Have you ever looked at the quotation from your Interior Designer and thought for a moment, “Perhaps I should go for IKEA Kitchen Planner.” I had that thought too, when I was renovating my new home. After all, everything in IKEA is cheap and good. However, as you will find out with my post, you would encounter a dilemma like me.
If you are looking to just revamp your kitchen, by all means use IKEA Kitchen Planner. Hopefully, my experience will help you save some time and avoid the hassle that I went through. If you are using an Interior Designer (ID)/contractor, learn from my experience to guide the discussion with your ID, so as to manage your costs with your need.
My decision to use IKEA Kitchen Planner was both easy and difficult. There was literally little references online, much less on the expected outcome, to guide me through the whole DIY process. In retrospect, however, the entire process was quite straightforward, if you have an idea of what you are getting yourself into.
“If only someone had told me before this!”
It was my thought halfway through the process, when I got a major part of the procedures figured out. By writing this experience down, I hope I can let my readers know the most efficient way to get through all this work, and save your trouble of figuring all this out yourself!
I have divided my post into 4 parts, so you can jump straight to the relevant section if you’d like.
- Thought Process for Choosing to Use IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Chronology of My Experience
- Consolidation of My Experience – Full Run Down of the “Right” Process for Engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Evaluation on IKEA Kitchen Planner Services and Product
Read on for my personal experience on using IKEA Kitchen Planner!
How I Ended Up with IKEA Kitchen Planner
When I bought my flat, my intention was to do a simple renovation. Other than getting a fresh coat of paint, the other big item I thought of getting was to redo the kitchen cabinets. With that, I went on a search for an interior designer. When my interior designer (ID) came back with the quote (which included a custom-made kitchen cabinet), I immediately thought of getting IKEA kitchen instead.
At that stage of time, I didn’t know about “IKEA Kitchen Planner” – I just knew that IKEA offered kitchen cabinets, and that I should be able to buy and install them just like how we do for other furniture like study desks and TV consoles.
My research on IKEA’s website narrowed down my choices: I could install a modular kitchen called METOD and based on my requirement to build 4.2m of bottom cabinet, the cost would come up to about S$1,000, which was ⅓ of the quote given by my contractor.
With the pressure to commit to my ID so that we could start work asap, I told him to remove the kitchen component from the quote, so that I could install IKEA kitchen cabinets.
Confirming My Decision
As expected, my ID started to passive aggressively tell me that it was OK I go for IKEA kitchen, just that his previous clients who went for IKEA kitchen met with several issues.
For example, the cabinets were so “fragile” that they “crashed overnight” after installation. He went on to tell me that “there was no backing for the cabinets” and that the cabinets were “hung on rails” and not nailed into the wall, hence the propensity to fall apart.
Not the one to rely on one source of review, I went online to do my research. To my alarm, reviews of IKEA kitchen were scarce – it was as though few Singaporeans chose to install IKEA kitchen cabinets!
Even worse, most of my searches returned an infamous review by someone who had a prolonged and disastrous experience with using IKEA Kitchen Planner (that was when I got to know this term and that I need not buy and install the kitchen cabinets on my own like we do for other IKEA products (think “Billy Bookcase”)).
My dilemma was that the bad review was written in 2014. Between then and now, the service could have improved. Yet information on whether the service had improved was scarce; most of that information was on forums and forummers aren’t exactly precise or accurate when it comes to reviews.
Will IKEA Kitchen Planner Fulfill My Needs?
To overcome my dilemma, I relooked my needs:
I won’t be doing heavy cooking. In fact, I don’t intend to install a gas stove or a stove hob. Instead, I only needed a sturdy countertop to house the microwave, induction cooker, rice cooker and electric kettle.
Additionally, I only wanted bottom cabinets. My narrow kitchen relied on windows at the far end for light, so a top-less kitchen cabinet configuration will make for an airier and brighter ambience.
Despite the less-than-stellar reviews, nobody said that the kitchen cabinets fell apart or couldn’t withstand the weight of normal kitchen appliances.
Without installing stoves, it meant that I did not need extensive customisation – engaging an ID for this would be an overkill (as apparent from the quotation).
With no explicit negative consequences and potential for upsides, I decided to go ahead with IKEA Kitchen Planner.
