IKEA kitchen vs Local Kitchen provider

Mad Benny

We are contemplating buying a cream gloss IKEA kitchen. The installation is pretty expensive at approximately €1500. It will bring the total cost to €7500 including appliances. It's a medium sized kitchen.

We are now asking ourselves if we would be better off paying a little more and going with a local kitchen provider.

Any advice?

pennylemon

Hi,

I couldn't recommend Ikea more to you. I haven't bought mine yet but I have a good few people in the family who have them.

The instalation, I hear, is very expensive but everyone I know has done it themselves! It is very simple to do but is time consuming. The instructions are very straighforward but you will need a good few days at it, considering the size of your kitchen.

The kitchen I'm looking at is costing just under €3000, including appliances which is a ridiculous difference from the Irish kitchen companies that I've done kitchen plans with.

oxygen

I receommend cash and carry kitchens. I got a kitchen fitted by them, the kitchen cost $2,200. Its a complete kitchen worktup and all. It was fitted for €300. I thought about fitting it myself, but Im just not skilled enough, it would look terrible. (my kitchen is on a very slight slant, kick board needed adjusting fro this)

It look reheally nice...
http://www.cashandcarrykitchens.ie/urbancappuccinokitchen.asp

IMO a well fitted cheap kitchen looks alot better than and badly fitted expensive kitchen. Why skimp on the most important part (fitting). Save yourself the time and agro .

jolo

I second the Cash & Carry Kitchens recommendation!

I had my heart set on an Ikea kitchen and they are lovely but when it came to the crunch the door sizes etc. available in my chosen type weren't available. Partly to do with my choice of door style and partly cos my kitchen is so small we weren't able to be flexible for cupboard/door sizes. We came up with plans B and C and eventually I had enough. Rambled in to C&C kitchens spotted a kitchen and it was delivered a week after ordering.

They're very helpful. The kitchens come assembled so cost of installation and time spent less. They don't have a huge array of designs but I'd recommend anyone thinking of buying a kitchen to check them out first. If you get a good installer they can look really good.

Good luck with it!

ghettogrl

Hi there

IKEA is brilliant. We have been installing their kitchens in rental properties for the past ten years and they look fantastic and have stood the test of time. This was in the days when you had to import them from england. We made the mistake of wanting a local kitchen in our own house and soon wished we hadn't. We should have gone with the IKEA kitchen.

I should mention the properties are on the top end of the market so we didn't choose them purely for their price. They really are beautiful..even now, ten years later!

woodturner

Fitting a kitchen is simple enough. Anyone could fit them if they put their mind to it.

7ofBrian

Got our kitchen from Kitchen World. They have a great range on display in Newbridge (they were working on the Tallaght display at the time) and installation was only E600 for quite a large kitchen including an island. We bought the appliances separately and he even fit them for us which was a bonus.

yosemite_sam

It depends on where you want your cash to end up, Ireland or Russia via Sweden

gavin01

If you are willing to spend that much money on a kitchen you are far better off to spend it on a properly designed and made kitchen from a local manufacturer. The quality of the materials that go into the Ikea kitchens is of a very poor standard, most products are designed with a short life span. Hence the low cost. Also almost all of the materials that go into the Right Price/ Cash and carry kitchens are imported from china, this keeps the cost down but again the quality is questionalble. If you are looking for cheap and cheerful and dont mind the thoughts of replacing it in 4-5 years they are the way to go. But if you want the job done to a high standard which will last the test of time I suggest you employ a local reputable manufacturer. And your hard earned money will at least go back into the irish economy and help to keep not just the kitchen manufacturer but also the material manufacturers and numerous other Irish linked business going.

alastair

The quality of the ikea units I installed more than 10 years ago has been great. The kitchen looks as good as it did when new. I had steel worktops fabricated (locally), and a woodblock L section worktop too, but all cabinets were bog standard birch veneer nexus iirc. Frankly the ikea = poor quality thing is a crock in my experience. The quality of their stuff is easy enough to gauge in the showroom.

imitation

If was a wood kitchen I would say go with the local provider for a few more quid (if hes good), as you should be able to get solid doors instead of laminate/foil that most places like cash and carry do. If its gloss then I don't know if there would be a huge difference, but the local guy might be able to do a few nice customisations, it all depends on what they are like. I don't know about ikea but I know cash and carry don't install their own, so remember the kitchen is only as good as its installer.