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sabjimata

Yesterday we went to Ikea....

sabjimata
13 years ago

We live 2 hours from Ikea, so it is a pilgrimage. I have to say, I am always disappointed, despite going with the most positive of hopes.

We've remodeled 2 kitchens with wood cabs and once the high wore of (not sure if it ever does actually...but you get used to it) I have second guessed the expense.

When we were at Ikea, I admired all the mod shiny newness and the cheap pricing. But honestly, when I looked at the cabinets, I thought that had I gotten Ikea, I would need a new kitchen by now.

I've chipped my marble in a few places. Not a prob because I expected that to happen and I know I can always get it epoxied/repaired if it ever bothered me. I've nicked some tile. Dented lots of maple and cherry cabinets. What to speak of all the splish splashing. I am not a careful cook. Rather, I am a total brute in the kitchen.

I am so so happy we shelled out the bucks for a more durable kitchen. I am not trying to dis on Ikea. I understand that it is a lot of kitchen for your buck and people's budget constraints. And that they have great hardware and design.

But gosh, just need to share with someone other than my husband that I am really happy with what I see as money well spent. If anyone starts to wonder if they should have dropped the money elsewhere (like a savings account), then I recommend a similar pilgrimage.

Comments (40)

  • artemis78
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We live in IKEA territory so there are a lot of their kitchens around town. I've found over the years that the door quality makes a HUGE difference in how well their cabinets hold up. The cheaper doors/drawer fronts that are not solid wood have a tendency to ding and absorb moisture moreso than the wood fronts. Some of the newer non-wood styles may be better than the old ones, too---when we were househunting the not-so-hot IKEA kitchens tended to be the ones with the 5-6 year old lower end doors/drawer fronts. We have many friends with IKEA kitchens who've gone with the higher end doors (and possibly taken much better care of their kitchens!) whose kitchens still look great five years in. It may be a "get what you pay for" thing....and, of course, their floor kitchens at the store get a lot of abuse, too!

  • regina_phalange
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You have a good point, I think. Probably does depend on how rough one is on a kitchen and I am rough....so Ikea is probably not a good choice for me either.

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  • macybaby
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I went to Ikea about a month ago (I only live 4 hours away) and I felt the opposite. In fact, I'm looking forward to going back!

    I was expecting to consider the stuff JUNK and felt it was well worth what it costs. My husband even said that he would have no problem putting it in a home. He expected to be bored, but he liked what they had too.

    We were picking out a sink and ended up buying a wardrobe too.

    Our cabs are totally custom, so we never considreed Ikea, but I sure am considering them for non-kitchen cabinetry and other furniture.

  • ellendi
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I guess it is another way of looking at things. Maybe a poll of all Ikea owners with five to ten years installation and what they have experienced. When we remodeled our kitchen, I never considered that custom made could be cheaper and also what the Amish can do. (Only learned about these on this site, after my cabinets were installed) Hey, who wouldn't choose a more expensive kitchen, if you can afford it? Maybe what sabji might be saying is to do extensive reseaarch and explore all options.

  • sabjimata
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sue--Honestly, I apologize. I did not mean to dis your upcoming kitchen!

    I understand with everything house, people have to weigh their options and make the choice that is best for them. I did not get all high end stuff in my kitchen. I am not trying to flaunt or anything. We are in a bit of a financial pickle and it honestly made me feel better seeing the cabinets up close (I thought the floor models were in good shape, actually) and knowing that with mine and my kids' destructive talents, we would be in trouble. Okay. I am just digging myself a bigger hole here.

    I am really really really sorry. Did not mean to be thoughtless. If I could take the post down, I would. Two of my favorite kitchens on here are Jakabedy's and Brickmanhouse's. I love them!

    Again, I apologize. I see how it was an inconsiderate post. I was thinking about the threads that often come along...."do you regret your remodel"..."was it worth it." Those types. And so yesterday for me, I was thinking it was worth it. Because I am an abusive kitchen owner.

