Hi All

Hope you are all recovering from Christmas excesses...

Anyone got any experience of Ikea kitchens?

We're looking at installing a kitchen and have looked at other options, including Leicht.

What we've found is that the Ikea option is much much cheaper - like 30-40%! But is there a catch?

Any help appreciated

my sis has one.

It looks like but it stays an ikea quality kitchen.

If you want this kitchen for the next 20 years or so I would consider different options

like = *nice*

Obviously are not handmade, but they are quite good. Really they're a good option. Maybe not for the next 20 years, but sure for the next 10 or so! In my last flat we had one and was nice.

At first glance they look great but I found the quality to be lower than other brands we looked at - (sound test when knocking and how drawers/cupboards close) - and I also found the choice in work surfaces limited. We endned buying from www.alno.com and very happy with the choice

friends of ours found it much cheaper to use a company over the border in Germany - they came and installed and everything for 20% cheaper than Zurich and the company handled the tax issues...

I'm curious, do Ikea have an installation service ? My husband has put together many Ikea kitchen units for a science laboratory, which incidentally is a really good use of the Faktum system...but it's a lot of work...and you have to drill and bolt it all together and get the bench tops cut down from 'standard' lengths...

A friend has an Ikea kitchen and likes it but isn't so keen on the appliances.. her advice: get the ikea kitchen but buy good quality appliances separately.

Salut Carlos
Its very simple, Ikea kitchens are not cheaper. The quality is like the price" CHEAP" You only get what you pay for.
Compare the movement of the draws in a Leicht Kitchen (the draws are from BLUM Austria) and the Ikea one's. There is quite a difference.

Salut zamma

The appliances sold at Ikea are a name brand with a 5 year warranty! They are not top of the range....mid range. But be careful, they are Euro standard, not Swiss standard. An important consideration when designing the kitchen.

You can often get a very good deal on a kitchen when it is a display model. Places like FUST, for example, sell their display kitchens at drastically reduced prices. Other kitchen manufacturers sell their display kitchens and often appliances. Definitely worth looking into.

Yes, the catch is in the quality. If it's your own home I would recommend the Leicht. We have an Alno, with Bosch etc. appliances and granite counter tops put together by a German company as mentioned above.

Do get a quote from a local kitchen supplier in Switzerland, as you may be surprised in getting a good price. Fust, for example are very efficient and reliable.

Ikea - good, perhaps, if you are a diy person. If not, they will charge an arm and a leg to put it in for you. It will then be better and most likely cheaper to ask a local carpenter to do that for you. Or ask Papa Goose.

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.. except when you go in and say you want a "display kitchen" they then say it's only available in one size (which will not fit your space). But they do offer good discounts - just ask for their best price, they seem to be quite flexible in knocking off a 1'000.00 here and there!

Just installed an IKEA kitchen here in CH but in an occasional use chalet studio. They are good quality for what you pay. Probably good for at least 10 years. Be aware of the following:

Buy a worktop separately as the IKEA ones are limited in choice and the coating appears a little thin, fine for my needs but not if you use it daily. The taps should also be bought separately eg go to your local plumbing merchants. The sinks also are quite thin so the taps are a bit wobbly (my plumber warned me about this) so again, select from your local pumbers merchants.

The fridge IKEA fridge is in fact Whirlpool and is very good. The cookers and surface hob are also good quality and with a good deal of options.

The instructions and support you get from IKEA are excellent and the planning software (you can upload your 3D plan to their server to simplify things in the store) is also good and easy to use.

In store, we were given a number to wait for a kitchen specialist and a free cup of coffee while we waited for the number to be called (they called our handy when they were ready). Very helpful and knowledgable assistant too (IKEA Lausanne)

All in all a very pleasant experience when compared with the same thing in the UK buying "quality" kitchens.

Hope that helps and sorry if it sounds like an IKEA advert... just speak as I find.

Have you considered http://www.piatti.ch/? We put in our kitchen 10 years ago and it still looks great and we haven't had any problems. I guess it depends on how intensively you use your kitchen. Poorer quality will show up quickly if you use your kitchen a lot. Have you gone to Ikea and at least one other showroom to make a "hand-on" comparison? That might help you decide whether Ikea is the right choice for you. Also, you should consider planning and installation. We thought we had it all planned out, but then the local Piatti guy came and pointed out all sorts of little but important details (which way doors open, which kind of drawers where, coordinating drawers and doors, etc. Such things can make an enormous difference is the usability and comfort of a kitchen.

Good luck finding the right kitchen!

over ten years ago we help friends to bring a ikea kitchen home. they are happy with this kitchen and looks good after 10 years. sometimes they pulls the screws but this is all. absolutly happy with ikea kitchen

Thanks all for your postings!


My wife and I have discussed many of the points raised, so it is good to know we're not far off the track.

