The right time for kitchen planning in new construction?

Hello,

I would not prefer IKEA, since the effort of assembly is immense if you do it yourself, but quite expensive if you have it assembled. Afterwards, there is no warranty for defects, and you are not very flexible with appliances; you have to take the refrigerator from IKEA. The interior fittings do not last long and are flimsy, aligning the drawers is tedious, and the wall cabinets have hangers that annoy every carpenter, let alone a DIYer. You don’t really save much...

I am very reluctant to disagree with you, but in this case I have no other choice.

A few years ago, I also faced the problem of a new kitchen – all the offers turned out to be quite expensive “bargains” in hindsight, and so a good friend came up with the idea to recommend the Swede to us. Equipped with the same prejudices as you and more due to the friend’s relentless insistence, we drove to the furniture store and were quite surprised. I even more so – because it was one of the rare moments when the best husband of all behaved like a classic housewife. Opening/closing drawers, putting doors through a stress test, etc.

We then actually put together and bought the kitchen furniture; but without appliances. The stuff they have in the program was and is not my thing; we later bought the branded appliances from the specialist retailer.

My conclusion: I would not assemble it again – not because it is as fiddly as you described, but it is time-consuming if you are not a carpenter. However, I would buy the cabinets from the Swede anytime again! All in all, our kitchen cost us a good EUR 6,000 less than a comparable branded kitchen and the cabinets – despite having moved twice in the meantime – have not suffered and are as stable as ever.

Rhenish greetings

Hello, I am very reluctant to contradict you, but in this case I have no other choice

But that doesn’t matter! Everyone has different experiences, and the reader can decide.

I also love my kitchen wall cabinets from Ikea (they probably have a different hanging system, because back then I didn’t hear my husband curse), yet not my drawers ;( The dark wood front is no longer available, but in the specialized trade it would certainly have cost four times as much...
I am also the one who celebrates the assembly of a shelf/carcass/furniture from Ikea and regularly looks for a reason to drive there , while others reject Ikea design and only talk about cheap particleboard furniture.
By the way, there is an Ikea forum where the kitchen topic is also discussed extensively.

I'm really interested now
did you improvise, maybe modify something or did it work smoothly: Refrigerator in refrigerator cabinet?

No, nothing was modified. We measured the niche dimensions and simply put in a refrigerator from Quelle (they still existed back then ). Attaching the pull hinges to the door was no problem at all.

We have now decided on a small kitchen studio. We didn't go to IKEA anymore. Putting it together was simply too complicated for us. So we went once again to a smaller chain ([Küchenshow in Sieg]), where we ended up at €15,000 (and some change). For the same service, we have to pay €10,800 at the small kitchen studio.

We have now decided on a small kitchen studio. We didn't go to IKEA at all anymore. The assembling was simply too complicated for us. So we went once more to a smaller chain (Küchenshow in Sieg), and we ended up at €15,000 (and some change). For the same performance, we have to pay €10,800 at the small kitchen studio.

We also planned our kitchen after the floor plan was finalized – one partition wall has since been removed and a door relocated. Since we have an island, IKEA was not an option – with over-depth you have to order the countertop elsewhere or you end up with a gap – which for me as an avid cook is out of the question. We have now been to 3 kitchen studios and will probably go with the kitchen carpenter – he’s the cheapest, the granite slab is in one piece – which is not the case at the furniture stores, etc.

That said, I also have to say that we are probably more in the upper segment regarding appliances, etc. I have also put together IKEA kitchens, and compared to a proper kitchen there are huge differences in hinges, fronts, etc. For example, the wall cabinet with the carousel is a nightmare to assemble! The door hinges are designed in such a way that you have to spend much more time adjusting them than with other manufacturers at the same price level...

We found what we were looking for at Möbel Buhl.. The same kitchen that Küchen aktuell also offered us.. ONLY about 3000 €uro -cheaper-