    Justification aside, it is not my intention to rob anyone of their kitchen bliss or undermine the pleasure of planning a kitchen. I see how the title of this thread is not directed, purposeful or informative.

    I hope you can forgive me and I hope that only positive comments, if any comments at all, find there way onto this thread beyond this post.

  • runninginplace
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I feel very positive about the fact I didn't borrow money or spend a third of the value of my house on my newly remodeled kitchen. For me, if I had put my family into a financial bind by spending more than we had or were going to be able to earn back in a reasonable time, I think it would have been a tremendously difficult decision to live with. I'm very happy with my choice including the fact that I lived within my means and with a modest kitchen for 20 years until I could afford to get what I dreamed of with money I had saved for that purpose. I sleep very well at night, and am exceedingly grateful for that especially in these challenging times.

  • brickton
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    For what it's worth, I've had positive and negative experiences with Ikea stuff. We re-did my brothers entire kitchen from Ikea for under $3K for the cabinets, countertops, sink and shelves. It looks great, he loves it and it holds up really well (wood doors/drawers). The house is already over done for the area it's in so any money spent on the kitchen would have been money lost.

    I've also seen some Ikea stuff that has not held up well. Crumbling particleboard cabinets and one particularly sad console table with wonky faux dovetail drawers that makes me grimace a bit everytime I see it.

    We considered buying a table from them once but felt it was not as substantial as we wanted it to be. On the other hand we love their Ektorp slip covered furniture and nearly every wood Hemnes piece. Particularly this one, which I double heart and hope to use in our bathroom in the new house instead of a linen closet:

    All of that rambling to say that Ikea can be done so very right, and it can be done oh-so wrong. :)

  • regina_phalange
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    For me, I've been debating working with what I've got (good quality cabs that are outdated) or switching to something new but has to be affordable if I go new...Ikea was one that I was considering. So for someone like me, it's important to consider how being rough would effect something that might not hold up as well. Of course, this was just one person's opinion but it made me think. It's not 100% this post but I'm coming back full circle to realizing that I should just work on updating the ones I have and put my money elsewhere in the kitchen.

  • regina_phalange
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Plus I have to drive over 2 hours to get to the closest Ikea....with my three young children (all boys) if I want to actually check these out in person. I'm going to have to go by online reviews to determine whether that would be worth my while.

  • dianalo
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The IKEA kitchens dept get literally hundreds of people a day opening and closing the cabs and banging around in the display kitchens in each store and more on weekends. I went there expecting to see poorer quality stuff compared to what I had been shopping out and was amazed at how sturdy they felt and how comparable they were to kitchen cabs that were 3 times the cost or more. I did not concede on quality by going with IKEA but I did have to work with their cab sizes/configurations which are not as extensive as other cab lines. The funny thing is I was able to design our kitchen without fillers, yet had a few in our other non-IKEA cab plans.

    Besides, if one smashes their doors and bangs around in their kitchen, with IKEA, you can get a full kitchen of new doors for relatively little. You can have a whole new look down the road (only if you want a change) and you could do that a few times and still be less money than having gone with some other cabs.

    I think the OP here was trying to justify the tremendous gap in cost after having already paid it. If they had chosen IKEA cabs and had a layout done, I bet they would have been blown away by the price difference and looking at the more expensive cabs every day may not feel as good.

    I am definitely going with IKEA cabs (and counters, which btw - are the same exact ones as you get elsewhere, just not as many choices if you want natural stone) to save money, but I would not have done so if I felt it were inferior quality. For those who ask about years down the road, why not look at the IKEAfans website and see what some longtime owners have to say about the quality. I know I did my research and had to be convinced to even consider IKEA for my dream kitchen, and I was.