We first went to Fust (as part of COOP, we could collect points which we could then use for our mortgage at Bank COOP). They were helpful, although they included items in the estimate we specifically said we didn't want , but ultimately we want a big kitchen and the cost came in at a whopping, eye watering 70,000 CHF. Now while there may be some room for negotiation, a similarly fitted kitchen with IKEA would cost around 25,000 CHF, including fitting and a Quarz/stone work surface.

Basically, we could pay for three kitchens over if we needed to with IKEA... not so much a case of "buy cheap, buy twice" rather "buy cheap, buy thrice". They do also come with a 25 year guarantee. Now, I realise that in life there are no cast iron guarantees, but it is more than what the competition are offering.

Regarding Piati, we did very briefly look at them, but because of the size of the kitchen we had to reconsider very quickly. Put bluntly they are way out of our budget... Alno is new to us, so we'll take a look-see.

We spent a good 3 hours in IKEA yesterday using their software. Even though it was a busy Monday post Christmas, we got help from 3 different folk along the way (they weren't in a rush at all). Each was able to offer us additional tips as we went along, and each had different suggestions, so we benefited from this.

There is a company in German Reinach who also offer the cross-border service with Leicht, so we will get a quote from them, but I am doubtful they can match IKEA.

My real question is whether IKEA is cheaper solely because the quality is lower. I am guessing that there must also be a cost savings component, as the bulk must be greater than that for companies like Leicht.

The other aspect in our minds is that we have three small children (oldest aged 5 in Jan). So we're factoring in that there will be some breakages along the way. We imagine that Leicht stuff breaks almost as easily as IKEA with a child hanging off it, but would be more expensive to replace or fix...

Anymore thoughts/info welcome. Will post an update on costs (if we get quotes from competitors) for those that have a passing interest!

Tara for now

C

Have had a little experience with Ikea kitchens, what has been said before (you get what you pay for) is correct. The drawers and hinges are Blum but made for Ikea so are the lowest quality, the MDF board is the same not as dense and thinner coating than normal MDF. Having said that the price of kitchens here is over the top.
If you are getting Ikea quotes of 25k it must be big.
What I would do is go with an Ikea kitchen without the benchtops (if you are looking at laminate tops) and appliances, make sure you get the soft close runners for drawers. Get a local guy to make the tops and look for a deal on appliances (Jan sales almost here!!) we bought some appliances from Seipp in Germany on sale quite cheap.
Assembly is the critical thing with these things to get them to last, insist your installer glues every joint and dowel. A dob of silicon on the back of all drawer runners and hinges will help hold them in the dodgy MDF they use.
PM me if you need any help

The other thing do to if doing the kitchen yourself is seal all the cabinet bare chipboard edges with PVA (the same stuff that you would use to glue the joints). This will help prevent cabinet water damage.

I have recently fitted an IKEA Kitchen, and went through the same considerations. The factors that swayed me were:
-That IKEA guarantee
- The fact that a local Kitchen supplier couldn't give me one example of how the IKEA kitchen was inferior (comparing chipboard carcasses etc)
- The IKEA Kitchen doors and drawer fronts were Solid OAK (not veneer etc) meaning they could be trimmed etc to fit custom sizes
- The fittings are BLUM from Austria
- the units are full depth (no air gap at the back -> more space )
- A friends kitchen fitter said he wouldn't fit an IKEA kitchen, was taken to see one and admitted it was fine.
- Price - if I was spending three times the price and gettinga three times better kitchen that would be one thing, but when most are chipboard carcasses etc where is the benefit of this extra price?

- The Oak doors were made in Italy & China
- The chipboard base units were made in Sweden & Lithuania
- There was No MDF (maybe used in other doors with a foil finish)
When viewing in IKEA we saw some staining of the white gloss foil finish doors etc from the glue etc beneath.
We used a separate solid granite worktop rather than the IKEA ones which are not so good in my opinion being made from a veneer.

I would say Ikea Kitchens are OK provided you only use their units.
Buy the appliances seperate and a respectable name. I would go for Bosch or Neff as same replacement components (rings, heat elements and fans) as made in same factory and readily available.

The art to assembing a IKea Kitchen (or any for that matter that is flat pack) is assemble the units the day before and wood glue everything and leave for at least 24 hours. Often these units end up stronger than assembled kitchen units.
I actually find flat pack are quite good because you can cut bits out easier round pipes before asembling and then don't damage the rear panel so end up with a neater job.
I also recommend:
(1) that you screw all units together.
(2) you screw all base units to wall. I usually screw a 100mm x 50mm batton to the wall and then screw the unit to the batton.
(3) I often screw a batton to the wall to support the wall units on. This helps carry the weight and doesn't show when you put the under wall unit trims on. I just don't trust those flimsy wall brackets on some of those kitchen units.

A few quid (francs) on screws, backets, wood glue makes the kitchen stronger and last years. The advantage of a Ikea Kitchen is that you will probably be able to change the doors in a few years time if you get bored or damage them.

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