We did our 1st kitchen remodel with Ikea in our starter home. It was fantastic and was a selling point when we sold our home when we sold 2 years later. Looked like the day we installed it - really great quality. We will do so again in our current home using the new system.

For PPs with problems with the online software - don't use Chrome web browser. For whatever reason their app runs REALLLLY SLOW in chrome to the point of being useless. Internet explorer (best) and Firefox do OK. It's still slower than it was 5 years ago, but manageable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: Sounds like a lot of good reviews of the ikea cabinets but maybe should get counter/sink elsewhere. How does that work? Do I try to design cabinets using their on line tool and just order and have them installed and then have a different contractor come in and do counters/sink? Not quite sure how to get started. Did folks use their measuring service?

We recently got a kitchen designer who specializes in doing Ikea. She is a fan of their farmhouse sinks, but doesn't recommend their faucets etc.

Any chance of a referral?

Vivian Kao vivian_kao@yahoo.com 240-398-7834

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: Sounds like a lot of good reviews of the ikea cabinets but maybe should get counter/sink elsewhere. How does that work? Do I try to design cabinets using their on line tool and just order and have them installed and then have a different contractor come in and do counters/sink? Not quite sure how to get started. Did folks use their measuring service?

We recently got a kitchen designer who specializes in doing Ikea. She is a fan of their farmhouse sinks, but doesn't recommend their faucets etc.

Any chance of a referral?

Anonymous wrote:I really had trouble using the IKEA kitchen planning software. Did anyone else?

Yeah, I tried to use it for a built-in and it was useless. Had to make an appointment at IKEA. Which was fine, but the other times I've used in store-design serviced they're willing to warrant that they've solved unexpected design problems, whereas with IKEA you kind of get "yes I've put the cabinets you told me to put in into the drawing."

Anonymous wrote:OP: Sounds like a lot of good reviews of the ikea cabinets but maybe should get counter/sink elsewhere. How does that work? Do I try to design cabinets using their on line tool and just order and have them installed and then have a different contractor come in and do counters/sink? Not quite sure how to get started. Did folks use their measuring service?

We recently got a kitchen designer who specializes in doing Ikea. She is a fan of their farmhouse sinks, but doesn't recommend their faucets etc.

Anonymous wrote:I really had trouble using the IKEA kitchen planning software. Did anyone else?

I've done a couple kitchens using the software. Agree it's not great, but you get used to it, and you get used to preparing for its glitches. I only have a mac at home and my work pc won't let me download the software, and using it on a mac is unbearable. I save a LOT, and often find that the next day I come back and half the cabinet fronts are missing from the saved design, and then they show up the next day. It definitely sucks, but I prefer the results (ie my own perfectly designed kitchen) compared to handing the reins over to a kitchen designer at a store who doesn't know how I cook or how I use my own kitchen, so we have to do a million back and forths and it never is exactly what I would have designed if I got to do it myself.

I'm one of the PPs who did a couple renos in ikea. I actually used their countertops: ceasarstone in pure white. Ikea just subs out to a local counter place, but they're legitimate ceasarstone. It was an exceptionally good deal during the 25% off sale. Problem was there is little control over which sub you get. Ours was definitely more shady than if I had found a countertop person directly and it wasn't the best job. But also probably half the price for the same product. FInal product looked fine.

I really had trouble using the IKEA kitchen planning software. Did anyone else?

OP: Sounds like a lot of good reviews of the ikea cabinets but maybe should get counter/sink elsewhere. How does that work? Do I try to design cabinets using their on line tool and just order and have them installed and then have a different contractor come in and do counters/sink? Not quite sure how to get started. Did folks use their measuring service?

Anonymous wrote:Did a condo kitchen remodel with ikea, looked great!

We did the same 2 years ago and we are very happy with it.

Our IKEA kitchen is 10 years old, it's the white high gloss lacquer. It has held up very well. Still looks like new.

I haven't been to IKEA to see the new cabinet system they have now, so I can't speak to that.

Rats. We just ordered all Ikea for our kitchen, but now I learn it's on-trend. I guess we start over.

+1 for Ikea. Stylish, on-trend, great price points, seamless system with everything working together. The quality is incredible and it just holds up so well.

We did an ikea white modern kitchen 3 years ago in a remodel and, when we had to sell for a work relocation, sold at the $1m price point without a problem. Kitchen looked fantastic and was great quality. We are currently renovating again, and will be using Ikea again. There is nothing comparable in quality at the ikea price point or even the next 1 or 2 price points up. The more expensive doors at home depot may be wood, but there are actually a lot of reasons why the HD wood cabinets are in fact cheaper and worse quality than non-wood doors. So don't get sucked in by the lure of "real wood doors". And nothing beats the ikea inserts. Seriously nothing. When I did my ikea kitchen 3 years ago, my mom had just redone her large suburban kitchen to the tune of $80k for custom cabinets. She almost had a heart attack when she saw the ikea cabinets use literally the exact same drawers and hardware as hers. They subsequently did more cabinets elsewhere in their home (wetbar, and then a second kitchen in the basement) and used ikea for both..... lesson learned....

I will say that I was really disappointed that ikea didn't update some of their door styles when they released their new kitchen line in February. They mostly offer the same cheap wood shaker style that they've been offering since 2002. So we were a bit bummed about that. I did price compare semihandmadedoors and kokeena. The fancy wood veneers at either company are quite a bit more money than Ikea doors, but there are some more reasonable options. For instance, semihandmade offers a paintable shaker that is not much more expensive than ikea. We were also looking at the kokeena white painted slab door, and it was going to cost approximately the same the most expensive ikea door style.

We 've had our IKEA kitchen for almost two years and it's in perfect shape. The drawer mechanisms are actually really high-end.