    Regina - may I suggest you lay out your kitchen on the IKEA planner from home so that you go there with a basic idea of a plan. The IKEA people can work with you to refine the plan and optimize it. There is a play place where you can safely leave your kids for at least an hour, and if they summon you at the hour mark, the IKEA employee can ask for more time if you are in the middle of consulting. The food there is pretty darn good and we'd go for a bite more often if it were closer to us. Also, avoid weekends if at all possible! There is a reason the place is always mobbed, lol. It has been in our area well over 20 years, so if it were inferior, as some people have seemed to suggest here, the word would have gotten out and killed business. The kitchens are a different animal than the other depts. We have had several non kitchen furniture items over the years and the value was always worth it, IMHO. Was it all high end, last forever and pass down through the generations kind of stuff? No, but it sure was reasonably priced and good enough to serve for many years. Their kitchens are even better than that.

  • threebees
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brickton, we own a couple of the hemnes pieces in the brown black colour, the tv stand and one of the dressers. We are going to Ikea tomorrow to purchase 2 of the cabinets you have pictured. We are going to use them side by side in the dining room. They look really nice.

  • regina_phalange
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    dianalo, thanks for sharing your perspective and your experience in the showroom. It's nice to hear that the cabs there were holding up to all the customers and you do make an excellent point about being able to replace them. I will definitely go ahead and try IKEA planner -- why not? It always helps to visualize things! I tried to order a crib from the website a few days ago and was disappointed to find that it can only be bought in the store. It's the drive that's the hardest because the baby hates riding in the car. I guess, where there's a will there's a way. I've always wanted to go check the place out.

  • lampshades
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I don't think that there is any question that Kraftmaid and the like with solid wood drawer cabinets will last longer than Ikea cabients but for us, the determining factor was cost. The Ikea cabinets cost at least a third less than the semi custom and as dianalo suggested, you can easily replace the doors at a very low cost.

    One of the selling points for these semi custom and custom cabinet manufacturers is that the kitchen cabinets will last a lifetimee, but as we all know from visiting this message board, no one wants the same kitchen their entire life.

    I do know that the Ikea boxes are of better quality than the builder grade that were originally installed in our home.

  • rockybird
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have ikea abstrakt in my condo. They were installed in 2006 with concrete countertops. They went through a lot their first week, as the first concrete installer used 3 inch thick concrete all the way across. The counters were so heavy that they cracked under their own weight. The cabs held up fine though (he took out the counters and refunded my money and I hired a new concrete contractor). Over 4 yrs. later, the cabinets look as good as new, although I dont have a family and dont cook (but that's not to say they dont get any use). I am also putting them in my new second house in a more expensive neighborhood (million dollar plus homes). For me, it is because I dont think I will get any benefit out of more expensive cabinets (although henrybuilt is my dream). I am considering putting different door fronts on the ikea boxes in the new house, but only if I can find walnut in a good price range (still going for that hb look), otherwise I am sticking with the abstrakt grey.

    I have more expensive woodhaven in my three condo baths, and to be honest, I am less impressed with them then the ikea (but maybe I expect more due to the price I paid). Maybe ikea is not the thickest doors or solid wood, but I think for many people, they are satisfactory.

  • remodelfla
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    sabjimata... it's OK... Lord knows you always contribute positive and encouraging thoughts on this forum. Yea, I see why some people may have taken the slant that you were "dissing" IKEA but I know that wasn't your intent. I'm not at all insulted and I'm using IKEA boxes and hardware. I hope this knowledge eases any discomfort you have over this post. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

  • ncamy
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sabjimata, I too get the same feeling every time I am in an Ikea. I think I want to like them, but every time I am disappointed. For me it's not exactly a quality issue. I just think deep down at heart I am a traditional girl, and the Ikea stuff is way too sleek and modern for my tastes.

    Since I've never actually used their stuff, I really don't have an opinion about their quality, but I did start to wonder recently when there was a post here that basically said outright that it was not recommended to put Ikea in a rental. That post led me to believe that if an Ikea kitchen wouldn't hold up to the abuse of renters then they probably wouldn't hold up to my abuse either. By the way I was very disappointed to hear that non recommendation, because we hope to have a garage apartment, and I had thought that it would be lovely to have a stylish Ikea kitchen to offer my potential tenants.