Sorting Out That Vague And Confusing Booking Sequence for IKEA Kitchen Planner
I will be talking about the chronology of how I figured out the process of engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner. If you prefer to find out about other information, you can use the links below to read them directly:
- Thought Process for Choosing to Use IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Consolidation of My Experience – Full Run Down of the “Right” Process for Engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Evaluation on IKEA Kitchen Planner Services and Product
Booking An Appointment Online for Kitchen Planning
With limited online resources, I relied on the official website for booking IKEA Kitchen Planner. Alas! Even the website was confusing (perhaps it was only confusing for someone like me who don’t buy from IKEA often).
It turned out that the booking page for IKEA Kitchen Planner was parked under the “IKEA Family” website, which in itself is a separate website from IKEA’s official website. Even worse, there was a sub-page on the official web page for one to browse through the kitchen cabinets.
But it’s not the way!
I found a page describing the 4 steps to buying IKEA Kitchen (https://www.ikea.com/sg/en/rooms/kitchen/how-to-plan-buy/), which provides a good overview of the process, so you can follow the link to check it out. Of course, there’s a catch, which I will explain with the screenshot below.
I understood from the description that I can use their Kitchen Measuring service – or not. I already had my official floor plan and had my ID work out the dimensions of the kitchen cabinet that I needed (remember the quote he gave me?), so I concluded that I will jump to the next step, which was the planning.
If you followed the link on the “How to Plan and Buy” page, you would be brought to a self-service planning page, very much like what you do when you try to use The Sims to design your own kitchen. Luckily for me, I read from the forums that we should be booking an appointment with the IKEA Kitchen staff (stationed in IKEA itself). It would be fun to go use the planning tool on IKEA’s website, but it was just that.
So I scoured the IKEA website and finally found the exact page to do the booking with IKEA Kitchen Planner.
Using the IKEA Kitchen Planner Appointment Booking Page
As mentioned, the appointment booking page was embedded in IKEA Family page (not the official website), so I include the link to the page here to spare you the agony of searching for the page (https://family.ikea.com.sg/kitchen-appointment).
To proceed with the booking, you must be registered as an IKEA Family member – the process was completed in a few minutes.
Do note that the drop down list would only work on Chrome internet browser and on desktop. Why was I so sure? I tried to book an appointment first on my phone, then on the Internet Explorer at my workplace desktop. The website was constantly “down”, which made me think the website was down. But no, it worked fine on the Chrome on my own laptop!
Another note was that the earliest booking date I got was actually 1 month into the future – do take this delay into consideration when planning for your own renovation!
Engaging the Staff In Person
What I missed out describing earlier was that I had actually made a few visits to IKEA to check out the cabinets that I had seen online. After I figured out that I needed to book an appointment before I could purchase the cabinets, I went down to IKEA to try and get a booking done.
On my first try, the staff was so busy that she just told me not to get METOD kitchen cabinets. While those were super convenient (they were modular, so you just choose the ones with the dimension you want and get it delivered and installed), the parts were not replaceable.
In other words, if the door of a METOD cabinet broke, you have to change the whole freaking cabinet.
On the other hand, if you go down the made-to-measure option, when the parts like the doors or the partition need to be changed, you can just pop down to IKEA, buy the part and DIY the replacement.
She recommended me to go down the made-to-measure way. But before I could ask more, she had to attend to the customers who appeared for their appointments.
After I finally made my appointment booking, I went down to IKEA to try my luck to see if I could get any staff to attend to me on the spot by “shifting my appointment” earlier.
Of course I didn’t succeed!
But I found out, to my greatest horror, that I was supposed to book an appointment for the measurement. In her words, she said that she won’t proceed with the planning with me if she didn’t receive the numbers from the measurement guys.
In other words, like it or not, you must take on the measurement service, which costs $40!
Booking for Measurement Service
To book the measurement service, you must actually do it in person at IKEA by approaching the Kitchen staff. They will take down your particulars, residential address and contact, and then generate an invoice so that you can pay for the booking at the cashier like you do for any normal IKEA purchase.
Thereafter, you have to wait for the measurement guys to call you to arrange for an appointment to do the measurement.
Imagine my panic!
