The most important person in an IKEA kitchen is the installer. You need to have the designer have a direct line of communication with the installer or it all falls apart. And if you have to pay for either service, there goes any savings and you are back into conventional cabinetry territory coastwise. If you can't DIY, look elsewhere.

I think they offer a 1/2 hour free phone consult, advising you on your saved layout on the Ikea planner site. I'd would try that and then decide if you want or need their design services. If you go for it, please report back, as we're contemplating going that route as well.

live wire - Modern Family Kitchen is a kitchen designer specializing in Ikea cabinetry, they're not installers.

I realize that they are not installers. My point is that if you can't do the install yourself, including any hacks, then it is wasting your money on an IKEA design.

Ikea is about limited sizes and styles. There are only so many ways to combine them in a design. It is targeted to the DIYer who wants to save money. If you can't DIY, you just cut out all of the savings.

There are so many talented folks here who are willing to help you design your kitchen for free, I would start here before paying for a design service. You could always use a designer later if you decide it's appropriate.

live wire - the OP asked about feedback on an online kitchen designer specializing in Ikea cabinets. Your post did not address the OP's question at all, but you jump right in to discourage the poster's use of Ikea, and you presume that the OP doesn't intend to DIY the install. You're not asking her/him what their situation is, or offer GW design help. Isn't that what this forum is supposed to be all about?

I have DIYed an Ikea plan (with some tweaking help from GW) but I still intend to use a kitchen designer specializing in IKEA kitchens. Maybe I won't need more than the 1/2 hr free consult, maybe I do, we'll see. Sektion has now been on the market long enough for these designers to have become familiar with the multitude of options on how to combine these cabinets (there are many more possible combinations than Ikea shows in their catalog). So having my plan checked by an online KD who knows the line makes a lot of sense to me.

I agree that Ikea offers limited sizes. But no, that is NOT what they're all about. Limited sizes are really only an issue in very small kitchens. Any good KD should be able to work around that in a larger space. Even on my own, have I been able to come up with an easy solution that centers my cooktop in my various plans. simply planning for a deeper countertop at the north end of my kitchen allows for various cabinet combinations that "magically" center the cooktop where I need it. A bit of thoughtful planning gets around a lot of the size limitations without using excess fillers. That's what KDs are supposedly good for, no?

As to the notion that Ikea is only worth it for the savings compared to conventional cabinetry. I've never considered them, and I never will. If we didn't use Ikea cabs, we'd be looking at Leicht, Snaidero, Poggenpohl, etc. Yes, we will install the kitchen ourselves, but even if I were to have cabinets installed 3 times, I would still have saved lots and lots of money.

I agree with funky above, that using GW help first, and then use an online designer (going in, armed with lots of knowledge) is probably the best way to go.

We are shopping for a design service and Ikea told us $199 to measure and provide an in home consult for 4 hours. I presume they sub contract that out and they don't use store staff. We have no plans to DIY for the install since we are knocking out a wall, adding pendant lights and adding a dishwasher. We need professionals to do the plumbing and electrical. We've been to Ikea a few times in the last week to look at the Sektion line and we love it.

The Before

The expected AFTER but we will have cabinets above the range, stove and a pantry beside the refrigerator.

I'm also planning an Ikea kitchen and I am I think I'll be using an online Ikea specialized KD. The reason: I think GW is not a very Ikea friendly forum. Many Ikea layout help threads seem to receive very few responses, and typically non of the professional KDs offer their help. Look at pippabean's recent thread, maybe 2 to 3 people responded. What advice she got was excellent (that includes funkycamper's great advice :-) but that's a tiny number of people bothering, compared to so many other layout threads that receive responses from dozens of gardenwebbers.

If I decide to post layout questions here, I won't put Ikea into the title, or mention it anywhere else. Sad really.

Modellie,

I have been on this forum for eons. It was actually many of the people on this forum who started Ikeafans! This is a very Ikea friendly forum. Since the switch to Houzz, it has been difficult to get responses on threads but I see a lot of that having to do with the "drive by" postings where the author never comes back and provides an update. Also, many recent posters seem to already know what they want and want very little advice about how to make their configuration better. I see a lot of posts in this vein. I also find that people don't want to read negative feedback so I don't give them any advice and that keeps me out of the threads. There are several threads that I did not want to participate in because my feedback would be negative and the poster is already quite defensive.

Good luck with your kitchen design.