  • davidro1
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A point can be made about the manner Ikea uses to create a rush of positive emotion(s) which can lead to buying that people feel later was a temporary high. Several large successful retailers use it too. What I mean is that there is behind the scenes apparently a fair amount of effort put into organizing things so that the consumer loses their normal judgment and the effort is well coordinated up the supply chain so that even product design and product packaging are coordinated with this in mind. It's still honest, so let nobody say there is dishonesty in that approach or in my depiction of it.

    --

    Since this thread has expressed points of view from both ends of the spectrum I'm going to come down in the middle. Ikea can be great. Ikea can be mediocre. When it's great, it can make people get an orgasmic high that lasts for so long it's as if their faith in humankind has moved to a higher plane. Let's call it ikeafolly or ikeafaith. At the ikeafans web site you can see some of this.

    Ikea products can be excellent value and low price, or mediocre value at robbery prices. Kitchen cabinetry (bases and drawers) is more in the good end of the value-price spectrum than not. The accessories and portable items are more likely to be at the folly end. An example of the latter is the plastic valley they sell to hold spice jars flat in shallow drawers; it prevents the spice jars from rolling sideways and making clacking sounds.

    I consciously go see and buy Ikea things. Many I have kept.

    I make a point of buying stuff and returning it. I deliberately take things home to see if my (temporarily) positive inclinations will last. This has been my answer to the postpartum depression type of feeling that ikeafolly can produce. When I arrive, I park in the 5-minute loading dock area, go get a number for the lineup at the return counter, then go park the car a half mile away, come back, get a cup of coffee, and finally my number is called. No big time lost. When my 45 day window has expired, they credit my ikea in-store card instead of reimbursing me.

    hth

  • chicken1020
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ncamy, just wanted to let you know don't be afraid to use Ikea cabinets in a rental. I own 2 rental homes and both have Adel brown cabinets that have held up to HEAVY abuse without any problems. There isn't even one scratch, ding or stain. All of the drawers work perfectly and nothing has delaminated. This is after 8 years. I wouldn't use anything else for a rental. If they did inset I would use them for my current home!

  • oldhouse1
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    sabjimata, I'm sorry I am responding late to your second post. I was out for the evening. Perhaps I don't have thick enough skin to belong to these forums. As of late there have been alot of posts that seem to be hurtful. I'm all for people giving honest opinions but I think there is a fine line between being productive and saying too much. I think sometimes it's best not to say anything. I'm certainly not a little wall flower who is afraid to give my opinion and believe me I can take the heat in the kitchen. I just don't want to burst anyones kitchen bubble.

    I don't mean to say that this was your intent. I have read enough of your posts to know how helpful you are to so many people, in fact you also bring so much humor to this forum so perhaps I was a little too quick to comment. Maybe I did the same thing that I dislike and I'm sorry for that.

    I don't post alot on this forum, in fact I barely knew what a forum was until I came upon this site. The knowledge and technical understanding people have on this forum blows me out of the water. I do however read with delight the excitement people have when starting out on this adventure and I benefit grately from the advice given on various topics. So for all of this I thank you sajimata and all the other experts and non-experts for giving people like myself a place where I can obsess and feel as though others relate because in real life people just don't get it.

    Sue

  • francoise47
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just wanted to chime in to say that I've always found Sabjimata to be one of the great positive forces on GW. I don't think her comments were designed to "dis" anyone or IKEA. She was just making a "me" statement to express her contentedness with the choices she had made for her gorgeous new kitchen.

    As she was so careful to say, (I quote) "I am not trying to dis on Ikea. I understand that it is a lot of kitchen for your buck and people's budget constraints. And that they have great hardware and design." I think Brickton put it just right: you can get great products and dud products at IKEA. One just has to pick wisely.

    (This is written by someone who currently has an IKEA kitchen, installed in 1998.)

