ᐅ Handleless kitchen fronts, good quality and affordable – which manufacturer?
Created on: 2 Mar 2020 17:21
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PeterHawaii
Hello everyone,
we are currently looking into the kitchen for our newly built single-family home. After the first visits to suppliers (2 large chains and 1 small studio), the general conclusion is: a frustrating black box with no price transparency – the estimates were often well above the stated budget, and none of the appointments included a written quote to prevent easy comparison.
My question is: which provider/manufacturer would you consider for the following requirements:
Kitchen layout: G-shaped kitchen, no wall cabinets
Design: handleless kitchen
Kitchen length: just under 11m (36 feet), all base cabinets except for 2 tall cabinets for fridge-freezer combo and oven + microwave
Worktop height: 90cm (35 inches)
Worktop: integrated into window frame, replacing the windowsill. Option 1: laminate, thickness approx. 25mm (1 inch). Option 2: engineered stone, thickness approx. 25mm (1 inch).
Front price category: PG 3 or PG 4, real matte lacquer
Splashback: matte glass
Target price would be under €6,500 (including sink and faucet combined about €400 online) and laminate worktop, without appliances, including delivery and installation (kitchen and externally sourced appliances), so roughly €600 (about $660) per meter.
Current quote for electrical appliances: €5,180 gross including delivery to curbside.
Do you think this is achievable, or do we need to lower our requirements (fronts price group / appliances) to stay under €12,000? At Ikea, we would be around €3,500 plus assembly without appliances, but their selection of handleless fronts does not suit us.
Thank you very much for your advice.
we are currently looking into the kitchen for our newly built single-family home. After the first visits to suppliers (2 large chains and 1 small studio), the general conclusion is: a frustrating black box with no price transparency – the estimates were often well above the stated budget, and none of the appointments included a written quote to prevent easy comparison.
My question is: which provider/manufacturer would you consider for the following requirements:
Kitchen layout: G-shaped kitchen, no wall cabinets
Design: handleless kitchen
Kitchen length: just under 11m (36 feet), all base cabinets except for 2 tall cabinets for fridge-freezer combo and oven + microwave
Worktop height: 90cm (35 inches)
Worktop: integrated into window frame, replacing the windowsill. Option 1: laminate, thickness approx. 25mm (1 inch). Option 2: engineered stone, thickness approx. 25mm (1 inch).
Front price category: PG 3 or PG 4, real matte lacquer
Splashback: matte glass
Target price would be under €6,500 (including sink and faucet combined about €400 online) and laminate worktop, without appliances, including delivery and installation (kitchen and externally sourced appliances), so roughly €600 (about $660) per meter.
Current quote for electrical appliances: €5,180 gross including delivery to curbside.
Do you think this is achievable, or do we need to lower our requirements (fronts price group / appliances) to stay under €12,000? At Ikea, we would be around €3,500 plus assembly without appliances, but their selection of handleless fronts does not suit us.
Thank you very much for your advice.
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Bertram10015 Jun 2020 14:56I planned with the IKEA planner and it was definitely worth it. At first, I thought I wanted a G-shaped kitchen, an L-shaped one, this and that. With kitchens, it’s funny how the simple, well-thought-out, proven designs somehow look plain, but they are often the most affordable and best solutions.
A G-shaped kitchen can make the entire room feel visually cramped.
Assembling the kitchen is really not that difficult. In a new build, everything is usually well-measured, so you just need to mount the rails at the specified height on the wall, and the rest goes “like IKEA.” Make sure to read and watch the instructions carefully, then proceed step by step. Alternatively, you can find an external installer. There are many who offer assembly at a lower price. If you consider this option, you can also search on Facebook for the group "Ikea Küchen." There are craftsmen from all regions and a wide range of experiences to read about.
For the handleless VOXTORP, you should test on-site whether the recessed handles are sufficient for you. They are not very deep and can sometimes be too tight for muscular men’s fingers. After all, no one wants to chase the man out of the kitchen. He should definitely be able to operate the dishwasher.
A G-shaped kitchen can make the entire room feel visually cramped.
Assembling the kitchen is really not that difficult. In a new build, everything is usually well-measured, so you just need to mount the rails at the specified height on the wall, and the rest goes “like IKEA.” Make sure to read and watch the instructions carefully, then proceed step by step. Alternatively, you can find an external installer. There are many who offer assembly at a lower price. If you consider this option, you can also search on Facebook for the group "Ikea Küchen." There are craftsmen from all regions and a wide range of experiences to read about.
For the handleless VOXTORP, you should test on-site whether the recessed handles are sufficient for you. They are not very deep and can sometimes be too tight for muscular men’s fingers. After all, no one wants to chase the man out of the kitchen. He should definitely be able to operate the dishwasher.