Really, Modelle? I haven't noticed that myself. Some threads do catch fire more than others but I haven't noticed any pattern to it. I've seen many Ikea reveals get kudos and exclaims of how wonderful they are so I really don't think this site is anti-Ikea. A few posters here clearly don't like them but I think they are vastly out-numbered.

This forum is value and function oriented. And embraces IKEA DIY installs. IKEA is a great value. For a DIYer. Paying for design, assembly, or installation negates that value.

The OP is attempting to do a pretty expensive style build on a shoestring. Every dollar counts. Even DIYing an IKEA kitchen may not be enough to get the OPwhere he needs to be for the build in question.

"This forum is value and function oriented. And embraces IKEA DIY installs. IKEA is a great value. For a DIYer. Paying for design, assembly, or installation negates that value."

You've said this twice, and I'm curious as to why? No matter how you slice it, you can spend 2k on ikea cabinets or 20k on another brand, and with the design and install, you're still 18k less. Explain what I'm missing. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just don't get your view (as a builder).

You can spend 5k on IKEA and self design and install. Or you can spend 10k on the same IKEA cabinets with the paid designer and installer. Assembly and install is more expensive labor than standard cabinet install labor.

Or you can pay 8K for something like Shenendoah that is already assembled and another $1500 for installation. With hundreds more choices. The design would be free with the cabinet purchase. When you pay labor, it eats up a LOT.

I did the Ikea planning service for Ikea a few months a year ago. Why would a kitchen designer specialize in Ikea kitchens as an independent? That makes no sense as your competition Ikea, will do it for $250 or less when on promotion. It is a 4 hour service where a person comes to your house to get to know you, measure and design a layout for you in 4 hours.. It is called kitchen planning instead of design because you can not make a dream kitchen in 4 hours. Ikea kitchens are meant to be simple as they do not stock many sizes. You should not be looking for a dream kitchen with Ikea. You should be looking for function at low price and willing to compromise in the aspects of design to accomplish this...

I did not enjoy the job as I my background is kitchen design with semi custom and custom cabinets. You can not achieve those goals with Ikea as they never offer what you need without compromise.....

I also did not like the pressure of 4 hours as the plan must be created on the Ikea website which you can not access half the time as the house was just bought, no one knows the password to the internet, and you have not cell phone signal at the location to make up for it..

In the La area the cost Ikea charges to install your cabinets is about the same as the price of the professionals we use in the store I am with now who install our semi custom and custom cabinets. The savings in Ikea is in the cost of the products only.. The typical price to the public from Ikea tends to be less than our wholesale costs from any national cabinet maker I have ever had access to... Which in my career has been 30 plus semi custom brands and 20 or more imported brands...

I refer to our customers the same installer Ikea uses. They suggested one of the individuals come to us that wanted all custom depths after paying to have an Ikea in home kitchen plan created. My cost for the kitchen was about $4,000 with no profits for the store I work for. I share profits on orders so I know the costs of all the brands I offer thru the store. The price for the Ikea cabinets was approx. $1,800..

They were shocked at the price I offered to them.. Ikea is the best source for individuals needing the George Forman of kitchen and not going to pay a lot for this kitchen.

When you need the kitchen to fit properly without gerry rigging then Ikea is not your man so to speak... My store and others like it become the proper choice for you... Semi custom and better allows choice by Ikea by design allows savings for not having a lot of choices and being mass produced. Ikea is the largest distributor of cabinets in the world. Not in the US but in the World..

They offer a great product for those not willing or able to pay for choice to make what a good kitchen design would consider a well fitted kitchen by the ability to make things just right...

Driving by... I <3 Ikea. My DH loathes Ikea, thinks it's cheap and flimsy.

We walked through the store this weekend to look at butcher block. He was really impressed by the improvement they've had in quality since the late 90's when we were on an "Ikea budget" for basically everything. And I mean, bought a futon to serve as our couch, bed, and dining table.

In my area there is only one ikea specific installer who has garnered a bunch of bad reviews on yelp. I would not just rely on yelp or similar. I would ask for references from any supposedly well rated installer and make sure they have a real address and a license, if required.

Here's how we designed our Ikea kitchen. Ikea's catalog provides a million combinations of cabinets/drawers etc, and their online planner is buggy and a waste of time. We disregarded both the predefined combinations and the software, took exact measurements of our room dimensions, and laid out using pencil/paper only the cabinet frames (using Ikea standard sizes).