  • enginerd
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I guess I am confused as to why an Ikea cabinet would not last as long as any other brand? What is it that fails on the Ikea cabinet that would last so much longer on another brand?

  • Christine Clemens
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    sabjimata - I did not take your IKEA review as a dis of IKEA. You were just expressing your opinion. You actually went to the store and looked at them instead of judging them from afar.

    I still love the whole idea of IKEA and I love the price. That said, it is not bad for me to hear the good, the bad and the ugly of any product I am considering. That is why I come to this forum. Everyone needs to do their own research and decide what is right for them.

    In the end I probably won't use IKEA because my lack of DIY skills up my IKEA price to within range of a local cabinetmaker.

  • pricklypearcactus
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I also am interested to know what on an Ikea cabinet would not last as long as another brand (as enginerd just asked). After all the rave reviews of Ikea kitchen cabinets and an otherwise disappointing look for a stock utility sink cabinet, I was excited with a recent purchase of the bottom of the line Ikea sink cabinet for my garage. I truly hope my Ikea cabinet will last, so I would be interested to hear what damage I might expect with the cabinet. Thanks in advance.

  • davidro1
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    As far as I know, there is no answer to the question: "What is it that fails on the Ikea cabinet that would last so much longer on another brand?". I'm also confused as to why anyone would ever post saying not to use Ikea cabinets for a rental, or why anyone would say they wouldn't last as long as any other brand. I too want to know why that one post said that.

  • regina_phalange
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Chipping is what I was worried about. I don't know if that was the concern or the reason someone may have stated not to use in rentals. I don't know if chipping is a valid concern.

  • chrisk327
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I see a problem in this thread that seems to come across in a lot of messege boards. People seem to fall in love with their choice and feel that anyone who does not like the products they have chosen is out to get them.

    Everyone has an opinion and for those who have had bad experiences, disappointments in looking at things should share them. I really don't beleive that this falls under "if you don't have anything nice to say...."

    the OP visited a store, was unhappy with the quality of the products she looked at, and shared with the group. If that isn't a valid thread on this board, I'm really not sure what the purpose of this board is. is it really just to congradulate everyone on a job well done?

    if she were commenting in someone elses completed kitchen thread about her unhappyness with IKEA, I could see that as being inappropriate, but this is not the case.

    FYI, I have an Ikea kitchen (well just sold the house).My thoughts are that although the boxes seem sturdy, the drawers are sweet, but the faces are inconsistantly finished and are frangile. I had to replace a lot of doors from my origional order due to thin paint, pock marks etc. and certain doors and drawers showed damage when they weren't treated badly. I'm not doing them for my new house. I considered doing the boxes and drawers and buying doors from another source, but decided it was going to be too much trouble to get what I wanted. If I chose a wood door, maybe my experience would be different, but I couldn't find one I was happy with.

  • dianalo
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    When people refer to IKEA kitchens in rentals, what they may be thinking of is the very lowest end IKEA cabs which are just like the bargain bsmt stuff you can get anywhere (I forget the name). Those are not the cabs that people are putting into their own kitchens. They do not pretend to be anything but cheap.

    If I were renovating for a rental, I'd have no problem putting in IKEA stuff and might even go with their unfitted line. Many times, the rental kitchens get taken out down the road and so that would simplify things greatly. I have shown many houses where tearing out an extra kitchen is viewed as a negative, so anything that lets you be a little flexible is a great idea. I would not put the cheap stuff in because they would be penny wise and pound foolish.

    I don't think the intent was there to dis those who appreciate IKEA, however, I also don't think it was a very informed post in the first place. One can be misguided without having bad intent. I do think it was intended to put down IKEA's offerings as of inferior quality. That is where I disagree. I also disagree about the IKEAfolly and such. We all get excited about what we purchase from any store and can suffer buyer's remorse. That is not to say that we are duped or high when we purchased. Oftentimes, the reality does not live up to expectations, but we control our own expectations, so any fault is our own. Just think of k

    BTW - one may not like IKEA for its style being more modern without saying it is of lesser quality. I also have seen many quality traditional looking IKEA kitchens, with the difference being how they are used.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    > what they may be thinking of is the very lowest end IKEA cabs which are just like the bargain bsmt stuff you can get anywhere (I forget the name). Those are not the cabs that people are putting into their own kitchens. They do not pretend to be anything but cheap.

