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IKEA kitchen installation - To do or not to do
All,
We want to change our kitchen. This week we plan to go to IKEA and take a look at what they have available and perhaps sit with one of them and design it. But would like to hear from those of you who have already installed or use IKEA kitchens - what is your recommendation? How is the quality of their kicthens? How is the service? How was the installation done? How quickly? Thanks.
I bought an Ikea kitchen 10 years ago and it's still fine. The only thing I could fault is that some of the wood veneers aren't all that resistant to humidity. So after 10 years, there are some peeling edges, but these can be fixed if done carefully. If I was going to do it again, I'd make sure all the wood was solid wood, rather than veneered wood.
No idea about the installation though, as I installed it myself. I just had a plumber come in to do the pipes, and I did everything else. It helped that I didn't need to significantly move any electrical work, just move some plug sockets around.
My advice to you would be to keep costs down, to design your new kitchen keeping all the major electrical items such as oven in the same place, as well as the sink and other stuff that may need water such as dishwasher. That way you're just fitting cabinets which is a lot easier and a LOT (!) cheaper than having to get plumbers and electricians in to move stuff around.
Something else you may want to consider if your actual kitchen has been fitted in the past 10 years or so, you may be able to just change the fronts (i.e. doors and drawer fronts and the kitchen surfaces. Generally speaking the actual structure of the cabinets is good for at least 20 years, unless it's undergone serious wear. You'll save a lot of money, and anyone with even a bare minimum of DIY skills could do it themselves.