It took us 2-3 iterations to finalize the layout with cabinet frames only. For a couple of cabinets, we modified the sizes before assembling them (took the panels to a cabinet shop for cutting). After that, to save $$$ we got only the cabinet frames installed, and then used another month to experiment/install various drawer/door combinations that worked best for us. Installing drawer fronts/drawers/doors can be DIY, but hanging/aligning cabinet frames calls for a pro, imho.

I take issue with these statements: "You should not be looking for a dream kitchen with Ikea. You should be looking for function at low price and willing to compromise in the aspects of design to accomplish this..." and '"Ikea is the best source for individuals needing the George Forman of kitchen".

While I agree that the customization of cabinet widths with Ikea is non-existent, there are many ways to get a fantastic, well-fitted kitchen with their cabinets with no compromise of design aspects. I used to spend a lot of time at the now, sadly, defunct IkeaFans and the kitchens there were often quite wonderful, well-fitted, and customized. We lost a precious resource there when they were forced to close. We see the same thing here when folks share their reveals with Ikea cabinets. As long as the install is done well, the Ikea kitchens look just as nice as the higher-priced custom lines. Add in the option to get custom cabinet fronts at places like Semi-Handmade, Scherr's, and more, quite often you don't even know you're looking at an Ikea kitchen.

With the new Sektion line, the customization choices have actually expanded as well. Some of the most creative, unique and interesting kitchens I've seen are Ikea. If someone prefers the Euro-look but can't afford Poggenpohl, they are definitely the go-to brand.

I do agree that 4 hours isn't enough time to design a kitchen. I would only use that service after spending hours designing my space, getting feedback here, tweaking if needed based on feedback, and then having Ikea come in to ensure that everything was planned accurately and all things are being ordered correctly.

ETA: While we've never used Ikea cabinets ourselves, we have installed several kitchens without help of a pro. Everything is aligned, level, and well-finished. A good DIY person doesn't need a pro to hang cabinets. Ikea is actually easier than other cabinets to hang due to their rail system.

I love how andyscott used a good cabinet maker to cut the cabinets correctly for customization. Good idea if one can't accurately do it themselves. So that shows that customization is quite possible.

Seems like the OP's gone... I probably would not have returned either after reading that first response he received...

If an employee of mine would use our company name above a a badly written missive as "Friedman's" above, I'd fire him/her. I hope for this company's customers sake that their designers planning ability are nothing like this particular employee's writing "skills" which produced the above rant full of grammatically challenged, disorganized run-on sentences.

andy - I've seen many very successful DIY Ikea installs. It all depends on the homeowner's skill level.

No, the OP isn't gone. He does this all the time. He's dreaming of a new home build, but doesn't have the DIY skills needed to lower the costs of his dream. Which is why he's asking about someone doing the design and install here.

If you have to pay someone to hack ikea, you might as well pay them to build the cabinets in the first place.

" I've seen many very successful DIY Ikea installs. It all depends on the homeowner's skill level"

modellie, I agree. I realized that I didn't have the skill to hang/align/level the cabinet frames, so I hired someone to do that. But everything else, including getting/installing non-Ikea doors/drawer fronts, filler panels, pull out baskets, toe kicks, etc etc was DIY for us and we saved $$$$$.

I just designed my own kitchen using the Ikea software. I had to use Firefox though. It was not as hard as I thought. Just saved us at minimum $199. However, we may not use Ikea now since the glass front cabinets only come in 30" and 40". The price of this design is just under $6,000 using high gloss white doors.

This is my inspiration kitchen

I set up an account with Houzz to view some pictures and for some reason Houzz shows the name of the business which is correctly spelled as shown "Friedmans." I signed up with my name and it asked for the business I work for. It is annoying to have that show instead of my name if I comment here...I have not figured out how to get my name to show. It is not my intention to have the business name visible. My apologies...

The anger that people display in their posts is so unnecessary.. I was the only person to share the view of the kitchen designer that ikea offers...

Strange.... Every kitchen I designed using Ikea's cabinets always needed a cabinet size not available. The tall cabinets are never the right height either...I know they have more sizes now than when I was doing it daily.