    Actually, the cabinets are the cabinets. The only thing that differs is the doors. An akurum cabinet is the same no matter whether you put a $5 Harlig door on it or the most expensive door style they sell. But given how cheaply you can replace a whole set of those Harlig doors, I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with them in a rental. I've lived in plenty of frou-frou commercial rental developments with worse quality cabinets than Ikea makes, for sure.

    But I don't have any problem with sabjimata's original post, for all that I certainly plan to do an ikea kitchen myself. Anyone is entitled to his/her opinion and they're all valuable for people who are planning. I happen to like ikea kitchens a lot (their other stuff, not so much, mostly), but it doesn't hurt my feelings if others don't, and I agree that feedback both ways is useful when you're in the preliminary planning stages.

  • pricklypearcactus
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, chrisk327, about the specific warning regarding the doors. Rather than waiting until I am ready to install, I think I am going to open up the door boxes this weekend to make certain I do not have problems with the doors already. And, that helps me be aware of being more careful with the doors as we use them.

    When I was at Ikea, the sales person mentioned the 25 year warranty on the cabinets. Has anyone been able to verify whether Ikea will actually stand on this warranty? And what exactly the warranty covers (cabinet boxes only? doors too? manufacturer defects vs wear and tear?). I probably should have asked exactly what the warranty covers, but didn't think of it at the time.

  • sabjimata
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    At this point I have no idea whether or not it is appropriate for me to say anything more on this post....but....

    We went to Ikea to purchase bunk beds for the kids. Since I am interested in one day re-doing the apartment kitchen attached to our house (the renters recently moved out and we are planning to update the space for a kids' rec area/husband retreat/guest facility), I wanted to seriously look at the Ikea cabs. Because I wanted/still want to put them in the upstairs kitchen.

    I think they look great, the drawers glide smoothly, etc. I do feel the Ikea kitchen is a great buy.

    However, I do feel an Ikea kitchen would not have been a suitable choice for my downstairs kitchen since I am bashing full 5 gallon pots into things on a regular basis. I feel solid wood will hold up better to the mess and abuse I serve up in the kitchen. Not just me, but my family. My son is a lovely person but a climbing animal. He literally broke the pine bunk bed (I know, it's wood!) with a judo kick *seconds* after my husband was finished assembling it. I am constantly telling him to quit climbing the pulls on my cabinets and hanging on my cabinet doors.

    Also, I don't know what everyone's kitchen use habits are, but let me share mine. We don't eat out more than 3 or 4 times a year. We are strict vegetarians who will not eat in a restaurant where meat is cooked. We live 2 hours from the nearest pure veg restaurant. We don't eat anything with eggs in it. So that means all of our baked goods are homemade. There is no stopping off after work to buy a pizza or picking up a cake for a birthday party. I buy my sugar in 50 lb bags, as well as my oats and flour. If I could afford a Hobart mixer, I would surely find a spot for it.

    Additionally, I have worked as a caterer and personal chef--out of my own kitchen. If you invite me to a potluck, I promise to bring something delicious and labor intensive. I try to avoid disposable items, single serve items and many of the other things that make life more convenient.

    While it is true that you can replace the doors many many times before even approaching the cost of semi-custom or custom cabs, that is not something I want to do. The same argument could also be given for laminate countertops.

