renovating bathrooms - feedback on ikea products

[Anonymous]

Thinking of using Ikea vanities and other products for bathroom renovation. Anyone use in the past? Durable? Chintzy? Feeback appreciated!!

[Anonymous]

Don't do it. I am generally pro-Ikea and I don't mind an OK Ikea kitchen if it's in a mid-range house, but as a recent househunter there was little that turned me off more than a house full of permanent Ikea fixtures. The bathrooms stuff I've seen screams Ikea. You can get a cheap vanity at Home Depot with an integrated sink for around $100 and it will be much more neutral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. I am generally pro-Ikea and I don't mind an OK Ikea kitchen if it's in a mid-range house, but as a recent househunter there was little that turned me off more than a house full of permanent Ikea fixtures. The bathrooms stuff I've seen screams Ikea. You can get a cheap vanity at Home Depot with an integrated sink for around $100 and it will be much more neutral.

See, Home Depot "neutral" is ultimately dated.

I'm going to go the other way and suggest that Ikea has its finger a lot closer to the style pulse than basic Home Depot stuff designed to be cheap but neutral for nothing-in-particular suburban homes. If you're looking for an inexpensive way to do fun and modern, Ikea is a decent low-priced option.

[Anonymous]

Ikea is good for times when you want style but don't care all that much about durability - for furniture, it can be great.

But in a bathroom, I would vote for something less obviously current, and therefore less "stylish." I think that's what the PP meant by Home Depot being more neutral. You don't want someone to walk into your bathroom in 10 years and say, "ugh. this is so 2010." and you want durability too.

[Anonymous]

Most Home Depot stuff has barely made it out of the '80s. None has progressed beyond the '90s.

There really isn't any such thing as a timeless aesthetic. Since anything OP puts in is going to shout the decade its look was popular (just as the reigning aesthetic in this area continues to be '90s shabby chic a la Pottery Barn, which often gets mistaken for "neutral" around here but really belongs to a specific moment in time... and that was some time ago), it is best to put in the most current and even forward-thinking decor she can afford. I hope that's why she's leaning toward Ikea, and not just because it's cheap.

[Anonymous]

I was the one who used the word "neutral" originally. Probably the wrong word. What I meant was that with Ikea bathroom stuff (and I think this is more true than with their kitchen stuff) the look is recognizably, blatantly "Ikea." You don't look at an Ikea bathroom and think "stylish" or "current" or "contemporary." You see that slightly odd plasticky-looking brushed metal which only Ikea sells and you know immediately that it's Ikea. Maybe their bathroom fixtures are better now, but when I looked about two years ago there was something odd and stylistically intrusive about every vanity and faucet they sold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the one who used the word "neutral" originally. Probably the wrong word. What I meant was that with Ikea bathroom stuff (and I think this is more true than with their kitchen stuff) the look is recognizably, blatantly "Ikea." You don't look at an Ikea bathroom and think "stylish" or "current" or "contemporary." You see that slightly odd plasticky-looking brushed metal which only Ikea sells and you know immediately that it's Ikea. Maybe their bathroom fixtures are better now, but when I looked about two years ago there was something odd and stylistically intrusive about every vanity and faucet they sold.

This may be. I haven't really looked at their bathroom fixtures. In general, though, I wish fewer (Greater) Washingtonians would derive decorating inspiration from Home Depot. There's a certain style-challenged suburban basics look to be had there that particularly puts me off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most Home Depot stuff has barely made it out of the '80s. None has progressed beyond the '90s.

There really isn't any such thing as a timeless aesthetic. Since anything OP puts in is going to shout the decade its look was popular (just as the reigning aesthetic in this area continues to be '90s shabby chic a la Pottery Barn, which often gets mistaken for "neutral" around here but really belongs to a specific moment in time... and that was some time ago), it is best to put in the most current and even forward-thinking decor she can afford. I hope that's why she's leaning toward Ikea, and not just because it's cheap.

I agree that Home Depot bath vanities (in particular) are not attractive and not particularly timeless either. But I do think there is such a thing as a timeless bathroom, and it happens to be "stylish" right now to boot. White subway tiles, hexagonal chicken wire ceramic white floors, whitewashed wood wainscotting...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was the one who used the word "neutral" originally. Probably the wrong word. What I meant was that with Ikea bathroom stuff (and I think this is more true than with their kitchen stuff) the look is recognizably, blatantly "Ikea." You don't look at an Ikea bathroom and think "stylish" or "current" or "contemporary." You see that slightly odd plasticky-looking brushed metal which only Ikea sells and you know immediately that it's Ikea. Maybe their bathroom fixtures are better now, but when I looked about two years ago there was something odd and stylistically intrusive about every vanity and faucet they sold.

