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Ikea goes together like leggos...

Download their Planning tool from the website. It will allow you to layout your kitchen and then render a 3D model using all of their available cabinets etc... You can then save and print out the info and take it to Ikea and review it with them or just give them the paper and load it into your car!!

I'm in the middle of planning a spring gut of my kitchen and have found that the Ikea tool, at least for planning and trying out ideas is the best around...

g'luck

I did the same thing with my galley kitchen a few years ago. My advice is to use the IKEA planning tool and plan everything yourself, down to the tiniest detail. Then have your own contractor review your design before you buy anything. My experience with IKEA's design services in Elizabeth is that they are slow, disorganized, totally overbooked, and not worth the trouble.

I love my IKEA kitchen (abstrakt white). It's great quality for the money, and four years later, looks new.

In a galley kitchen especially, with a simple design, you can really plan it all yourself. Just make sure your contractor does a walk-through with your design in hand and confirms that the plumbing, electric & gas outlets will all work with the configuration you choose, and that your walls can handle the weight of the cabinets.

Just hire these folks http://www.thekitchencouple.com/

I thought I had heard about them right here on AT but maybe it was somewhere else....

Jayu,
Ikea kitchen's were voted #1 by Consumer Reports for their price point. They are excellent, my kitchen is partly Ikea.
Something we did: Everything is sold separately; so if you want to mix it up, you can buy just the cabinet boxes, and then have a funky door made that's unique to you. It cuts the cost of custiom in half. Not saying that it's something you have to do, just an idea about what's possible with Ikea. Good luck & send in a photo

Ikea does not help so much in store to design kitchen. i just renovated my kitchen and was looking for something cheap, i did not relize that ikea also is cheaper quality than most of cabinets' stores would carry. you can understand that why. they mostly make furniture that doesn't take as much abuse as kitchen would. and if you do buy cabinets there you would have to assemble them together, use fillers and so on. My friend recomended me to go to Brookyn, and we all know ( people who live in City) how we don't like to go there. it went there anyway by train and it acually wasn't so bad at all. the place i went to is called Cabinet Fair and a girl's name who helped me was Yana. Very knowlageble. she helped me to figure out Design, Material and listen to this, they have their own facotry where they make everything. they not expensive (more expensive than Ikea) but quality is much stronger. i did my kitchen 4 years ago. Please call her and schedule an apointment. No charge for design consultation.
Cabinet Fair
Yana
241 37th Street
Brooklyn NY 11232
(718) 369-1402

Good luck.
You could also try Home depot (more expensive than Ikea though.)

Jayu,

I second Gina's reccommendation as well. I used Cabinet Fair also about 4 years ago and they were great. Went into the showroom, looked at styles, finishes...They then came to the house and measured...A few weeks later, in 2 days my old kitchen was out and new on in! They couldn't have been nicer or better.

Al, who designed your kitchen? 4 years ago i assumed Yana also.

We did a complete renovation of our kitchen in our last place, and it was all ikea cabinets, plus the stuff to go inside. We went to the Ikea in Burlington, Ontario, so that's not in NYC, but they were SOOO HELPFUL. THis was in 2000 or so...anyway, the nice thing about Ikea is that their cabinet boxes are the same as what you'd get in the big box stores like HOme Depot. As mentioned above, you can customize the doors for a more custom look. The interior 'goodies" at Ikea are pretty cool too.

As far as having a contractor go over it all with you, it wouldn't hurt, especially if you don't have reno/demo experience. It's a second pair of eyes, the old adage: measure twice (three times!) cut once. :)

Well, the virtual planner tool is awesome; sadly, using the real-world IKEA is not quite that easy. i just finished a gut reno on my kitchen this summer, following a full year of planning. In the end, I avoided IKEA cabinets for two reasons:

(A) IKEA customer service sucked. As in, it is a myth. Like Santa Claus.

(B) IKEA cabinets aren't that cheap.

IKEA was virtually the same price as pre-assembled semi-custom solid-wood cabinets that were delivered to my kitchen. Of course, I had to take a couple of those apart and re-assemble them, but that's a different story.

I still used a lot of IKEA accessories -- I'm not saying don't use IKEA. I'm saying don't expect any help from IKEA.