When I made the discovery, my IKEA Kitchen Planning appointment was just 2 weeks away! Recounting my experience when I made the IKEA Kitchen Planning appointment (I had to wait for a month after placing the booking), I prepared myself for the worst case scenario for the measurement appointment – that the earliest date I can get for the measurement would be 1 month away.
With that in mind, I decided to book a 2nd appointment with IKEA Kitchen Planning.
Remember you have to be an IKEA Family member in order to book an appointment? Well, based on that, they were able to stop a member from double booking, so I had no choice but to have a friend to book an appointment using his membership.
Thankfully, the measurement guys were able to come down for the measurement within a week, send the measurement to IKEA Kitchen Planning team (and cc-ed me) within a few days’ time. Therefore, I was able to make it for the first appointment I made!
The Ideal Sequence to Arrange for IKEA Kitchen Planner
While it seemed from my experience that the whole process to get to an appointment with the IKEA Kitchen Planner was confusing, it is only confusing because I was groping in the dark. There was no “official guide” to tell me what I should have done, step by step.
On hindsight, the entire process was simple and straightforward. If only I had known the process flow beforehand! In fact, it was as simple as this:
- Book a Measurement Service in person at IKEA – overall time from booking to receiving measurement is about 2 weeks
- Book an IKEA Kitchen Planning appointment online at (https://family.ikea.com.sg/kitchen-appointment) – earliest date available is about 1 month
You can take a little risk by doing Step 2 concurrently with Step 1, but be very sensitive to the duration of both appointments. What I gave was a gauge based on my experience and they can take longer or shorter depending on the season.
The most crucial consideration is to estimate whether the measurement would be sent to the planning team in time!
Measurement Day
To be frank, the rest of my experience was rather straightforward. I took a half day leave to meet with the measurement guys. The team consisted of 2 members, and they did a quick sketch of the kitchen space on the spot and added the measurements on the sketch. Taking into consideration that they were 1 hour late, the whole process took less than 3 hours.
In my conversation with them, I learnt that the measurement team is independent from the planning, delivery and installation teams. What he could tell me was that I would be able to choose the materials of every part of my kitchen cabinet, so he recommended that I go online (https://www.ikea.com/sg/en/cat/unit-kitchens-22957/) or IKEA itself to start to recce on the types of materials I wanted.
Additionally, unlike the modular METOD kitchen cabinets, where I buy a few of the modular cabinets and have them assembled on the spot, what I would essentially be doing now is to purchase the raw materials for the installation guys to build the cabinets on installation day.
So if I require 3m of countertop, but they sell countertops at 2m, I will have to buy 2 of it and they will cut and discard the additional parts. If you are an environmental junkie, this might be a deal breaker!
Note: At this point of time, the measurement guys will also check with you on you requirements – if you need to install a stove, you have to tell them the type you are looking at. For example, for a gas stove, they will have to estimate the position for the stove based on the existing gas pipe. For an induction cooker stove, that will not be much of a problem, though you have to make sure there is a power point nearby for the stove. He will also be able to advise you on the maximum size of the sink and stove you will need.
In other words, even though the actual finalisation of the plan would be done with the IKEA Kitchen Planner in the next stage, you have to speak with the measurement guys to narrow down your requirements.
Meeting IKEA Kitchen Planner
After all the hooha, I finally met up with the IKEA Kitchen Planner, Tom (not his real name). After a few moments at the workstation, where he used the measurement to create an empty plan on the IKEA planning software, and checking with me on my requirements, he led me to the display section to look at countertop samples.
Communicating What I Wanted
This is actually something I did before I appeared for my appointment. With around 2 weeks to spare and after talking with the measurement guy, I had a rough idea how I wanted the end product to be (Where will the sink be? Where will the drawers be? How many partitions should each cabinet have?)
I went online to https://www.ikea.com/sg/en/cat/kitchen-cabinets-appliances-ka001/ and browsed through the various designs and materials that were available. On top of that, I looked through categories like Kitchen Worktops and Unit Kitchen. I also browsed for kitchen accessories.
Whenever I saw something that caught my eye, I added them to the Wishlist (remember to log in to your IKEA account to make sure you don’t lose the items!). I would go through the Wishlist to try and imagine how the overall kitchen would look like based on the separate parts and designs. From them, I settled on 2 “designs” and deleted those items that didn’t fall into those 2 main designs.
