ᐅ Kitchen Price Comparison – Fair or Unrealistic?

Payday is absolutely right, and anything else is just rationalizing prices. A kitchen for a household of two to four people doesn’t need the quality or durability of a kitchen designed for a youth hostel. We currently have one from Wellmann, and after a good 15 years it is still in perfect condition. Only the appliances have been replaced. Of course, they didn’t last 15 years, but about 10 years is typical.

If you take flooring as a comparison, vinyl flooring for residential use has a defined wear layer of 0.2 mm (0.008 inches). Installing a more expensive version in a bedroom doesn’t make sense. Then there are 0.3 mm (0.012 inches) layers, which are sufficient for living rooms, hallways, or light commercial use, such as nail salons. Then 0.55 mm (0.022 inches) and 0.8 mm (0.031 inches). The latter is suitable for areas where forklifts operate. Using 0.8 mm (0.031 inches) vinyl in a bedroom would be completely unnecessary.

For a single-family home with normal cooking frequency, a kitchen from Wellmann, IKEA, or Nobilia is perfectly adequate. Anything more would be like using a Land Rover for city driving. Karsten

You can criticize anything with that kind of reasoning. I’m building a house to have a “standard that’s good for me.” I don’t just want a house with 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) — that would be sufficient — I don’t want laminate flooring — that would also be adequate — nor do I want the standard bathroom fixtures — those would be enough as well.

Likewise, I don’t want an IKEA kitchen for $4,000 (which of course would suffice), but it simply doesn’t meet my standards for my own home, both in terms of appearance (high-quality fronts are simply not available there) and functionality (for example, two ovens, including a combi-steam oven, which alone costs over $1,000 online). You don’t need it, but I want it, because it’s great!

If you have to save everywhere, sure, you can rationalize buying cheap stuff, but if you can afford better options and they bring added value (which is clearly subjective), why not? The car example mentioned fits perfectly—you can drive an Opel Corsa... but you don’t have to.

Tego12 schrieb:
You can criticize anything with that kind of argument. I’m building a house to have a "standard that suits me." I don’t want just a 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) house (which would be sufficient), nor do I want laminate flooring (which would also be enough), nor do I want standard bathroom fixtures (also sufficient).

Likewise, I don’t want an IKEA kitchen for $4,000 (of course that would be enough), but it simply does not meet my expectations for my own home, both in terms of appearance (high-quality fronts are simply not available there) and functionality (for example, two ovens, including one combination steam oven that alone costs over $1,000 online). You don’t need this, but I want it because it’s great!

If you have to save everywhere, sure, you can convince yourself that cheap things are fine, but if you can afford higher quality and it brings added value (which is obviously subjective), why not? The car example mentioned sums it up—you can drive an Opel Corsa (or another entry-level car), but you don’t have to.

The point here wasn’t about being able to afford it — it was more about the fact that even on a tight budget, you can buy a kitchen that is perfectly fine to live and cook in.

Those with higher demands or simply don’t know where else to spend their money are welcome to spend over 20k+ if they want.

You can also get them for around 1,000 at Poco.
However, it largely comes down to personal taste and aesthetics.

And I’ll just say it: the kitchen Karsten showed isn’t a great bargain. You could probably find the same for about 10% more at any furniture store. At least it is completely straightforward in design.
On the other hand, at a furniture store or kitchen studio, you get a different level of service. For example, the doors will be adjusted during the warranty period. If the waste system stops working, someone will come and fix it. That simply won’t happen at IKEA.

dragonfreak schrieb:
The point of this argument wasn’t about affording it – it was more about showing that even with a tight budget, you can buy a kitchen that is still comfortable for everyday living and cooking.

If someone has higher expectations or simply doesn’t know where else to spend their money, they are free to spend 20k+

And that’s exactly the point: this argument applies to every decision in home construction. You can choose the standard option, or you can go beyond it. Even with kitchens (and this applies to almost everything), you can get significantly more in terms of appearance and functionality by spending more.

The kitchen shown here is just standard. As my predecessor said, you can get something similar, including installation, at a kitchen showroom as well (with basic cabinet fronts, standard countertops, mid-range appliances without extras, no custom sizes or cabinets, etc.). It works, but as mentioned, this isn’t my idea of an open kitchen in my single-family house. It always comes down to personal taste.

Tego12 schrieb:
And this is exactly the point: This argument applies to every decision when building a house. You can go with the standard, or you can choose to go beyond that. The same applies to the kitchen (and almost everything else): with more money, you can get significantly better options in terms of design and functionality.

The kitchen shown here is just standard. As my predecessor said, you can get a similar kitchen including installation at a kitchen showroom (but with cheaper cabinet fronts, a standard countertop, mid-range appliances without extras, no custom sizes or cabinets, etc.). It works, but as mentioned, this is not my idea of an open kitchen in my single-family home. It always comes down to this point: a matter of taste.

Not just a matter of taste, but more a matter of priorities – some things would appeal to me as well, but I find the prices outrageous/unjustified.