if needed.Reply
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