Ikea Kitchen Experiences – Your Opinions, Tips, and Recommendations Wanted!

Hm - what I find funny right now - in probably any other topic area here in the forum, someone would instantly get flak if they wrote:
>Guys, I’m planning a new house for xxx thousand euros, but I’d like to skip “master quality” on this or that trade and instead prefer to install DIY home improvement junk...<

I worked in the kitchen specialty trade for nearly ten years, and I had the following experiences:

1. Ikea electrical appliances are expensive
Back then, Ikea electrical appliances were supplied by Whirlpool/Bauknecht. We were at the time a small (!) kitchen specialty store and could deliver the electrical appliances including delivery and installation at the Ikea pickup price. (And still made a good profit)

2. Professional planning service including measurement and installation plans
Do they even offer that? Of course included in the specialty trade.

3. The furniture quality
Honestly: take a look at a specialty trade kitchen in its delivery condition, and then at the cardboard boxes from Ikea. Every professional installer gets a fit when they have to assemble this DIY crap. Nobody starts by firing the bricks on the construction site themselves either.
Once assembled, it initially appears comparable, but it is by far not. Detailing this here is too much effort for me, it would have to be done directly on the product.

4. Prices for the furniture parts
Simple cheap kitchens for student flats under 1,000 euros - okay, that’s where Ikea belongs and what they can do.
At prices beyond 2,000 euros for the wooden parts, the specialty trade can compete, because that’s when Ikea really starts to get expensive and uneconomical...
If someone comes from the southern Sauerland, I can gladly convey the Ikea (Cola) challenge to my former employer.

But what IKEA really does well: marketing. Ikea is a billion-dollar corporation that produces worldwide at dumping prices at the expense of nature and workers. But every German housewife feels personally offended if you say something bad about Ikea...

We also bought an IKEA kitchen years ago. At first we were a bit skeptical too, but in the end we were completely convinced. It is great to assemble; very good workmanship....Our next kitchen, which we might buy in a few years, will certainly be an IKEA one again. So: JUST GO FOR IT!!!!

I personally would not buy a kitchen from the kitchen specialist retailer. Strangely, I already feel like I'm being ripped off in advance. Overpriced and not significantly better in quality. My parents-in-law also bought their kitchen at the "Fachhandel"; when they moved, they had to plan small changes. These cost them a whopping 7000 €. Certainly, not every kitchen studio is that outrageous; but a bitter aftertaste remains nonetheless.

Personally, I would not buy a kitchen from a kitchen specialist retailer. Strangely enough, I already feel like I’m being taken for a ride in advance there. Overpriced and not significantly better in quality.

Well, I don’t think it’s right to lump all kitchen specialty retailers together like that.

Sure, just like in most industries, there are some bad apples here, but there are also very decent, high-quality, and fair-working businesses…

We also have our experiences with the "kitchen studios" with the big, colorful brochures and constant radio advertising.

“So the normal price for your kitchen is EUR 42,000.00. But because we buy only on a large scale, you already get a EUR 8,000.00 base discount. Today is a promotion day, so if you sign now, there’s an additional EUR 4,000.00 off. And because my brother-in-law, whom I have never liked, tripped over his shoelaces this morning, you get another EUR 5,000.00 discount…”

It’s awful how customers are tried to be ripped off here with the "stinginess is cool" mentality.

In the end, we ordered our kitchen from a small but fine crafts company (cabinetmaker) that builds our dream kitchen customized and exactly the way we want it in above-average quality. By the way, not more expensive than other reputable kitchen studios.

Regards,

Dirk