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pagoni202015 Jun 2020 23:47Anmacatili schrieb:
Thanks @Bertram100 for the explanation. Everything is understandable so far. Still, the current plan is visually appealing to us, that’s for sure. We’ll see how we might eliminate the corners or maybe switch to an L-shape with a peninsula.
Did you design your kitchen using the IKEA planner, or did you ultimately buy and assemble an IKEA kitchen there? We really like a certain well-known IKEA kitchen style, but I’m quite hesitant about the assembly and believe that having IKEA do the installation themselves is pretty expensive. So, here we meet too. We have gone through kitchens several times for different reasons. Since our friend no longer assembles kitchens, we ended up twice in the family at IKEA. The planner is great, and with a few ideas, you can manage most of it. For example, we chose the thick countertop (custom-sized) with an aluminum edge, giving a good working height, and enough tall cabinets with pull-out drawers for storage. Plus a bar or island and a thick plywood board on top for the bar. I’ve been to various kitchen planners, from Höffner to Studio. After the third one, I lost interest. I used to have a very expensive kitchen in my house, which after 30 years still looks great and is still stylish, but something like that costs about 40–50 thousand. This IKEA model Ringhult, for instance, is really nice, and currently I can’t think of a reason to spend more here, as I prefer to invest more elsewhere. We roughly assemble the cabinets ourselves, then a furniture builder from MyHammer or classifieds on eBay quickly puts it together. I can only recommend it because the kitchen business is really an invisible thing where as a customer you usually don’t know what you’re getting. The best appliances ordered online, and the stylish kitchen is done.
Ikea kitchens are top quality, even the lacquered fronts, which come with a 10 or 20-year warranty. Ikea charges 259 euros per linear meter for installation. However, you can find cheaper options on eBay Classifieds.
I bought one for my rental apartments at Ikea and assembled it myself; it’s not that difficult. It just comes in a lot of packages.
I bought one for my rental apartments at Ikea and assembled it myself; it’s not that difficult. It just comes in a lot of packages.
Ok, I’m reconsidering IKEA again. How is the durability of the fittings, drawer bottoms, and overall cabinet boxes? I remember that years ago, everything gradually became loose after a few years. Just holding the handle felt solid. Often, it was actually the entire drawer front that was affected. I had to adjust the hinges roughly every 5 months. With other products (like Billy), I feel the quality has even declined over time (plastic parts instead of metal). Could it be that IKEA took a different approach with their kitchens?
If I can get almost the same kitchen without appliances at IKEA for a third of the price, it does make me wonder. Does a Nobilia kitchen really last three times as long?
If I can get almost the same kitchen without appliances at IKEA for a third of the price, it does make me wonder. Does a Nobilia kitchen really last three times as long?
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Bertram10016 Jun 2020 08:53IKEA offers a solid mid-range kitchen. You probably can’t go too wrong with it. A friend of mine has an extremely expensive Siematic kitchen that, after 15 years, is also showing wear. The doors are a bit misaligned, and the laminate edges have yellowed.
It’s true that IKEA saves costs by using even more cheap plastic in their products. Still, I can’t imagine that a kitchen three times as expensive would last three times as long. In my IKEA kitchen, I notice that the pantry drawers (fully loaded with glass containers and food supplies) wobble a bit when pulled out. But they are really full, probably around 18kg (40 lbs) or so.
It’s true that IKEA saves costs by using even more cheap plastic in their products. Still, I can’t imagine that a kitchen three times as expensive would last three times as long. In my IKEA kitchen, I notice that the pantry drawers (fully loaded with glass containers and food supplies) wobble a bit when pulled out. But they are really full, probably around 18kg (40 lbs) or so.
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pagoni202016 Jun 2020 09:20Tolentino schrieb:
Okay, I’m rethinking IKEA again. How durable are the fittings, drawer bottoms, and the carcasses overall? I remember back in the day everything would slowly wear out after a few years. Just holding the handle felt solid. But often the entire drawer front would come loose. I felt like I had to adjust the hinges every five months or so. With other products (like Billy), I feel the quality has even declined over time (plastic parts instead of metal). Could it be that IKEA has taken a different approach with their kitchens?
If I can get nearly the same kitchen without appliances at IKEA for a third of the price, it really makes me wonder. Does a Nobilia kitchen really last three times as long? I had an IKEA kitchen 30 years ago, and after two years I replaced it with an expensive kitchen that is still in use today. However, the quality of IKEA kitchens has changed since then. Currently, we have a stylish IKEA kitchen with appliances from Siemens, Miele, etc., and we have already moved once with it, and will need to move again soon. This kitchen can handle that. Nowadays, the hinges are often from the same manufacturers as other brands, and there is a 20 or 25-year warranty. I can really recommend IKEA kitchens, and in everyday life, I don’t notice any quality drawbacks. I understand what you mean; it was the same for me back then. Today it’s completely different, and we really like our kitchen.
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