Went there for the first time ever few months ago and played nice guy helping a chick who needed a hand picking some shit up. I didn't buy anything, sure they got a few things I might like but most looked like cheaper college kid stuff and my mind kept going back to an old buddy of mine holding a glue gun fixing the couch he bought from there few years ago. Shit looks nice but not sure it's good for the long haul.

Quartz counter are now the trend, and keep in better shape over the years .

As for the IKEA kitchen, I put 2 in my top rental units : they are sturdy ( ... yes, !!! ) , well built, versatile ... and the ladies love them ... a bit of a wow factor .
I could have spent 3 times the amount on a basic custom one and not get more rent out of the units .

Cant say about the meatballs tough ... :)

If you and I were half the size we are...probably Ikea is a good deal. But for us, we break Ikea pretty quick.

Funny about that cafe right in the middle of the showroom tour. Torrance has a mega store. They have good fish guts paste. Nothing like fish guts puree on melba toast to make you wish you hadn't tried it.

Some assembly required... :1orglaugh

http://assets.dornob.com/wp-content/...-furniture.jpg



http://www.sgag.sg/pdata/t/l-413.jpg

Some of my friends are like Ikea furniture...cheap and missing a few screws. :Oh crap :helpme :winkwink:

:stoned

ADG

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh :thumbsup

they have nice cheap furniture but they are not long lasting, the "nice" kitchen pictured above looks pretty cheap, look at the bottom drawers they look exactly like the cheapest doors from ikea, if that counter top is wood then its the cheapest counter top you can get as well.

I thought the same thing - that "nice" kitchen looks like the cheapest ones, nothing nice, just "regular economy option". And, at least in Europe, Ikea are not cheap, there are literally tens or hundreds of companies in each country who cater to the cheap market and their prices are the same or even better. So Ikea prices are regular for the cheaper end. I mean you do not save anything as prices are market prices (or even higher if you shop around) for that type of furniture.

I've had one yes. Ready for at least 2 days of stress?
The result is pretty cool but you need to be patient when it comes to build up everything by yourself !
Still, I think it's worthing it.

I am not a DIY guy but the result was good and nothing broke down while I was cooking ahah.

There is no problem to hire somebody to do it. Not sure why some people think it is a must to do it themselves. Plenty of people offering services like that :)

I couldn't find it (maybe ADG has a copy) but I once saw a very funny instruction sheet like those which come with most Ikea products. The first images showing the happy couple unpacking the boxes, then images of them trying to assemble the product, and the final panel was just the two people fighting.

It was perfect. :)

Seriously, some good advice on needed upgrades and things to consider in this thread if you decide to go with an Ikea kitchen.



.

Easy there baller....

Yes I am sure the only people that shop at Ikea are broke or students LOL.

Maybe it's different in America, but no one except the broke or students would shop there in the UK.

It is utterly shit quality MDF crap.

It was great when I first left uni, but as stated by almost everyone in this thread, it is cheap and falls to bits and heaven help you if you try and move home!

Make sure you get one of the ones with the 25 year guarantee. A friend got one before they introduced that and all of the facias started de-laminating from the back board. Ikea didn't want to know.

Meatballs are tasty though. I try and keep a bag or two in my freezer all the time. Great for throwing into a quick pasta meal.

Have fitted several Ikea kitchens in the past, easy to assemble and fit as long as you have a modicum of building knowhow. As for being a "poor man or students choice" complete bull shit, as those that I have fitted have been for wealthy clients in St Johns Wood penthouse apartments. Never once had a call back on any of them so I guess their quality speaks for itself.

I used Ikea Kitchen cabinets in San Diego did some work on them with a table saw and made them look like a German kitchen i like which cost ten times as much. That was back in 1998 They held up very well for 10 years and i ended up selling the house for 3.5 million so i guess i fooled someone ?

Check out home depot or whatever. A condo kitchen is 2k or less for the cabinets there. They just screw to the wall. Then I would pay up for a faux granite(silostone?) or granite counter. You will make it up on resale.