People often miss understand the difference between semi custom and Ikea. Semi custom cabinets come in 3" wide and high increments to different degrees. The least expensive brand I work with now has tall cabinets at 84, 90, 93, and 96" high in widths of 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30,33, and 36" wide, in depths from 24" down to 12" with drawers and 6" without. Ikea last year was 2 heights and 3 widths with no depth changes when having drawers.. The contractor could cut the boxes before assembly to change depth. Also, not all widths came in both heights.. Hence, the design is very limited.

Products that are stocked to be efficient are meant to cover the most commonly used sizes needed to collect as little dust as possible. So you get a great savings for mass production and in turn give up having everything you need to make things fit the space. Every Ikea design I did I always had one or more aspects that would require compromise to make things fit as they had to be instead how it could be...

My apologies to offend the person above for saying dream kitchens are less likely with Ikea. I tell every person I meet Ikea is the best solution for those who want spend the least possible and have a good quality kitchen when completed. They make good cabinets...

I think it is fair to say the business model of Ikea was do it yourself to start with. Over time that has evolved to the Ikea kitchen services of planning and complete installation. Ikea has a goal to install most of the kitchens it sells now. The La area has the best conversion rate of sold products to installed by the Ikea services...

David Scott I appreciate your input and I agree, now that I've tried to plan our kitchen using Ikea, that their sizes are limited and require tweaking. However, I've seen some amazing Ikea kitchens. The photo I posted above is an Ikea kitchen and my designer friend thought it was a $40K custom kitchen.

Thank you, David Scott. No, you're not going to get a 37 and 5/16" wide cabinet from ikea. Then again, the term "dream kitchen" should not have to mean spending tens of thousands of dollars.

Modern Family Kitchen does not actually design kitchens. You have to give the extremely specific instructions about what you want and where, and then they draw up a kitchen using Ikea parts using your instructions. I found the whole process frustrating, and certainly got more design advice just reading old GW posts (I never did post my layout . . . big mistake because the folks here are very creative)

fwcor - I thought that MFK clients furnish MFK with pictures of their kitchen, info about the desired style and their goals for their kitchen and then let the MFK designer have access to their saved space plans or layouts on their Ikea planner. The initial exact measuring and the drawing in of all the details such as the location of windows, doors, utilities etc. would be the client's responsibility, thereafter MFK would plan the kitchen layout, or tweak an existing one. Am I wrong?

Pippabean - you definitely have to provide all the measurements. But, I had been expecting some advice and input from someone more knowledgeable than me about how to make the kitchen work (for example, optimal size of peninsula given size of kitchen and desire for 4 stools minimum, can the left span of counter shown on basic architect plans be longer without making that end of the kitchen non-functional). Nope. They use Ikea parts to put together exactly what you request. So, we were the designers and MFK expertise was putting together a drawing, loading up into the Ikea kitchen planner, and creating a list of which parts to order. I could send you the explanatory email I was sent when this came up, but I don't feel comfortable posting it on the forum.

fwcor - thanks for reporting on your experience with MFK. What you describe is definitely NOT what w need, I think we'll skip their "design service". On our plans, I've included fillers at corners and end of cabinet runs, so we should be good to go.

David Scott - you state above: "Ikea last year was 2 heights and 3 widths". Huh? No, Ikea cabs Akurum came in many more than 3 widths. No wonder you thought that: "Strange.... Every kitchen I designed using Ikea's cabinets always needed a cabinet size not available." Maybe you should have looked at the catalog just once? LOL. Sektion base cabinets come in the following widths: 12" 15" 18" 21" 24" 30" 36". The 12" base cab comes as a pullout, the 21" base comes with either shelves or pullouts (inside drawers) with door, no drawers. Base and tall cabs come either 24" or 15" deep, wall cabs are 15" deep. Tall cab widths are more limited. I'm not using that many tall cabs, so I don't know the available sizes offhand.

fwcor - ditto what modelly says above. No need for us to use MFK either. Thank you for describing your experience with them.

What they are offering sounds standard for the cabinet line involved and the fee involved. If you want better and more involved design advice, then you'll need to go outside IKEA and/or pay an actual design fee that is more substantial.

GreenDesigns - I posted my layout thread a little while ago. As I said above, none of the professionals on this forum critiqued my plan or responded. Would you be so kind to take a look at [my layout thread [(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/please-critique-and-help-me-improve-our-layout-dsvw-vd~3310763)and let me know what you think? I'd really appreciate it.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/please-critique-and-help-me-improve-our-layout-dsvw-vd~3310763[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/please-critique-and-help-me-improve-our-layout-dsvw-vd~3310763)

99% of pros on the board don't get involved in layout threads because that is their job. It's how the groceries are earned.

