Just a further note on IKEA appliances:

My IKEA branded fridge is Whirlpool when you look at the machine ID tab.

The cooker and hob are Bauknecht.

Neither of these are what I would call inferior brands, they're just cheaper because they are branded as IKEA not the original manufacturer.

Hope that helps.

You get what you pay for, horses for courses etc, but if you buy cheap, you buy twice. It's not the fact you can buy 2 or 3 IKEA kitchens for the price of a good one, it's just the thought of having workmen in more than once that would make me consider paying for a better quality kitchen,

Wow, excellent discussion here about IKEA kitchens..!

I'm thinking about ripping my kitchen out one day and installing a new one as well. I bought my place about 6 years ago (building was already 16 years old), the kitchen cupboards are all original but sellers put in all new appliances and (granite) countertops for the sale. I've got another 4 years on the mortgage and I'm thinking about selling so I'm obviously not looking to put in a kitchen that's going to last me the next 20+ years. IKEA sounds like it might just be the answer for me, will have to have a closer look at their stuff.

thanks..

If the kitchen is 16 years old (original) the cabinets may be of good quaility. If the granite work tops are still good, you wouldn't want the expense of changing those either.
I would consider just looking at buying new doors maybe if it is an update for cosmetics.
You won't recover the money when selling if you are changing the kitchen to sell. the new owner might not even like the units you have put in.

Yes, that is one of the options I'm thinking about as well. Does seem a shame to toss out the granite counter tops that are only 6 years old. I'm also thinking about just swapping out the overhead cupboards because they don't go all the way to the ceiling and there's more than enough room to add an extra shelf for storage up there. Then I could remove the cupboards (or mount them higher) that are located directly over the kitchen sink, there's nothing that annoys me more than trying to work at the sink with a cupboard door 3 inches from my face..!

Your kitchen must be like mine.
Wall units leave huge gap between ceiling and yop of cabinet and you are lacking shelving space.
The problem I have is that the Tall Floor Units would have to be changed or custom made from wall to ceiling as well; but that is quite easy.
Best bet is probably to find tall wall units and change all the doors.
There are a lot of German Manufacturers and Italian Manufacturers that that have a vast selection; but I would hit Ikea first and see what door sizes they do.

I do agree with the above. Friends of ours have kitchen from http://www.moebelmarkt-dogern.de/akt...chen/index.php. The look is great and quality is excellent as well. They are very satisfied with their kitchen. We have a piatti kitchen but honestly i would prefer moebelmarkt kitchen in terms of cost and quality. Check out http://www.kuechendick.de as well.

Hi Carlos R,

We recently also did a bit of research on kitchens, admittedly without going for quotes. It seems that Ikea has made significant quality improvements and their kitchens look pretty impressive (and certainly better than the one I have in my rented flat).

I think that their kitchen elements are just fine. No reason to believe that they would simply fall apart in 10 years time.

One potential weakness is Ikea worktops, because they do not offer stone/granite, although their wooden worktops look and feel fabulous (and high-maintenance, I know, but that would be the same with any kitchen).

We bought some very cheap Ikea products (a kitchen table, for example, which cost something like 99 CHF) that we have used for 8 years now and moved twice and it is still there and looking great. In the same period we bought some very expensive furniture that turned out to be totally disappointing. I now buy most furniture in Ikea as a matter of principle -- if it is good enough for Ingvar Kamprad, it is good enough for me...

We bought ours in the Netherlands and we absolutely loved it. It was cheaper than anywhere else and we had to wait to wait only a week or so for it to be delivered. TO install it, we paid someone we knew who was very good in handywork and he charged us around 1500 euros for that (including some painting that had to be done) so really it was worth it (we paid around 3400 euros for the kitchen which included stovetop, combi oven/microwave, dishwasher and fridge plus the bell thing on top of the stovetop). I would say that in general they are good quality.

Thanks for the feedback. I would just say, though, that Ikea do offer quarz worktops, i.e. synthetic stone, in CH. So at least we are OK on that front.

Agree re the furniture. Nearly all our stuff is from Ikea and it has stood the test of time quite well.

