Well, that's ambitious! And expensive! And so many people will have opinions on the what, the why, and the way. Fear not, though, for my husband and I have taken one for the DIY team and renovated our kitchen and are now legitimate experts* in IKEA kitchen design willing to guide you in the process.
*This is the internet, so obviously I'm exaggerating A LITTLE.
Our Little House...
Ian and I own a small cape in Massachusetts that we bought about two years ago. When we moved in, there were royal blue carpets EVERYWHERE and it was the sort of first-time home buyer experience that one can only experience on a budget: The walls only appeared white due to the age of the furniture in the home, there were floor to ceiling mirrors in multiple rooms, there were large crystal hanging chandeliers everywhere, and little did we know the house had no insulation, rotting exterior doors, and a crumbling chimney.
Suffice it to say, Ian and I have done a lot of work to our home. We've remodeled two bathrooms, laid new flooring, redone some drywall, replaced some doors, painted just about everything, and hired some very nice people to do the chimney and the insulation. This is my long way of saying that we have learned a lot about renovation in the last two years doing much of the work on our home ourselves and so our kitchen experience probably went as smoothly as it did because this wasn't our first rodeo. That being said, with patience, I genuinely feel that the IKEA "our cabinets are designed so that you can do it yourself" mantra is legitimate for most homeowners.
Step One: Determining the Design
We spent a decent amount of time looking at IKEA cabinetry online and in the store to determine what style we wanted in our home. We also knew that we were going to have a very similar layout in our new kitchen. A structural remodel was not in our budget, so the space we had was the space we had. We knew that we needed two additions to the kitchen:
1) A microwave
2) A dishwasher
With all of this in mind, we headed to IKEA and paid for their planning service so that the kitchen was professionally measured and designed. This step was crucial. For $199, we could be certain that we had accurate measurements and a realistic design to work with. Also, the planning service is spectacular because you get a full list of everything that your kitchen will need from cabinetry to hardware. You really are able to get a true sense of the cost through the planning service and a very handy guide that you will use later to determine what pieces of cabinetry go together. Also, if IKEA is running their very common kitchen special, you'll be reimbursed the $199 fee via IKEA gift card when you go to buy your kitchen. Totally worth it!
Once we had the plans from the designer (we set up a design appointment within a week of visiting the store and had our plans the day she came to the house), we went to IKEA and ordered everything with a kitchen specialist. Easy as pie. Also, if you can, wait for a sale! We purchased the kitchen and received 15% back in the form of a gift card!
The IKEA Delivery Process
We ordered our kitchen and scheduled the delivery of what we needed to our home within a couple of days. IKEA will tell you to note anything that you are missing on the delivery receipt, but keep in mind that the delivery team will move swiftly. There won't be time to inventory as they unload your IKEA haul, but take heart! IKEA is great about missing pieces.
Ian and I went through our order line by line using the receipt from our trip to purchase the kitchen. All of the item numbers are on the boxes and correspond with the receipt and/or plan you can print out. We went through one by one and coupled cabinet one parts together, cabinet two parts together, etc. This was so worth it! It made the chaos feel so much more manageable.
Through this process, we realized a lot of stuff was missing. One quick call to IKEA and they scheduled all the missing parts for re-delivery at no charge, no questions asked.
Cabinet Assembly
I heard horror stories about putting together cabinetry. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it really was! I put every cabinet together on my own with a couple of basic tools. I would say the larger cabinets took about 30 minutes each, but as I got the hang of assembly, things went much faster. The cabinets were heavy, sturdy, and pretty easy to manage.
We did have to cut some of the cabinets down for our small space. If you have to do the same, WAIT until you are actively installing these babies! Our design was off by a couple of inches and we actually didn't have to cut one of the cabinets we were told to and were able to squeak slightly larger cut cabinets out in two other places. The cutting down was pretty easy, the hardest part was making the holes for the screws and dowels. You will need a special tool for that, but it's no big. You could also screw the cabinets together, but that's your call.
Cabinet Install
Another aspect we totally feared! I actually fought with Ian to pay a professional and he insisted we could do it ourselves. He was right, but don't tell him. The most important aspects of hanging your cabinets are ensuring you know where your studs are and using a level all.of.the.time. The cabinets are incredibly heavy without anything in them. You could kill someone if you don't take the time to find your studs and ensure that your rail is secured to them. Also, if you're not using your level, you could have some seriously funky lines on your hands when you go to put up the cabinets. Take the time to draw lines for the studs and to level.
Once the rail is up, you just pop up the cabinets and secure them to the wall with a small plastic piece that goes into the brackets of each unit. Easy!You can also screw the cabinets to each other from the inside to close gaps and prevent further movement.
Affixing the cover panels will require some basic measuring and cutting, but it's pretty simple. Also, installing the doors is so damn easy that I did all of them myself in about 30 minutes. The only downer is that you have to drill your hardware holes yourself for the drawer pulls. For $2, you can get a simple guide from IKEA or make one yourself. No big.
Counters
This is seriously the best part of the whole job because you literally don't have to do any of it. If you buy through IKEA, they will have their vendor come to your house for the template and then install the counter top for you. We finished our cabinets the week of Thanksgiving, gave them a call, and the template was scheduled for Black Friday. The cost of the measure and install is included in the price per square foot of IKEA quartz. They will also set your sink in place during the install. Just make sure your kitchen is fully complete less the plumbing and the counter tops before inviting these folks out. I'm taking doors on the cabinets, cabinets on the wall, totally level done.
We were able to schedule someone to create the template within the same week that we called. It took about seven days for them to come back and install the counter tops.
Cost Analysis
If you ever feel like you totally can't afford a new kitchen, here's our humble cost analysis. If heard one more time before the start of this that we were looking at $20-30k, I was going to scream. So, here's our breakdown:
All Cabinetry, Hardware, Cover Panels, Sink, Quartz, and Cabinet Footing: $4,829.05
Flooring (installed ourselves and we chose a porcelain tile): $544.72
Drywall Work (we had a back wall that needed some serious TLC and wanted to re-do our ceiling): $650
Electrical (New circuit for microwave, new circuit for dishwasher, new GFCI outlet installed by a pro): $750
Plumbing (We had a pipe moved back a bit, a new shut off installed for hot and cold water, and a line run for the dishwasher, plus they hooked up the sink and dishwasher): $950
Light Fixture: $210
Dumpster for One Month (We demoed our old kitchen ourselves): $500
Door trim and baseboard: $200
Samsung Dishwasher and Over the Range Microwave: $960.86
Paint: $70 (Also, if you need Bobdyn Gray paint... Cinder from Benjamin Moore is a good match. A sample is enough for any cutting of doors you'll need to do)
TOTAL: $9,664.63
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| Before and After |
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