My MFK experience is detailed here: Stove Overhang Prevents Drawer Opening - Help. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/stove-overhang-prevents-drawer-from-opening-help-dsvw-vd~3521420

Short discussion: they didn't take into account make/model information or photographs of my range when designing. They fit everything to the cooktop dimensions (which I provided). If we had framed doors (like my old kitchen) we'd be fine. With frameless + drawers, the top drawer wouldn't open. In our telephone consult, I said I was confident in my layout but wanted someone to validate walkways, openings, etc. She mentioned the importance of providing exactly the measurements + appliance make/model. I asked about curves, handles, door swing, etc. and she said that was why the make/model was so important, and when measuring just to measure the basic opening - don't try to add anything for clearance, fit, etc. That didn't really work out...

I'm talking with them about a refund, to partially compensate me for my direct costs attempting to mitigate the flaw. I think this is reasonable; I'd really like to tear out and re-do (at their cost), but I recognize the value in trying to reach a compromise. They've been terribly difficult, denying any culpability, denying that we sent make/model information (even after I sent the original email and information packet), etc. I've initiated a refund request via PayPal which hopefully I can get some closure over.

I will be posting a review once the refund (or lack) gets resolved, because I want to be as fair as possible in my assessment. Mistakes do happen. At this point in my process, I can only recommend you steer clear and avoid MFK. I'll add/amend if this changes.

We just recently went through an IKEA kitchen reno with the new Sektion line. I designed it myself and then went to the store a couple of times to get the final tweaks done. We had professional installers do the installation. Even then, it came out cheaper than getting the standard Shanendoah or American Woodmark from Lowes/HD. I also went to local cabinet people for standard semi custom lines. The only cabinet prices that came close were the Chinese import cabinets. Some of them are good, some not so good. I'm not sure about the warranty on those cabinets. The ikea cabinets turned out to be $5000 + $2100 for installation. This included all drawer base cabinets and a floor to ceiling pantry cabinet. For the Shanendoah or AW cabinets, I was getting quotes at $6700-7000 with NO drawer base cabinets or a pantry cabinet. I was getting 8-11K for the semi custom lines (Medallion, Kraftmaid, Decora, etc). So for me, it turned out cheaper to get ikea cabinets WITH installation, than anything else. Plus, there is a warranty and I really like the design and functionality of the kitchen. All drawer base cabinets are spectacular! No complaints about IKEA cabinets or installation. My installers were amazing...

dharm12 - oh please, please, start a reveal thread with lots of pictures. We LOVE pictures. If your kitchen isn't finished quite yet, we also love "sneak peek" threads!

dharm12, I found the same as you with the three IKEA Akruum kitchens I did. I got many quotes from big box and designers and their quotes were very similar and double the IKEA cab cost with absolutely no drawers, bells, or whistles (tall pantry and soft close). I would have paid three times the cost for my current kitchen if I had gone with either a designer or big box, not including install. The savings are there if you are involved and aware. Any kitchen design and install can go south if you aren't.

For those wanting IKEA planning help, it really is a good idea to put IKEA in the title. Not all of us have enough time to peruse every post on GW, but prefer to answer what we're familiar with. I've seen many IKEA specific posts get tremendous help. And many of us were Ikea fans too!

I will be posting a reveal soon!

edit - here it is! http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3576931/ikea-sektion-reveal

Our (personal) "reveal": https://www.houzz.com/discussions/modern-mid-century-we-hope-kitchen-remodel-dsvw-vd~3573601

Hello - IKEA is now running a "rebate" sale on the design services, so you get a gift card for the full amount of the service you buy. The next open appt is 3 1/2 weeks out.... I'm wondering whether if anyone has done the IKEA planning service and has any reviews. I have posted my proposed layout here and received some very helpful responses on my proposed work zones. I'm still struggling with the design of uppers and the hood interaction, as well as struggling to find a good offset sink that will fit in a 30" cab. So I'm thinking of doing this service, if nothing else, to make sure the measurements are ok and ensure I haven't overlooked something important. I don't have a big kitchen and it does have structural awkwardness and limitations. Thanks in advance for any advice.

John 7285 - did you reach a good resolution with MFK? I also had been thinking about using them before I learned about the IKEA "rebate."