The most important thing to remember is that When you go in to place the order for cabinets, you should have already measured everything in your kitchen 12 times (height/width/depth of windows, pipes, outlets, registers, vents, casings, doors, ceilings, floors - everything)

The second most important thing is to know exactly which components you want and will fit in your kitchen, such that you will not be talked out of said components by a 20 year old IKEA employee. Just trust me on that one.

You will want to check with the store ahead of time to see if the cabinets are in stock. When, inevitably, they are not, they will say it will take 3 weeks. It will take longer than that, but they will say it's 3 weeks. Call them every week to check the status of your order. A lot can go wrong. As I said, in the end, I cancelled and bought cabinets elsewhere. But, you know, good luck.

Tip: Remember that everything from IKEA is metric, including things like screws, so keep in mind that you might need to buy some specialized tools or drill bits.

Plan, plan, PLAN and then plan some more. You will want to give yourself plenty of time to make decisions about fixtures and surfaces and appliances, and then hunt down the best deal.

I used contractors for plumbing, electrical, and drywall. If you don't need to gut to the studs, then I don't think contractors are necessary. You can basically figure it all out on your own, if you're willing to put in the time. I did all the demo, installed cabinets (rent a lifter! you'll thank me!), casings, and flooring, painted and built my countertops from scratch. It sucked, sure, but if you're calvinist/committed DIYer, it's fun, too.

So for whatever it's worth, my two cents...lcm

I redid my kitchen this time last year with Ikea cabinets and I'm very happy with them -- much happier now that the construction phase is over.

Keep in mind that Ikea cabinets are "European style" and this means they are 'gappy'. You can see a few gaps even in these professionally installed Ikea cabinets: http://www.traemand.com/Photo_Gallery/IKEA_Kitchen_Cabinets.aqf

I should take some pics of my own kitchen and post them!

Going to Ikea and trying to get help from Ikea directly is a nightmare. The other comments here are right. A third party is very helpful.

Jayu - I strongly recommend you visit That Home Site's forums (ths.gardenweb.com, go to the kitchen forum and search for IKEA). They have exhaustive discussions of Ikea service and quality, including postings from people who have had Ikea installed for quite some time and can report back on quality over time.

I used Ikea in a remodel myself but sold the apartment a little over a year later so I can't speak to durability over time. But I was very happy with the results during the year I used them. In general, I think Ikea is great if 1) you like the style of their cabinets (which tend to be much more contemporary than alternatives in similar price ranges at Home Depot, etc.) and 2) they are a good fit for your kitchen. If your layout will require lots of fill, etc. you should probably look elsewhere.

I would also recommend using cabinets only from Ikea, since their sinks, hardware and countertops don't seem to offer the same bang for the buck. And as mentioned by many other posters here, DO NOT expect a fullservice kitchen design from Ikea, or from Home Depot or Expo Home for that matter. The in-store staff does not have the training or time to do anything more than a basic layout for you, and can make costly mistakes.

With the tools mentioned here and some good research you should be able to design a simple galley kitchen yourself. However, if you don't feel comfortable, find a good kitchen specialist as discussed by the other posters here. It may cost more but it will be worth it.

Jayu,

My Ikea kitchen is 8 years old and beautiful! We lucked out and got excellent help at Ikea to plan the kitchen. Unfortunately, it took them at least 10 shipments (and alot of screaming on my part) to get the entire kitchen delivered. We eventually faxed Ikea in Sweden to complain (they gave us a $200 gift certificate).

I'm not sure I would use them again, but I've also heard horror stories about other big stores.

Good luck!

I'd agree, the IKEA kitchen planning tool is great. I have been using it to test configurations for an upcoming kitchen reno. That said I have been to IKEA in Hicksville twice (albeit early on a Saturday morning), and the "service" has been non-existant. I'll probably but their cabinets in the end, and that is all.

The appliances and the other elements remain to be determined. I'd welcome any suggestions myself for a designer or stores for countertops, floors and appliances.

Quality and Pricewise, Ikea is right on. But here's what we learned about our Ikea kitchen experience:


1)As mentioned before– Do not depend on the Ikea kitchen planners. Go in knowing what you want, but let the Ikea "planner" go over your ideas based on their system. Chances are you'll have missed something. Also keep in mind that everything is "componentized", learn what the components are. For example, a wall cabinet is really a frame, a door, a pair of hinges and a pair of shelves, all in separate packages/boxes. This comes in handy for.......