I don't know anything about the quality of IKEA quartz, but in the US, we had quartz countertops and they were just fabulous - no maintenance, heat resistant, non porous and very hard - so you couldn't cut or damage them very easily, and they came in a lot of colors and patterns.

my in-laws have an IKEA extraction hood in the kitchen.

the only thing that I can say is that it sucks, but unfortunately not in the way it was intended. It was a massive waste of money.

Thumbs up for Ikea kitchens. When we were shopping around for one, other kitchen suppliers told us that their quality is bad, but when challenged, no one could match their guarantee. Unfortunately for us, when we purchased our apartment, the sales contract was not flexible enough so we had to use the seller's kitchen provider.

Anyway, my brother had a good experience. He bought a condo unit in Malaysia. He still had a couple of months in the UK before moving, so he went to an Ikea there and set-up his kitchen with their help, using the floor plans that he had. They then delivered the design to Ikea in Malaysia.

When he arrived in Malaysia he only had to iron out a couple of details with the local Ikea. I think the Ikea subcontractor/installer also organized a granite top and Smeg appliances for him. The subcontractor also did some extra wiring work (extra electrical sockets) for him.

I have seen his Kitchen and it looks great. In the last 5 years since we bought our place, their quality and features have improved a lot. I would want one too.

LOL, love the turn of phrase.

Out of interest, do you know the model and was it big enough to fit the hob?

Thanks

Here it is. It is called Lagan.



I understand there are two ways to fit it. Either with a flue that evacuates the air to the outside, or if you don't want to make a hole in your wall, you can configure it to just filter and re-circulate the air. My in laws used the latter option and it's pretty unsatisfactory. The suction power is very low (even on the highest notch) and apart from making a lot of noise it doesn't really help clear the steam or whatever. Furthermore, although the filter inserts are new, the air this thing blows out is filthy and makes ugly marks on the cabinet above it which are very difficult to clean away.

I can't say how well it fitted in the hob as the kitchen is a mix of IKEA and other suppliers so obviously things don't fit perfectly as they weren't really designed to be compatible.

Thanks, that really helpful.

FIY: The reason I ask about the fit, is that the various folks we've spoken to said that the hood should be 30% bigger than the hob. So if you have a 60 cm-wide hob, you should have a 90 cm wide hood.

We'll definitely be getting a hole in the wall though!

I have fitted 2 Ikea kitchens in houses the past, and both times the carcasses, drawers, fronts etc all fitted without issue... or trips back to the shop for broken or missing bits. We instaled Miele appliances though as at the time (6 & 4 years ago) I thought the Ikea ones didn't look up to much and were the same price.

Some may have a different view, or for snob value would happily pay double the prices for something similar. Me, I think they represent great value and the appliances and 'extras you can get are great now, and I wouldn't hesitate to get another one.

On the extraction front, most ovens will actually recommend the size of unit for the cooker, but 30% seems a bit OTT. Avoid if possible the re-circulating option, it is invariably crap, does not clean the air of grease or smells, just shuffles them around the room. Go for one with wire mesh filters rather than the paper/charcoal sheet ones as they are more efficient, and just need rinsing under the tap (or put in the dishwashe over night) to clean them.

Deffo picked that tip up already - the one in our flat is a filter than can be washing-machine washed, but still gets dirty as the motivation to use the washing machine (and convenience is much lower). The benefit of just popping it into the dishwasher is a real ++

any advice on who to get to install and paint and do electrics on the ikea kitchen?

living in Basel or surrounds

Thanks

Mini update (for those that care) and new question...

Okay, clearly the main vendors have decided that we'll never accept the 70k bit, and haven't even bothered to come back to us. So we'll most likely be going with Ikea, so thanks for all the tips.

Next question: as we're saving a tonne of money by going Ikea, can anyone recommend an in-built/unit coffee maker? There's lots out there, but does anyone actually have one, which one, does it work (well)?

Opinions from coffee snobs most welcome

Rackiec - nobody replied to your question, however, there are several handymen advertising their availability on EF - including Papa Goose (on this thread)...