    I still stand by my initial apology. I really really really do not want to make anyone feel inferior over cabinets or ruin someone's kitchen joy. My post was sharing a personal feeling that we made the right decision, given our lifestyle. From my time on the forum, I've been encouraged by other people who share similar lifestyles, spending much of their time at home in the kitchen. I understand that we all have different expectations of use from our kitchen and I don't think that for the average American cook, an Ikea kitchen will be a lemon. On the contrary. But for *myself*, I would probably end up trashing it. And by no fault of Ikea's. I just play rough in the kitchen, mainly because much of my cooking training was in industrial kitchens.

    Not only do I lack grace in communication, but also in my day to day physical movements in the kitchen.

  • sabjimata
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was just reading through this thread (self-absorbed much? who me? why, yes!) and see that I missed a lot of the comments (blame it on gmail).

    Sue, thank you for responding. I know kitchen remodels are very emotional and bring up all kinds of issues. I actually found your post helpful to me because I have the tendency to be either too glib or too wordy...need to work on choosing my words more carefully and evaluating their impact. Thank you for the call to mindfulness.

    I also appreciate the nice things posters like Odiegirl and Francoise had to say about me. Thanks guys. I really just feel like a little myopic poser on this board--my kitchen knowledge is extremely limited to my two personal remodels and I lack any and all DIY skills. But love reading everyone's posts and participating when I can. I really do wish the best for everyone on here and appreciate everyone's contributions. Much to learn--and not just about kitchens!--from this forum.

    Anyway, this thread turned into another opportunity for people to voice their positive experience with Ikea cabs, which I am sure we will be seeing in more finished kitchens as people redefine their spending in line with the current economic climate.

    And if I just put my foot in it again...*PLEASE* forgive me. I am a very young almost 36.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    >While it is true that you can replace the doors many many times before even approaching the cost of semi-custom or custom cabs, that is not something I want to do.

    I didn't mean you should. I was speaking in terms of rental properties, where the decision is often to go with a cheap option and replace regularly. Most people put the crummiest possible carpet in a rental, for example, and figure on replacing it every three or four years, if necessary, rather than going with the quality of carpet they'd want in their own home.

  • lolog72
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm not going to comment or critize the intent of the original post. I just wanted to say (as someone who used Ikea cabs), that a lot of it is also aesthetics for some of us. I wanted a modern slab european look. I looked at and priced Scavolini and honestly the quality seemed no better than Ikea and the cost was going to be 7x as much. My Ikea cabs cost $4k for materials... Scavolini's estimate was $28k. Snaidero was even more than that and I won't even go into the price of HenryBuilt, Bulthuap or NYLoft. Those would have been closer to $45k and would have almost doubled the cost of my remodel to a cost that just doesn't make sense for most/many homes.
    Just to give you all some perspective from those of us who favor a more modern european style. Sometimes Ikea just makes sense.

  • oldhouse1
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sabjimata, I have alot of respect for the way that you handled my interpretation of your original post. I thank you for that. In the end all we really want is to be happy with our end result no matter how we choose to get there.

    I hope you are feeling well as I believe your due date is near. I admire your only wanting to give the best to your family.

    Sue

  • sautesmom Sacramento
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was going to post that Ikea has a much longer warranty than most other brands, but I see pricklypear beat me to it. And yes they do stand by their warranty, there are a lot of posts about it in Ikeafans.
    I also wanted to point out that their kitchen cabinets are COMPLETELY different from their other products and furniture--you can't compare their coffee tables falling apart to the cabinet quality. Yes, those are cheap particle board, but notice coffee tables don't have a 25 year warranty!
    And finally, Consumer Reports gave Ikea excellent points in their tests on kitchen cabinets, and Ikea is CR's listed "Best Buy".

    If you don't like the look, of course, that's a perfectly reasonable opinion. But you can't knock Ikea's warranty!

    Carla in Sac

  • jdew1920
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I recently ordered our cabinets from Ikea in preparation for our kitchen remodel this winter/spring (ordered now to take advantage of the countertop sale that through the end of November).

    We'll be using custom doors simply because ikea doesn't offer a style we liked. Its funny that people can look at the exact same product and have completely different perceptions.