2) If you can, pick up your order at the store. Once you know what all of the components are, you can make sure you have everything. If you think picking up stuff at the store takes time, try waiting around for three or four deliveries plus phone time.

3)Ikea oversells the simplicity of a kitchen build. To get the best out of it, I wouldn't suggest it to a do-it-yourseler, but a low-level handyman type can do a pro job if they take the time.

-Bobby

Thanks everybody!
That was absolutely great advice; Im feeling sooo much better about starting my kitchen project now. Will definitely keep in mind and explore all the suggestions here.Will keep you all posted!

Go to www.ikeafans.com. The people in the forums are very helpful and encouraging, and know way more about Ikea kitchens than anyone really should (and way more than most Ikea employees themselves). Check out the progress blogs (in the forums) for inspiration. There are a few people who will even help you use the Kitchen Planner software, which can be a bit tricky.

We put in an Ikea kitchen last fall. I firmly believe that Ikea cabinets are as good as the people who install them. Especially in older buildings, you have to be aware of sagging/uneven floors and walls etc. Our contractor was vigilant about making our cabinets level, which I think helped a ton in making them look good. One year later they look as good as new. You can definitely assemble them no problem, but unless you are pretty handy I would have a contractor install them for you.

I am smack in the middle of an Ikea kirchen do in the galley portion of my kitchen. It's a ton of work and I am starting to have fantasies of doing what Maxwell and SK are doing, going full custom with Henrybuilt. Having said that, I have learned a ton:

definitely have a contractor type see you through this preferebly every step of the way. It took me a year of research and about 2 months to fully design my kitchen (I like modern and eclectic, not matchy matchy). I now appreciate what a kitchen designer does. Big time.

I specifically went with the cabs ikea stocks not special order and even still I have been running around to all 3 ikeas trying to compile what I need. Not done, need to return and get a bigger countertop because I did NOT vet my design with the contractor. DO absolutely familiarize yourself witht the product numbers of each and every box and check them upon receiving your furniture at the store. before you leave. I have had quite a headache dealing with a simple mistake on their stock people's part. Also one unit had parts missing in the box. Out of all 3 stores, Paramus is the best experience, with Elizabeth on a weekend rating most heinous. Go on a weekday morning. Be ready for much grunt work. Have the contractor or another handy person assemble and install. This is crucial if you want the cabs to still look new and not askew. There are a million little ways to level them, this takes time and patience. I'm fairly handy but a total slowpoke, marring up the cheap veneer with my screwdriver while my contractor whizzed right through the assembly.

I think their cabinet bodies are indeed cheap but particleboard is standard issue these days. What is fabulous about ikea are the interior fittings, which are Austrian Blum and high quality. I went with all drawers and pull-out units on the bases and they are great. On the wall cabs I went with a fairly nontraditional but clean and modern approach which required a lot of work from my contractor.

Still in the middle of it, here's the work so far (just got done today, actually):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27913133@N00/248551306/in/set-72157594240769263/

Another thing I would strongly recommend is go to every single resource mentioned above as well all the high and middle end kitchen purveyors in the city and sit down and have them design your kitchen based on your measurements and compare prices. Many places offer this for free. I didn't do this enough. One trip to ikea, I lucked into talking to one of the Traemand guys (the official ikea installation co) and a couple suggestions form him turned my whole design around and gave me a new set of eyes. Priceless.

good luck, have a support network, it can seem daunting at times;)

I did a 100% kitchen overhaul as a DYI project with my dad almost a year ago and used Ikea for the cabinets. I was lucky my dad is like amazing at building stuff so we did alot of customish details but the cabinets and counters were all ikea. I measured it with him and planned it all out. The customer service overall was fair to poor to be honest but it was easy... I do have to say that I hated the little plastic feet things that come with it... they were a pain. Assembly was super easy though. I really should post an updated image but here is one about 3/4 of the way thru the renovation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mireille/53191233/in/set-388080/

we did some not so usual things. like my kitchen is fairly narrow so on the one side we used wall cabinets pushed out slightly from the wall as a smaller base cabinet. that is what you see in the photo. It required my dad to create a frame for the base but allowed me to have workspace on both sides. there was also a "found" space on the otherside of the radiator and we used a Billy CD tower - which is where I put spices and things like that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mireille/53191074/in/set-388080/

as an aside... about 15 or so years ago when Ikea first came to the Baltimore area my parents redid their old house's kitchen using ikea and when I was looking to buy my house my childhood house was on the market at the same time. I went to check it out and my dad's construction job was still there and still looked great. I think they only changed the handles.

