So here's a question for you...let's call it research.
Will an IKEA kitchen really last 25 years?
Over to you....
@Shirley, they'd designed the filler panel to go inbetween the cooker unit and the corner unit, so from left to right you had a 900 corner, 300 door showing, 600 washer, 600 dishwasher, 600 cooker, 200 filler, 300 unit, then the return was a 900 base unit with 600 door, purely for symetrical reasons, they'd supplied end panels to go inbetween every unt, the corner unit had a carousel in it and the other unit had a big metal pull out jobby in it, which needed a degree to understand. On the left return was an 800 sink unit and a 600 freezer unit, the design of the corner unit and the sink unit meant they had to be butchered to fit the sink and fit the bolts underneath for the worktops, which were Maia tops, so needed to be routered together and sanding for an invisible joint. Main problem was the long wall had 2 alcoves in it, the left side was 100 longer than the right side so everything had to be scribed, in a big way.
I fitted an Ikea kitchen in my house over 9 years ago & have had no problems with it in terms of the construction; some of the door designs leave a little to be desired & if I was fitting one in a holiday home without heating in the winter months I'd think twice about the doors of "frame & panel" design.......but overall they are made of decent material, & go together easily; they are sturdy once assembled & fixed to the wall...& I'd use the units as the basis of a kitchen again. Of course, the quality may have changed, but the last one I fitted was 2 years ago & everything seemed very good value & with no immediate concerns about whether or not I'd need to be back the next week putting bits back on.
My opinions are based on being a maker & fitter of kitchens & furniture for 20 years in the UK....I know that Ikea has a "cheap" reputation, but I'd choose them over any of the large DIY stores here
I had the same experience of hard sell with a kitchen company in the UK. Prices that were allegedly huge discounts but ONLY if you signed there and then etc etc. It was all a con, and I'm sure the same thing happens all over.
Hi Kerry
It was not an absolute bargain.
I worked for one of the big companies in France. I only lasted 7 months before threatening to knock the mangers block off if he didn't make me redunatant. I wasn't going to resign. You can walk into any of the big ones and immediately take 30% off the price and they would still be making a decent profit. It was extreme hard sell and they even insisted I offer credit to people who couldn't afford it.
I worked for my neighbour in the UK in his kitchen shop, in fact he made me Manager and was verey decent with pay bonus etc. We never negociated with customers as far as the unit prices were concerned. We offered the odd appliance instead. The margins were much lower than here in France and I prefer that. We were a private shop though and bought Kitchens in from three companies including one French supplier for the higher end.
But of course! Assemble it, leave the room, lock the door, go back in 25 years later and .. voila!
Shirley - I'm near Pezenas
I wasn't saying B&Q were cheap as chips Shirley, the timber i bought to make our own kitchen here was cheap as chips compared to making carcasses in ply wood, it's all solid timber with timber panels and Ash door panels, with an oak worktop, i only do made to measure now.
Saying that, i did fit one for someone a few months ago, they bought it from Homebase and all i can say is OMG!!! I was given a printed plan that Homebase had done and none of the measurements worked out, god knows how they had done it, they were wrong to such a degree that one of the 300mm units should have been a 500mm unit, instead of filling the gap with a 200mm blanking panel which they had suggested.
I make my own over here now, that way all the gaps get filled properly and the customer gets exactly what they want, made the way they want, whether it be plywood construction or timber construction with oak doors.
Ikea has a very limited range of sizes,so if you have a standard kitchen it will work fine.
In our gite we did not have such a luxury, so Jim hand-built a kitchen with wood bought from a wholesaler's bi-annual sale. It looks great and has cost us much less, though more in time and effort.
B&Q cheapest kitchen, cost us £1500 for all the units, there's another 4 not in the picture.
