To Ikea kitchen or not........ that's the question

Whether you're a home owner or even a contractor I urge you to think twice before going the Ikea kitchen route.

Remodels are costly and as a contractor it is up to me to come up with ways to save my clients money.  And when it comes to kitchens, cabinets can be a budget killer.  Many of us, whether we choose to admit it or not, have been in an Ikea and even own a thing or two from there.  Why wouldn't we!?  They make easy solutions to home furnishing at a low cost.  Now when there we all see the amazing looking kitchens they have on display. What is even more attractive is the price!  As a contractor this has always intrigued me.  An awesome looking kitchen for under five grand?  Yes please!  But because I have owned several pieces of Ikea cardboard furniture that once its erected should not be moved, looked at or even touched, I was weary to offer this as a cost saving solution to my clients.  So what better way to test their product than on my own home.

My fiance and I love the modern look so after some shopping we decided to go the Ikea route.  Hell, since the labor is free what do we have to lose right?

Let the games begin!
  
The process of getting the cabinets is trying to say the least.  You yourself need to go to Ikea and design your kitchen on a computer they provide for you.  This software is much like floor planning software I use for larger projects.  To put it simply, if you have doubts in your computer skills, stop thinking about Ikea cabinets now.  After that process your order gets sent downstairs to be picked.  This is dope!  No 2 month wait for your cabinets!  They estimate it to take about 1 min per item and most kitchens will be 100 or more items.  So after you order go grab a beer and some Swedish meatballs because its gonna be awhile.  Hopefully you brought a large truck because you'll need it to take everything home.  After this process alone you will be exhausted, so get some rest and start fresh in the morning.

Now the fun begins!  If you have trouble with erecting a bookshelf from Ikea but eventually get it, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go the Ikea cabinet route.  As a contractor I can put almost anything together.  Hell, I can easier build it from scratch.  But this was not an easy project.  The "directions" are nothing like that of a book case but still understandable.  Building the cabinet boxes is the easy part.  After that you need to go rouge because from here on out there are no instructions to follow.  You WILL make plenty of mistakes so have plenty of beer handy to help ease the pain.  

Now a large kitchen cabinet install, by myself, takes about 1-2 days tops.  A kitchen our size should take me no more than 4 hours.  Using Ikea cabinets my install took 3 ten hour days, 2 cases of beer and A LOT of cursing.  This was no easy feat but with that said, we love our kitchen.  The cabinets themselves are strong, the design is exactly what we wanted and their storage solutions gave our smaller kitchen a larger feel.

After going through the growing pains on my kitchen I know doing another one would be much less painful but I still would not recommend this option to any of my clients.  The added labor costs alone for a kitchen like this null the cost you save on the cabinets themselves.  But if you are a homeowner and fancy your self "handy" and have the time to do this it is a great option. 

Contractors be prepared and homeowners beware.  The low cost of an Ikea kitchen comes at a price.