Good luck... the kitchen has been the hardest room for me to do to this point. We shifted gas and water lines around but the worst was prepping the floor - ugh the nightmares it brings back! But when it is all done it is worth all the pain :)

I agree with everyone who said use ikea for the cabinets, and nothing else. Not even the door pulls (go to www.myknobs.com for high quality stuff). Ikea's plumbing fixtures, sinks, and countertops are pretty crappy (you get what you pay for), and it's so easy to source those things separately-- go to Chinatown! That's why I'd recommend a good contractor to help you demo & install, and to approve your design. Designing a kitchen with ikea is not brain surgery and you do not need an ikea-approved contractor to do it for you. I think you're better off with a conscientious contractor of your own who will spend time looking at the kitchen space with you before you design anything; If the designer does not actually walk through the physical space, do not trust their plan. There are things they will notice that you do not.

Hi Gina,

Actually, I think her name was Lana. But must be the same person. She was great. Last I heard, she was transferred to the McDonald Avenue showroom.

I found my contractor to gut and renovate
my galley kitchen (all IKEA cabs, delonghi
appliances and LG fridge) through servicemagic.com
and I recommend him highly: Sean Fleming,
Fleming Contracting -- (917) 328-1479
licensed and insured. He won't make decor/design
decisions for you, but will do whatever you
want and pay attention to detail. Reasonable
cost and comes in at his estimate.
If you go to IKEA hicksville (long island), do
ask for Tara, who works in the kitchen
dept.; she's terrific and is completely unfazed by special orders, sorting out confusion and dealing with inventory.
I also used the IKEA kitchen design tool,
which helped a lot. The kitchen is a
sparkling gem and I am
thrilled with it.
All best, Valerie

Sinks and faucets are also easy to source online, check out designerplumbing.com and homeclick.com for wide assortments. You do have to be pretty comfortable buying sight unseen since many things are hard to find in showrooms.

Other places for in-person hardware in NYC include Simon's and Gracious Home; neither are cheap but the service is good. There is also a big showroom in the 20s called Blackman I believe which has some gorgeous highend stuff but you will pay top dollar.

A few other tips:

To expand on "know the components," carefully look at the paperwork the kitchen department gives you after you place your order. For example, since I ordered a lazy susan size base cabinet, the system also gave me the metal wheel carousel part that I didn't need. You'll likely find accidental add-ons like this.

I ordered some extra drawer and cabinet faces. If something gets scratched or breaks, I have an extra stowed away. If they ever discontinue my door style, I might get a couple more.

I was told not to buy those overheard cabinets that look sort of like airplane overhead bins. Heard the hardware isn't as reliable. My designer stirred me toward two deep big drawers for all our pots. I love them.

Calla,
I believe it was me who posted the info about
the Kitchen Couple.
Design, demo, order and install at a very affordable price. Was skeptical about design before I saw drawings, but amazing use of space that could only come from someome who knows
Ikea cabinetry like the back of their hand.
They also read spec sheets on fridge, range and hood thoroughly so we would be within manufacturers spec for install. If your like me and don't have time to sweat the details, its worth hiring people to save you from yourself.
They charged a little more than it would cost for a straight install, and did everything.
http://www.thekitchencouple.com

We completed an IKEA kitchen rennovation in February. It was a 10' galley kitchen, and I did all of the planning and assembly of the cabinets myself.

My word of advice (aside from other advice mentioned above) is to definitely get a certified IKEA installer. We used a handy man who had done quite of bit of work for us aside from the kitchen, and we were very confident in his ability to install the IKEA cabinets. We told him about the cabinets up front, and he had no problem with it. Unfortunately, he and his assistant struggled with the IKEA system, and we ended up going a little over our labor budget because it took them longer to install than they originally quoted. In addition, they messed up a few things like the drawer alignments and marred the interior finish of a several wall cabinets. Afterwards, they said they would never install another IKEA kitchen ever again.

However...my husband and I are so happy with the look and function of the cabinets (not to mention the price), we are planning to put an IKEA kitchen (Abstrakt White) in our recently purchased house this winter. We will be using a certified installer this time.

