ᐅ Experiences with IKEA Kitchens – Quality, Installation, Service?
Created on: 26 May 2025 16:48
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Sandra27
Hello everyone,
I’m currently thinking about getting a new kitchen and have come across IKEA kitchens. The price-performance ratio seems pretty good, and I like the design. However, I’ve heard mixed opinions from friends – some are very satisfied, while others have had issues with certain cabinet parts or the assembly process.
So I wanted to ask here: What experiences have you had with IKEA kitchens?
I’d love to hear about your experiences, both positive and negative – especially if you’ve been using it for a few years! Thanks in advance 🙂
Best regards,
Sandra
I’m currently thinking about getting a new kitchen and have come across IKEA kitchens. The price-performance ratio seems pretty good, and I like the design. However, I’ve heard mixed opinions from friends – some are very satisfied, while others have had issues with certain cabinet parts or the assembly process.
So I wanted to ask here: What experiences have you had with IKEA kitchens?
- How satisfied are you with the quality of the furniture (e.g., cabinets, countertops, drawers, appliances)?
- Did you assemble the kitchen yourself or have it assembled? Was it complicated?
- How well does the planning service in-store and online work?
- What about customer service when parts are missing or something breaks?
- Is there anything you would do differently in hindsight?
I’d love to hear about your experiences, both positive and negative – especially if you’ve been using it for a few years! Thanks in advance 🙂
Best regards,
Sandra
nordanney schrieb:
But these are from well-known brand manufacturers. You can now even get glass or similar with Metod. Aha. I’ve never seen that before. It’s also not something you can easily find online. Uppdatera or Maximera, brand manufacturers? There are just some brackets visible everywhere. Not exactly attractive.
I took the liberty of photographing the drawer side. I can say: nice on the outside, disappointing on the inside. If I hadn’t just stood up, I probably wouldn’t have said that. In the end, I spent over €400 (without the side glass insert) on this cabinet, and I was so let down and unimpressed that I didn’t even bother removing the sticker.
If I imagine having 10 of these cabinets, it would really bother me having spent that much money. You can only really call IKEA kitchens cheap if you stick to the standard options. For simple wardrobes or sideboards, they’re top quality.
What surprises me in this forum: I have never seen a photo of the highly praised IKEA kitchens. Maybe an overview when new, but no detailed shots of problem areas, or a row of cabinets after a year.
So, you need to make sure you choose METOD, which is the higher-end line. The Enket or Enhet, or something like that, is the "student line."
Metod is quite decent, although no longer as sturdy as the Faktum line from 15 years ago.
The hinges and drawer runners are, as mentioned, branded hardware.
I have about 8 meters (26 feet) of kitchen with a fully integrated dishwasher and freezer from IKEA; the rest of the appliances are from various manufacturers. An Elica Tesla induction cooktop with built-in extractor also worked, but I had to do quite a bit of cutting inside the cabinet carcasses.
If you live near a border, you can save quite a bit by purchasing abroad (although not on everything).
For example, Poland: you can buy both the carcasses and appliances in Germany, but the Maximera drawer runners and the fronts (in my case Bobdyn, but I believe this applies to all fronts) were significantly cheaper. Overall, I saved about 35% this way.
The Netherlands is supposed to be cheaper as well, but I can’t confirm how much.
I ordered the countertop from a company specializing in cutting particleboard, glass, and artificial marble (they also supplied my interior window sills).
The only problem for me is the baseboards. I have an extra-high plinth (15cm (6 inches)), but IKEA natively only offers 12cm (5 inches), and those are plastic. I don’t feel confident cutting them straight from side panels myself. Somehow, it never seemed important enough. But in the medium term, I’ll either do it myself or order some elsewhere and won’t worry too much about matching the color.
@ypg You’re missing the covers over the adjustment openings, though. And with the glass inserts, it no longer looks quite so cheap. I’m very satisfied with Metod.
By the way: Pax, Besta, Platsa – all cheaper and flimsier than Metod. If the dimensions fit and you don’t need specialized units from those series, it’s better to do everything with Metod.
Even instead of Billy, if you can manage the depth, better use the shallower Metod units. They’re simply more stable, and you can securely fasten Metod units to the wall with the mounting rail.