    We've been wanting to do our kitchen for a few years and now after deciding we will be staying in this house for the forseeable future decided we would do it now, but within a reasonable budget. The standard "good" cabinet lines are not inexpensive. Standard cabinet construction in these lines includes particle board boxes & shelves with solid wood doors (and solid wood face frames if not frameless). I looked at some "upper end" cabinets and still, the standard constructon is particle board for boxes & shelves and solid wood doors & drawers. Sure, you can upgrade to plywood boxes but for our use I don't see why we would. Our current cabinets are 30 years old with 1/2" particle board boxes that have not deteriorated - a little bit of sagging in a few spots but generally in good shape. I find it funny that ikea kitchen cabinets get a bad wrap for not being constructed of "solid" wood when in fact most kitchen cabinets are not made of "solid" wood.

    When I looked at the ikea cabinets I was impressed. I saw very solid boxes & shelves made of 3/4" particle board, soft close doors & drawers standard - yes the drawers are not dove tailed wood but truthfully, even though a dovetail joint is extremely strong, the main point of using it in a drawer is for aesthetic purposes. The drawers themselves are screwed to the drawer face as are the ikea metal drawers. Our current 30 year old stapled plywood drawers have not fallen apart in 30 years - I don't think dovetailed construction could have done any better than that. I can appreciate why someone would want solid wood drawers but we are choosing to spend our money elsewhere.

    As far as the doors, ikea has cheap ones, and they have some nice wood doors if you like the styles (I'm not sure the durability of the finish would be as good as with a typical catalyzed finish you would get in a more tradition cabinet however).

    Personally - I see ikea as a great value on a good cabinet box & hardware - that we can customize. For our kitchen (which I recently posted a thread on), the cabinets with all hardware minus legs & door fronts came in slightly less than $2500. Had we ordered the most expensive style door that ikea offers, the total would have been around $5500. I am expecting our custom doors / drawer fronts to run around $3500-4000 or $500-1000 more than using ikea doors. For us, this was the best value, especially since i can do the install myself.

    We only have 1 other piece of ikea furniture in our house and thats an entertainment center down in the basement. The quality is OK, nothing to write home about, but a good value for what we are using it for. The kitchen cabinets are constructed much better than this piece. If they weren't, I wouldn't be using them.

  • regina_phalange
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sabjimata - you sound like me in the kitchen! I went to your page and saw your blog. Wow, now I'm hungry looking at all of that delicious food!! Congrats on your upcoming new baby! I had a homebirth with baby #3 last year and it was amazing. Wishing you all the best :).

  • sabjimata
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Regina!

    Here is a good one...

    Last nite I made grapefruit jam. Our family took a trip to Siesta Key for Thanksgiving (3 hours from us) and there was a grapefruit tree in the parking lot with the tastiest fruit. So my son and husband filled 2 of the re-usable shopping bags with grapefruit!

    A neighbor came over, we juiced the fruit and got jamming. I was passing her her plastic juicer and accidentally whacked the thing against the pillar on the counter...and knocked a tile right off the damn thing! I knocked a tile off a pillar. See...I have problems :)

  • colle
    3 years ago

    reviving an old thread.


    I had an IKEA akurum kitchen with slab wood veneer doors installed in 2003 that has served 2-5 people over the years.


    It's held up well with no problems; however, I wish I had bought the soft-close doors/drawers feature (not sure if they were available at that time).

    I do recall the older IKEA AKURUM frames were made of particle board.


    The newer IKEA SEKTION cabinets are made of sturdy 3/4″ medium-density fibreboard (substantially thicker than most) and the toe kicks (plinth) are made of reinforced polypropylene, which is definitely an improvement over particle board.


    I do agree that lots of other IKEA products are not the greatest quality, but their kitchens are good value.

    Also, lots of interior/kitchen designers have used IKEA SEKTION cabinets for their mid-range ($50K) client renovations if they're not fixated on certain brand of kitchen manufacturer.

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