We've made our kitchen here using planed up chevrons, cheap as chips, as someone mentioned before, look after them and they'll last for ages.
we're going to be renovating an old stone house in Herault and we have been told by our architect that are budget is unlikely to cover all the costs... so we're looking at where we can reduce costs. Now we did a renovation of a smaller stone house back in 2006 so we know exactly what we paid for that and we used all french tradesmen so it's all split out by m2. Given the kitchen was expensive part of the costs and it wasn't huge we decided to consider options including IKEA. My hubby wasn't keen as he said it won't last 2 years but then I read on their website they guarantee for 25 years. I guess I wanted to seek other's views - I'm still mixed view really, it seems a bit pot luck - some have had excellent experience, others have not had such a great experience even with the same kitchen bought at the same time. I guess it will all come down to how short of money we end up being - which is also a factor of how much we sell our current home for when we put it on the market later this year.
yes my parents had a hygena kitchen :)
It was in a large house in Holland Park which was being refurbished by us as a speculative development for sale. Large indoor pool, about seven bedrooms all ensuite, multi media room, 2 car garage, in and out drive etc etc. I can't remember who actually bough it (city type) but Elle MacPherson came and had a look. The kitchen was all in oak (no veneer). Lots of the wardrobe fronts were done in secret silk fronted doors. Several huge semi mature trees were craned in over the top of the house. We did many houses at this level sometimes for owner occupiers, sometimes for developers. I'm out of it all now but I understand that this market in London is absolutely booming at present. Lots of Greeks, Italians and Spaniards, plus the usual asians and Russians of course. They all want to show off desperately! I agree about gardening. I think it was that deity Vita who said we must plan to change about 25% of our plants every year! On kitchens remember the days when Hygena were all the rage?
@ David 65k without appliances? Really - wow now that must be a kitchen which comes with a chef!
Personally I don't understand the buy it cheap, rip it out & do it again every 5 years. It's probably to do with the many TV shows of the 90's & 00's encouraging us to make over our house with a staple gun and some no nail glue. I prefer to do a job properly & have it last. Practical yes, boring - possibly!
If I want to change something regularly it will be the garden - that's an ongoing room that constantly needs attention and effort but what wonderful rewards. I want to do my kitchen once but my garden every day.
Nothing wrong with IKEA products.
Yes, I guesse that some people may be a little snobbish...
But that is their choice and their problem
What John Alcock says confirms my earlier point. The public are bombarded with "fashion" ideas and the whole house market veers alarmingly and expensively from one trend to another. In London we did several jobs where the kitchen units cost over £65000 excluding appliances. Much of that money was to do with top brands and the fancy agents wanted to be able to quote them on the sales particulars. There used to be a great agent in London called Roy Brooks (long dead) who used to describe a house truthfully such as "bombsite with revolting kitchen, dirt encrusted bath, would suit professional builder with unlimited resources and huge imagination". Not sure if you would say Ikea kitchen on the particulars but if you have Bosch, Smeg or Miele appliances you flaunt it. I used to live in a short street in a small town in Kent and everytime there was a party in the street the main discussion was whose having a new kitchen and how much it was going to be. In London it was more where you were sending your children to school. I just don't think that the French are so into such things- thank heaven! I think I could describe my very small kitchen as containing "hand crafted timber units, original belfast sink, cahrming fireplace with woodburner, stainless steel range" etc but that might all be a nightmare for somebody else.
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http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-18450018.html
This was my first house i bought in 1998, i fitted this kitchen, it's an MFI one, cost me £1200 including oven, hob, hood, sink, dishwasher, 16 units in total, can't see some of it.
The house has changed hands 4 times (cos there's a ghost), had quite a surprise when i saw it up for sale again with my kitchen still there.
All this talk of Ikea lasting 20 years reminded me of when we came to sell our house in the uk the kitchen I had fitted cost £10k it had solid oak doors the carcase was thicker than average but when we came to sell the house 7 years later every estate agent told us get rid have a more modern kitchen but don’t spend a fortune on it, to bin a good kitchen and fit cheap rubbish to me was incomprehensible but every viewing we had all said nice kitchen but old at 7 years so we fitted rubbish it was a pig to fit with bits missing or faulty, house sold, never understand the house buying public, one estate agent told us to rip out all the fitted wardrobes they were old hat and not sort after anymore she got a short sharp answer
I also blame the architect, he was horrendous, i walked away in the end, didn't want my name associated with the job.
Martin, what you describe sounds barking mad. There must be easier ways to do things, and it's nearly always the case with IKEA that there's some to-ing and fro-ing until everything is sorted out.