There are also websites with IKEA hacks, and specifically with Metod, you can do all kinds of things. People have built elevated washing machine cabinets and window seats out of them.
Metod is quite decent, although no longer as sturdy as the Faktum line from 15 years ago.
The hinges and drawer runners are, as mentioned, branded hardware.
I have about 8 meters (26 feet) of kitchen with a fully integrated dishwasher and freezer from IKEA; the rest of the appliances are from various manufacturers. An Elica Tesla induction cooktop with built-in extractor also worked, but I had to do quite a bit of cutting inside the cabinet carcasses.
If you live near a border, you can save quite a bit by purchasing abroad (although not on everything).
For example, Poland: you can buy both the carcasses and appliances in Germany, but the Maximera drawer runners and the fronts (in my case Bobdyn, but I believe this applies to all fronts) were significantly cheaper. Overall, I saved about 35% this way.
The Netherlands is supposed to be cheaper as well, but I can’t confirm how much.
I ordered the countertop from a company specializing in cutting particleboard, glass, and artificial marble (they also supplied my interior window sills).
The only problem for me is the baseboards. I have an extra-high plinth (15cm (6 inches)), but IKEA natively only offers 12cm (5 inches), and those are plastic. I don’t feel confident cutting them straight from side panels myself. Somehow, it never seemed important enough. But in the medium term, I’ll either do it myself or order some elsewhere and won’t worry too much about matching the color.
@ypg You’re missing the covers over the adjustment openings, though. And with the glass inserts, it no longer looks quite so cheap. I’m very satisfied with Metod.
By the way: Pax, Besta, Platsa – all cheaper and flimsier than Metod. If the dimensions fit and you don’t need specialized units from those series, it’s better to do everything with Metod.
Even instead of Billy, if you can manage the depth, better use the shallower Metod units. They’re simply more stable, and you can securely fasten Metod units to the wall with the mounting rail.
There are also websites with IKEA hacks, and specifically with Metod, you can do all kinds of things. People have built elevated washing machine cabinets and window seats out of them.
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nordanney26 May 2025 23:12ypg schrieb:
What surprises me in this forum: I have never seen a photo of the much-praised Ikea kitchens.This is what a tall cabinet side can actually look like. Three years old. The row is straight, the ceiling is uneven (mining area). Cooking area with built-in cooktop and deep worktop
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Gerddieter26 May 2025 23:13Our first two "own" kitchens were from IKEA. Each time, we chose the high-quality fronts, wide base cabinets with plenty of pull-out drawers, handleless, and they always looked quite stylish.
For the countertop, not from IKEA—you just pick whatever you like.
And the appliances were premium models from BSH bought online freely...
All in all, we ended up paying about half to two-thirds of the price compared to a kitchen studio and always had a very nice kitchen.
The first was planned, picked up, and assembled by ourselves—it was easy.
The second was planned by ourselves as well, delivered (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!), and assembled by others, not from IKEA but purchased via classified ads—it was perfect.
Gerddieter
For the countertop, not from IKEA—you just pick whatever you like.
And the appliances were premium models from BSH bought online freely...
All in all, we ended up paying about half to two-thirds of the price compared to a kitchen studio and always had a very nice kitchen.
The first was planned, picked up, and assembled by ourselves—it was easy.
The second was planned by ourselves as well, delivered (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!), and assembled by others, not from IKEA but purchased via classified ads—it was perfect.
Gerddieter
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nordanney26 May 2025 23:13Tolentino schrieb:
So you need to make sure to use METOD,Yep. Then there are also “nice” sides for the drawers as accessories.Tolentino schrieb:
@ypg But you’re also missing the covers over the adjustment openingsYou’re funny... any idea why? We had to keep readjusting all the time. But I’m not even talking about the holes: there are clamps everywhere, creating corners and edges. You can’t just wipe over it with a cloth. I have a similar cabinet from Nolte, and everything is flush there. But I think those who have an Ikea kitchen don’t even notice this. They don’t realize that it can be done nicely and just ignore those corners and edges as if they were supposed to be there. @nordanney thanks. That’s what I meant about Ikea: the left side of the tall cabinet is warped. Or rather, it looks warped.
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