Experiences with IKEA kitchens – quality, assembly, service?

How was your experience with the installation and the fit of the Ikea carcasses in conjunction with the external appliances and the non-Ikea countertop?

Ikea appliances and external appliances have the same dimensions. Everything fits. Non-Ikea countertop is also not a problem, you just have it made to fit exactly.

Were there any particular challenges regarding dimensions, cutouts or adjustments? And do you maybe have tips on what to pay special attention to when planning and buying external appliances so that everything fits in the end?

Nope, they're just carcasses like all the others (also with other kitchen manufacturers). Hinges etc. come from brand manufacturers (there are basically only two in Germany). There are quality and therefore price differences in the fronts. You have to look at that yourself.

What experiences have you had with IKEA kitchens?

works. We have furnished the children’s apartments with IKEA kitchens.

How satisfied are you with the quality of the furniture (e.g. cabinets, countertops, drawers, appliances)?

Cabinets and drawers are simple but fine. We bought 2 refrigerators, 1 induction cooktop, and 1 oven from IKEA. All appliances work flawlessly.

Did you assemble the kitchen yourselves or have it assembled? Was it complicated?

I had the 17- and 19-year-old boys assemble the kitchen themselves so they could gain some practical skills and develop respect for things. I assisted with advice (not a craftsman). There were no problems. Only the boys didn’t finish the job completely (baseboards and small details).

How well does the planning service in store and online work?

We built a simple straight line and didn’t need the planning software. The planning software for Pax cabinets had an incorrect dimension for the corner cabinet 6 years ago. As a result, I made one cabinet a bit narrower so that everything would fit into the room, which we had built to fit a PAX system.

How is the customer service when parts are missing or something breaks?

So far we have never had problems with IKEA parts.

Is there anything you would do differently in hindsight?

No, I would do it the same way again. The older son has since moved out and we use the apartment as a guest flat and as my office. The kitchen and laminate floor now clearly fall short compared to the current furnishings, but that’s okay and can be changed in due course. IKEA kitchen furniture apparently also enjoys great popularity on classified ads. That makes replacement attractive, because I don’t like to throw away things that are still good.

Ikea devices and third-party devices have the same dimensions. Everything fits.

Unfortunately, that is not entirely true. Semi-integrated dishwashers from other manufacturers do not fit easily. At least that was the case four years ago. You need special hinges or have to do some DIY. We also have an Ikea kitchen and are satisfied. We assembled it ourselves; it is simple.

I have set up an old Ikea kitchen in the utility room. A Faktum. I still remember that we spent several weeks buying the fronts from over 3 Ikea stores because they were never properly available again (without notice). That’s why the fronts in our kitchen are in two colors. Then Faktum was replaced by Metod, and simple upgrades from baskets to drawers were no longer possible. One should possibly expect that something may no longer be delivered. A few years ago, I retrofitted a 40cm cabinet in my Nolte kitchen. Unfortunately, the Ikea front was not suitable as a drawer cabinet but was sold as such, so the door is unfortunately unstable. Also, the tall drawers inside with the brackets look somewhat flabby compared to other kitchens. But: if you trust yourself to assemble cabinets in large quantities and are generally handy, you can be satisfied with Ikea. Many things are modular for yourself, which is something Ikea is liked for. The hinges are branded products. However, I must also warn: not everything is seamless; cabinet within cabinet (Ikea concept) can possibly take up space and look flabby, Ikea appliances reportedly have smaller internal volumes due to poorer insulation (sand-lime brick and oven). So if something doesn’t fit for you at Ikea, you probably won’t be satisfied with the kitchen concept either, although others are happy with it.

Semi-integrated dishwashers from other manufacturers do not fit easily. At least that was the case 4 years ago. You need special hinges or have to do some tinkering.

I know from fully integrated machines that they must have a certain opening angle to work with the baseboard without adjustments (Ikea has very low baseboards and thus larger areas for drawers, etc.). Otherwise, depending on the device, there are indeed sliding hinges or similar extras from Ikea.

The tall drawers inside with the holders also look a bit flimsy compared to other kitchens.

But they are also from the well-known brand manufacturers. You can now also treat yourself to glass or similar with Metod.

So anyone who is dissatisfied with some things at Ikea is probably also not happy with the kitchen concept, although others are happy with it.

I hate Ikea – LOL – but the kitchens are hard to beat in terms of price-performance ratio with self-assembly. With delivery and installation, you can also go to the furniture store or kitchen studio (but please don’t compare with top kitchens then).

I know from fully integrated machines that they need a certain opening angle to work with the plinth without adjustments (Ikea has very low plinths and thus larger areas for drawers, etc.). Otherwise, depending on the device, there are indeed slide hinges or similar separately from Ikea.

Unfortunately, this slide hinge is no longer available at IKEA in Germany. There is apparently something suitable, I had read that somewhere, but simply installing it is unfortunately not possible.
We shortened the front panel.