IKEA kitchens any experiences??

skintandsad

I have Ikea units, and love them - I bought them 4 years ago, and they still look fab and modern. The work tops I chose are solid wood.

The only comment I would add is that the walls in our house aren't "flat", being a very old house, so we had to have a carpenter friend help us install it.

With the previous units they had a wooden "overlap" at the back of the units which could be used to adjust the level of the units (I hope this makes sense!), whereas the Ikea ones we bought laid flat to the wall (think of a matchbox), so needed some strips of wood added to the wall to make them level.

Meepster

rachbc wrote: »

MW how is the spec so dramatically different between wickes and ikea? I remember in another thread you mentioned blum hinges as being superior to others and ikea use these as standard, 18mm cabinets etc so surely they can't be all bad? I mean I get the price difference between ikea and smallbone but tbh not between ikea and another 'shed'. For example a standard 600 wide wall cab in a gloss white finish 176 quid in wickes, 60 in ikea. My cynical side says it so wickes can permanently offer a 50% sale, and not forgetting the salesman's cut off course...rather than because the product is actually worth 116 quid more!

Well, for a starter, the quality of the fascias is better at Wickes than Ikea. Next, Wickes units have a 65mm service gap, to allow drainage pipes to run behind, Ikea only provide room for inlet pipes, meaning you have to rip the back/sides of the carcase to allow for 35/40mm outlet pipes. The quality of MFC Wickes use is superior to Ikea.

I'm not saying that I agree with their pricing structure, although they do not offer a permanent sale as you suggest. They have 4 sales per year, in which the discount level can vary between different ranges. The also have 4 periods of "spend and save", which can work out better or worse than the sale prices, depending on appliance costs.

Try to also compare the service you get at the two places. Ikea - here's a computer, get on with it, Wickes - full planning and advice service...

lisal0u

Hi,

I've just had an Ikea kitchen fitted and I love it! Had there wooden worktops too and they look lovely if I do say so myself!

I think they are good quality and even our joiner said the kitchen looked more expensive then it was!





There is loads of room in the cupboards and drawers which is what I was after as it is quite a small kitchen!

I would buy an Ikea kitchen again!

Brodiebobs

my parents have an ikea kitchen, its gorgeous, and like other posters have said very robust, but they had a few problems getting it there.
the delivery date was moved 3 times, the last time ikea were adamant it would come, my dad booked 2 weeks off work to get it sorted and they phoned the morning it was meant to be delivered and cancelled. The next week it came with lots of parts missing and they had to re-order which took six weeks. The helpline people are homeworkers so when dad tried to complain with a manager the helpline person couldnt get throught to one!
In the end i went with dad to complain instore, we were told it was my dad who had planned the kitchen himself so was his responsibility the parts were incorrect, until we showed them the plan which had a staff members name and staff number on because he planned it!!!
Really put me off, all in all took them about 5 months from ordering to finally getting everything in, nightmare! To really rub salt in the wound my dad finally got a call back from a manager and an 'apology' and he said they had lots of happy customers, but when there was an issues they all seem to happen at once to one customer lol...

devotee

Brodiebobs wrote: »

my parents have an ikea kitchen, its gorgeous, and like other posters have said very robust, but they had a few problems getting it there.
the delivery date was moved 3 times, the last time ikea were adamant it would come, my dad booked 2 weeks off work to get it sorted and they phoned the morning it was meant to be delivered and cancelled. The next week it came with lots of parts missing and they had to re-order which took six weeks. The helpline people are homeworkers so when dad tried to complain with a manager the helpline person couldnt get throught to one!
In the end i went with dad to complain instore, we were told it was my dad who had planned the kitchen himself so was his responsibility the parts were incorrect, until we showed them the plan which had a staff members name and staff number on because he planned it!!!
Really put me off, all in all took them about 5 months from ordering to finally getting everything in, nightmare! To really rub salt in the wound my dad finally got a call back from a manager and an 'apology' and he said they had lots of happy customers, but when there was an issues they all seem to happen at once to one customer lol...

I had a completely opposite experience with Ikea delivery! I really can't fault them! I got my wardrobes and living room storage from there (also a special order footstool) and they phoned a few times to make sure the delivery date was suitable and also texted to confirm. One of the hinges I got was slightly bent so I went to the store and they exchanged it there and then.
I can't say the same for Homebase, they changed the delivery date three times and then a few days before the delivery was due they called again to inform me it would not be arriving then as the date the gave me was a bank holiday grrr... so a few more weeks wait!

Keiss_21

We too have a very uneven and warped kitchen with all our pipes above the floor (concrete, with painted brick or Cotswold stone walls).
We chose to have legs for the units as opposed to fitting a plank to the wall and fixing the units to that and the wall. This allows us to level the units as well as having some legs straddling pipes on the floor. In fact, none of our base units are attached to the wall at all! In some cases the backs are 6 inches or more away from the wall. DH is going to make fill-ins/shelves/window sills with the same oak wood worktop..can't wait until it is finished!

Good luck with whatever you choose.

M

amilotte

Thankyou for all your replies, they have been very useful! The photos are great to see too! I just love the way that IKEA seem to utilise all the space with the ceiling height cupboards etc.

Luckily we are starting with a bare shell and the sink will be on the island so am hoping that we will avoid the problems where pipework is concerned.

Thanks also for the comments re the appliances, I think we would have been tempted to get it all from there as the prices seemed reasonable - I know why now!!!

I'm just waiting for DH to read all the responses as he was not too keen, I think I have enough to sway him now!!

pinkladyjune11

We have just received our Ikea kitchen, and have built most of the units. very pleased so far - easy to build and all delivered on time (with phone calls to warn us) and all seems to be there.
Has not been fitted yet, but seems excellent so far (and much cheaper than Homebase etc).

becs

I would definately agree about the appliances. We bought all ours from other suppliers, mainly because I wanted a built in double oven and their range was useless at the time,don't know if it's any better now. We also wanted a big sink, large enough to fit a grill pan in etc in black so agin that was a no go from Ikea.
I don't think you will find any house with true walls either, our's is an 80's house and the walls were wildly out! The easiest way round this we found was to fit the units slightly off the wall and have an extra deep worktop which is much better anyway.

cranford

UNtil recently i was going to buy a B&Q kitchen but then found DIY-Kitchens online. I orders a sample and now plan to goahead. For me the main advantage is theflexability in the cabinet sizes then have multiples 50 cm rather than the normal 100. The disadvantage is that there is a 15 percent surcharge for them to drill the doors but I am doing my own using their hinge jig(at a cost). However using the B&Q 15 percent off voucher as per MSE (and not avaiolable elesewhere)I have ordered the worktops from them. And delivery for me is just 10 days and not 6 weeks as they state on-line. Hurry the 15% across the board runs out today. Maybe there will a bank holiday discount comming though.