I flip houses for a living and saving money on a kitchen is not a good idea. It is the key room for resale.

ok maybe i need to check out Ikea hahahha

Is that MDF? If you are paying more than 1K for MDF kitchen you are probably overpaying.

I'm late to this thread but here goes, I love Ikea kitchens, bang for buck they can't be beaten. I've saw some very very high end kitchens, $75,000+ and you can get something just as nice for $25,000 at Ikea, not including the granite tho, but still it's a heck of a saving. My wife is an interior designer and brings home all these magazines and catalogs for new companies, kitchens that will blow your mind and she still wouldn't advise anyone to go anywhere but Ikea. The range of cabinets is great, if you want high end, you can get it no problem but it won't be rip off prices.

I'm surprised by this, when was the last time you visited an Ikea store? I haven't been to one in the UK for around 7 years now but I remember it being a bit like you described, not quite as bad but the quality wasn't the greatest. The Ikea store I go to in Michigan has a great range of products for every budget. I bought my tv room sofa from there, it cost me $2400, I just sold my house and the people buying it offered me $2000 for the sofa, they didn't realize it was Ikea and thought it was a $5,000 sofa. I declined because I love it and it will fit perfectly in my new place. I was nice enough to tell them where to go and buy one brand new for a few hundred more which they appreciated greatly.

I would have sold it and bought myself a brand new one tho if I still had my old car that would fit all the damn boxes it came in :1orglaugh

you can partially disassemble furniture before you move it, you know. give it a whirl next time, you'll find that your furniture actually will survive a move.

Most all that shit is assembled using cam lock and nut fasteners, easy to take the legs/sides off, move the item, put the legs back on. I've done it plenty of times, even moving an item from 1 room to another.

Are there people who move furniture like kitchen without disassembling them? :1orglaugh
Of course you have to disassemble (partially) bigger furniture when you move :)

people talking in here about the furniture not lasting through a move are not limiting their comments to kitchen cabinets. :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

it's weird I have to point that out to you.

Yup Ikea

Before
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/...ps26e36dfa.jpg
After
http://www.damhandyman.com/5/ressehouse17.jpg
http://www.damhandyman.com/6/ressehouse12.jpg

And because I get mad and slam shit :upsidedow we opt'd for the no slam buffers for cabinet drawers and doors :)

less then a year old but so far no complains with it.

for you:

People take their kitchen cabinets with them when they move? Weird.

Lots of variations on that theme...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_-mCT7T6c...s1600/ikea.png

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7898018560/hC08BAEA5/



:stoned

ADG

What the heck are you talking about? I know all that. You completely missed my point.

For you:

You wrote:

So I asked - do people not know that they can do that ?

There at Home Depot you pay per piece so a bigger kitchen is more and smaller one is less. I use this method as I have to pay for labor so the time needed to put a kitchen together goes way down.

We had a full Ikea kitchen put in our last summer. It looks great. I have had many people come to the house say things like wow or it looks like a showroom kitchen.

People are correct when they say it is all press board. We remodeled our entire kitchen flooring, cabinets, counter top. We did not save money over buying a real wood kitchen package so in hindsight I would do it again with a local company that does real wood kitchen cabinets.

I have not had any problems with the cabinetry but it has not been a full year yet. I still shop at Ikea as I live on the top of the hill less than two miles away from my local Ikea. I will use Ikea pieces for many things in the future but another kitchen is not one of them.

Yeah, looking at Home Depot too, since I have a card with them, I get a 5% discount on purchases, hey it adds up.
My buddy is getting ready next week to install a Home Depot kitchen and I'm going to help, that will give me a better idea.
Then in a month or two, I will do this, hard to do major projects during the summer months when I could be on the Harley instead!

if you like horse meat that is...

How the fuck would I know?

All I know is what I've read in this thread. several people say the shit won't last through a move, my experience shows assembled furniture from anywhere can last through several moves if it's disassembled. I was simply passing that along.

You'd be better served by asking those people who can't move the furniture what the problem is rather than asking someone who doesn't have that problem.