This may be. I haven't really looked at their bathroom fixtures. In general, though, I wish fewer (Greater) Washingtonians would derive decorating inspiration from Home Depot. There's a certain style-challenged suburban basics look to be had there that particularly puts me off.

IKEA products are cheap looking in person. They are designed for quicky installs in kitchens and baths where you might flip the cupboards. In Europe people often take the cupboards when moving.

Home Depot has a wide range of products from basic rental unit to current trends. You have to go to homedepot.com. Mix the vanities with higher end tile jobs.

[Anonymous]

We are house-shopping in a cheap-for-DC price range and Home Depot must have had an awesome sale on this vanity because if a bathroom is renovated, it almost always has this sink!? It is so odd.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100672702&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=100672702&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D29X-_-100672702&locStoreNum=2583&marketID=43

[Anonymous]

We used an Ikea vanity in our "master" bathroom because it was the only thing that fit the space (upper Georgetown corner townhouse - needed something shallow). The sink and faucet (and you can always use a non Ikea faucet) look great. We got the vanity stand for the sink top, but the water from the sink has dripped onto the door and now the bottom edge is peeling. They have some other vanities that are open, and I would go for those. If they fit with your home's aesthetic, though. My parent's used an ikea sink in their laundry room adjacent to their kitchen -- and then had a vanity built to match their kitchen cabinets. That is another option.

We have also done three kitchen renovations, two of which were Ikea (with their contracted builders). The Ikea kitchens look great, and one you wouldn't know it is Ikea because the cabinet is not available at Ikea any longer. The third kitchen we renovated, we used Home Depot cabinets. They're crap. They're melting because of the heat from the stove (which is ridiculous because they're mounted unusually high above the counters/stove, and I'm not exactly a chef). If you have Ikea install the products, you get a 10 year warranty. Plus, you can use all of the cool organization products that they offer. I get excited about such things, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are house-shopping in a cheap-for-DC price range and Home Depot must have had an awesome sale on this vanity because if a bathroom is renovated, it almost always has this sink!? It is so odd.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100672702&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=100672702&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D29X-_-100672702&locStoreNum=2583&marketID=43

That's because it is shallow. If available when we renovated, we would have used that. I'm the PP from 10:48.

[Anonymous]

Bourgeoisie = boring.

[Anonymous]

Interior Designer here...I'm not sure about the bathroom cabinetry but the kitchen cabinetry ranks in the top 3 cabinet makers in the US. They make excellent kitchen cabinets at a fraction of the cost. I would ask if the bathroom cabinetry is made in the same factory. If it is you're getting great quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most Home Depot stuff has barely made it out of the '80s. None has progressed beyond the '90s.

There really isn't any such thing as a timeless aesthetic. Since anything OP puts in is going to shout the decade its look was popular (just as the reigning aesthetic in this area continues to be '90s shabby chic a la Pottery Barn, which often gets mistaken for "neutral" around here but really belongs to a specific moment in time... and that was some time ago), it is best to put in the most current and even forward-thinking decor she can afford. I hope that's why she's leaning toward Ikea, and not just because it's cheap.

I agree that Home Depot bath vanities (in particular) are not attractive and not particularly timeless either. But I do think there is such a thing as a timeless bathroom, and it happens to be "stylish" right now to boot. White subway tiles, hexagonal chicken wire ceramic white floors, whitewashed wood wainscotting...

Nope. You're talking about typical late 19th to 1920s finishes there. They belong to a very specific time, but get some extra credit because houses from that period often make up early streetcar suburbs that are considered highly desirable now. I wouldn't say the look is actually "stylish" at the moment, but it remains popular because there's so much affection for houses of that period, and, around here, because Washingtonians (and especially Greater Washingtonians) feel most comfortable looking backward aesthetically. That said, it's about what I'm planning for my bathroom because I am consciously trying to recreate the finishes that were so cruelly ripped out by the previous owner in the 1980s. She certainly didn't think they were "timeless". Neither do I, but they're appropriate for the date of the building. I have to wonder when I see this in a mid-century rambler or a newish "townhome" tract, though.