ᐅ Planning an IKEA Kitchen from Scratch – Electrical Appliances and Various Questions

Good evening,

I will be building my first single-family house in the middle of the year and would like to install an IKEA kitchen.
In the past few days, I have been working with the IKEA kitchen planner and today visited an IKEA store in Oldenburg to look at their kitchens. So far, so good...

At the moment, I am imagining the kitchen as shown in my gallery (everything is still not final, but pictures say more than words). I have the following questions open:

1.) Corner joints for countertops?
There is the simple 90-degree corner or the countertop joint (if I have read correctly). If I order, for example, a PERSÖNLIG countertop or a HAMMARP countertop, are these cut precisely so that I can install the panels? I assume that the panels are then pulled together underneath and the seam is sealed with silicone. Is that correct? We have a Makita plunge saw (SP6000), but cutting a perfect 90-degree angle on a countertop with that—oh dear...

2.) Appliances:
Wow. That’s not so easy. I basically need everything: dishwasher, oven, microwave, extractor hood, induction cooktop. From what I have read in the threads here so far, the biggest complications are with the dishwasher, right? Currently, I have the Siemens SN66P082EU in mind, mainly for its price/performance ratio. Is there an overview of compatible appliances or what is the best way to proceed?

3.) Measurements:
As mentioned, this is a new build, and I usually measure with a Bosch laser line level at three different points. I would then double-check such critical measurements with a tape measure. Does IKEA require dimensions accurate to the millimeter, or should you always allow some extra? That might be tricky with my U-shaped kitchen...

4.) "Dropped" countertop:
I have seen several times now that thick countertops are extended down along the cabinet carcass (I don’t know what this is called). How can I represent that in the IKEA kitchen planner?

5.) Question about the kitchen planner:
The program runs extremely slowly on three different computers (Firefox, Chrome, IE). Are there any important settings? The plugin is installed.

6.) Discounts and promotions:
Does IKEA have relatively “regular” discount promotions on kitchens (e.g., at the end of the year)? There are sometimes 10% voucher promotions. For a kitchen purchase worth several thousand euros, that can be worth it.

Thank you all,
Moritz

I believe several more questions will come up over the next few weeks...

Hello,

I can’t say anything about the planner since it doesn’t run on Linux.

1) Personal worktops are delivered cut to size with the appropriate connections.
If you want to see how to make a professional corner joint:
[YouTube:1pquezur]9TGBZHZ_SM8[/YouTube:1pquezur]

2) For the dishwasher, you need to pay attention to large capacity and variable hinge options with Siemens/Bosch/Neff. I once compiled a list in a thread, but it is already outdated. Since there is no filtering option on the BSH websites, everyone should ask S, B, N for a complete list of models that have both features. Maybe they will improve their websites eventually.
If the range hood is supposed to really perform as expected, then the brands are Berbel, Gutmann, and Novy.

3) You should order the measurement service directly from IKEA. That way, you are on the safe side if anything turns out wrong later.

6) There are no regular promotions. Last late summer, Family members received a promotion card worth 400 € on kitchen purchases over 3500 € (about $) (approximately 11,480 USD, 11,480 CAD, 11,480 AUD, or 10,120 GBP depending on the exchange rate). Before that, sometimes a dishwasher was included free of charge. In one year (2015?), there were no kitchen promotions at all.

Especially for large L-shaped or U-shaped kitchens, I would always recommend having a precise measurement taken, as otherwise there could be issues with the countertop. You’ll get credit for that anyway.

Number 4 is called (support) stringers. They can run along the cabinet body for aesthetic purposes or actually replace a part of the cabinet, for example next to the dishwasher.

I would definitely avoid using so many impractical corner cabinets. It is better to have empty ("dead") corners and cabinets with pull-outs next to them, which provide you with much more storage space.

You want to install the kitchen yourself, right?

For me, the planner works best in Chrome.

What immediately catches my eye in your plan:

Is there a panel planned next to the tall cabinet on the left side? Or is the wall stub still flexible?
The space on that side looks fully packed down to the last millimeter. You should leave a bit of room there.

Otherwise, I agree with Nörgli and would skip all the corner cabinets.

Just a few ideas from me: place the sink on the right side against the wall (closer to the refrigerator),
move the cooktop to where the sink is now, and add one or two more tall cabinets on the right side against the wall.

There are basically two options for countertop corner joints:
Use standard countertops and place them edge to edge, which means they are only connected through the screwed base cabinets. For countertops with rounded edges, you’ll need fixing strips, although these aren’t to everyone’s taste. The best solution is, of course, a professional corner cut. I personally prefer to first set up the base cabinets in L- or U-shaped kitchens and only then order the countertop custom-made. With Ikea, this approach doesn’t quite match the delivery times, as you don’t really want a half-finished kitchen for weeks. However, you can surely find a hardware store or a joinery workshop that can add the corner cuts to Ikea’s standard countertops (stock items). Some Hornbach stores in southern Germany carry Austrian Kaindl countertops with a depth of 63.5cm (25 inches) as stock items priced per meter, allowing you to order countertops with corner cuts easily. Unfortunately, the decorative options are limited (two gray concrete-look finishes, which I like). I would also avoid placing the sink or cooktop near the corner cuts.

Regarding dishwashers, I would really recommend buying either an Ikea or a BSH (Bosch/Siemens) appliance (an Ikea expert maintains a thread with the list of compatible models). Using anything else will likely require DIY modifications and cause a lot of frustration, even though some Ikea salespeople claim that the item BEHÄPLIG allows easy installation of non-Ikea appliances. The installation instructions for this part alone show how challenging the installation can be.

Lowered countertops used as side panels is mainly an aesthetic choice and, in my opinion, no longer very trendy. However, I find this option a very good solution when ending a kitchen run with a dishwasher, as countertops are better suited than 12–15mm (half-inch) thick cabinet side panels.

Regarding corner panels (filler strips) in kitchen planners: you can design these at any width. Each cabinet with doors should have at least 4.5cm (1.75 inches) clearance to the wall to allow the door to open fully at 90°. Filler strips are not special items; you take a narrow cabinet front and cut the panels from it (better to have this done at a hardware store). For smooth fronts without handle rails, grain, or grooves (e.g., Veddinge), you can also use a 10 x 80cm (4 x 31.5 inches) drawer front vertically and cut suitable corner panels for base cabinets from it. For tall cabinets, filler strips can also be cut from the cabinet side panels.