I am in the middle of planning a gut kitchen renovation. I went to Ikea and got a card for Traemand who do the in-store installations. Traemand charges $175(ish) for an in-home consultation/ measuring service. They will then show you a kitchen design (to which you can make 1 set of changes and choose your own doors/ finishes and accessories) then take that plan to Ikea and place your order.
These guys also do installation and will give you an estimate with the design. You get $100 off when you place your Ikea order making it a $75 investment, and they guarantee the cabinets for 10 years! I'm waiting for my design right now so I can't comment on the results just yet.
Good luck.

Hi All,

We are planning to remodel our kitchen. Recently we visited Ikea and they offer entire 10x10 kitchen in $800-$2000. That is unbelievable.

If anyone has remodeled it from ikea Akurum line, please let me know how much it costs actually with installation.

For those who went with Cabinet Fair, about how much do they charge for custom cabinets? How are your cabinets holding up?

My Ikea installation was completed today. You need to be careful to get exactly what is on the draft order from the folks at Traemand. The cabinets are awesome!!! The biggest problem is the imperativ backsplash and rails to hold them in place. It seems the installers are not that familiar with this installation and Ikea does not have fasteners or such to attach the peices lengthwise for better installation. The imperativs also create a gap which we will have to find some sort of cover for on the edges..like at the over the sink window. My installers were great. I live in Houston and had to make my trips back for exchanges and purchase of more stuff, but love, love the look and the quality. I got the Kalsebo style with some glass doors and the 9 inch wine cabinet. I had Traemand come in and measure and do a design plan with some of my ideas. It is a galley kitchen. I would do it again. Im an Ikea advocate anyway. Be patient and be good on follow up..ask questions.

I've read quite a few comments about people saying to hire an installer and such and I must disagree with all the hoopla. Unless you are totally incompetent or just don't want to do it yourself anyone can install IKEA cabinets! I did a kitchen last year and it was beyond easy. Once you get the first cabinet put together the rest will assemble very easily as you'll have a firm grasp as to what goes where. As for installing the wall and base cabinets themselves just make sure it's all the same height and level. Measure, measure and measure again! Reinforceing the base cabinets with a 2x4 is a very good idea so if you can locate the studs in the wall (a stud finder will cost about $10 and do this for you) and have the ability to put a screw into wood you can do this yourself. Adjusting the doors so they are level did take some tinkering but it's not brain surgery. Do it yourself, save the money and use your savings for other upgrades like hardware, faucets and counters. And don't forget to have lots of lighting! This single aspect can make your kitchen shine or look like a cheap redo no matter what quality cabinets and fitures you have. I just can't see spending $300-1000 to have someone do something that anyone can do with a little time a patience. Besides, you'll be much more proud of your new kitchen knowing that you did it all on your own. Good luck!

We just had Ikea cabinets installed by the Kitchen Couple--I can't recommend them enough. (www.thekitchencouple.com) They did a fantastic design for our kitchen, and removed ourexisting kitchen cabinets and backsplash installed our new cabinets in just one day. Their work was truly excellent and their rates were very reasonable. The one word of warning is that it can be a bit difficult to get calls/emails returned at the beginning of the process, but once you have moved up to the "top" of their list, they are very quick to respond and provided us a lot of excellent advice/info to help us through the process.

As for the Ikea cabinets, I am delighted at how good they look. Our whole kitchen isn't in yet (still awaiting countertops, backsplash etc), so I don't know how they'll look as part of the finished product, but I am loving them right now. We chose the Adel medium brown, which is a really rich, warm color. Several of our neighbors in our building have come by to take a look, and we've gotten lots of very positive feedback. I wouldn't go with Ikea for countertops and fixtures, but I'm really glad we chose them for our cabinets.

I just want to second or third the rave review of The Kitchen Couple - they just finished our kitchen 2 weeks ago and we could not be happier. We live in a large loft in Tribeca and I was a little wary of pairing Ikea cabinets with our other furniture and the space but it looks just like Poggenpohl. My friends cannot belive they are from Ikea. Bonnie and Ron at the kitchen couple were unbelievable - everything from the design to the installation was professional, and with incredible attention to detail.

I am trying to find replacement glass to match the Ikea Kalsebo kitchen glass door panel (frosted with small clear squares.) CAn anyone make a suggestion?
Thanks