With that, I showed Tom on the appointment day the designs I had shortlisted, from the matt white doors, to black body trimmings, to the kitchen sink and tap, dish rack and of course, countertop.
I didn’t end up with everything I had planned for. Tom showed me the actual samples, prices and explained to me the pros and cons of each item down to the placement of door handles. Sometimes, I changed an item due to prices. Sometimes, I changed my mind due to Tom’s recommendation for a better quality.
Note: At this stage of time, I am not looking at METOD anymore, which was part of the categories listed on the IKEA Kitchen page.
Choosing from Countertop Samples
I wouldn’t say there was plenty of options to choose from (thankfully for me, because too many options = trouble in making choices), but I liked how I was able to have an overview of the prices at a glance.
IDs, on the other hand, have many many patterns for one to choose, so the options were all packed into albums, with each sample occupying at most a palm-sized space. When you want to compare between samples, you have to flip between pages. Prices were also communicated verbally.
On the other hand, the samples at IKEA were substantial in size, about a foot long, and were mock-ups of what we would have in reality. I really prefer to be able to consider the options the IKEA way.
Differences in Countertops
From the samples, I was able to find out some facts from Tom that I would either not know to ask my ID or not be told by my ID.
The most obvious difference I saw was prices and Tom told me that the cheaper ones I was aiming for were laminates. He told me that laminates are just as strong as the more expensive, stone/quartz versions, just that I have to make sure I don’t place hot cooking ware on the countertop without a coaster. He also advised I should always wipe off puddles of water.
When we were doing renovation for my mother’s home just 1 year ago, my sister asked if we should use laminates for kitchen countertops. The reply was that “nobody uses laminates any more, because stone is better. They are stronger and more durable”. Note the differences in explanation. They delivered similar messages, but the said ID only wanted us to take the expensive stone version, while IKEA Kitchen Planner gave an objective reply.
In fact, unless you are operating a restaurant or cooking for 10 persons everyday, a laminate countertop does the job too.
Tom then pointed out to me that laminates, being pieces of wood stuck together, has obvious joints at the edges. They were the “weak points” that I have to look out for: don’t leave the edges wet, don’t subject it to trauma etc.
Basically hygiene practices that one should observe when using a kitchen.
A quartz countertop is not all useless. It looks more elegant, require less maintenance and practically lasts longer than its owner.
However, a laminate offers more design options and can last if one uses it with common sense. More pragmatically, modern home owners change houses or renovates their home way before their quartz countertops give way. There is basically no need (at least for me) to spend 2x more money for something that does the same as the cheap equivalent.
After evaluating the options, I still went for the laminate for its economic and practical functions.
Other Kitchen Matters
Tom also brought me around to choose stuff like kitchen sink and taps, handles on doors and drawers, colour of the cabinet’s body and other accessories. If you ask me, I took a lot of his recommendations, since he was the one doing this day in day out.
I chose a matt black body for my cabinet. As I chose a concrete texture for my countertop, I chose a matt white for the doors as a complement. Overall, the lighter shade helps bring more light into the kitchen, because there was only 1 source of light from the end of the kitchen that has a long footprint.
As for sink and tap, I chose the cheapest ones. My only consideration was that the tap had to have a long “neck” to reach the centre of the sink. I also went for a 1-compartment sink – I never understood why we would need a 2-compartment sink. My mother always used the other compartment as a garbage receptacle. #justsaying
I chose matt bar handles for the doors to further complement the light shading. All handles were placed horizontally, so that I could easily hang hand towels or garbage bags. As I did not go for top kitchen cabinets, I also bought a standalone dish rack and a few black accessories bars.
The dish rack was placed above the sink, while the bars were set across the length of the kitchen to hang stuff like ladles and pans. Of course, the other use of the bars was to distract one’s attention from the holes left behind from the previous cabinets, since I did not redo the walls and floor of the kitchen.
Payment and Delivery After IKEA Kitchen Planner Appointment
Again, payment was made at the cashier like how I paid for the measurement appointment.
Tom passed me an invoice that had a break down of the items making up the design. For example, there was this “spacer” placed at the bottom of the cabinets to prevent moisture from building up and weakening the structure. Even something as minute as that was included.
Similarly, as the accessories like dish rack was not included in the kitchen cabinet “package”, I had to pay additional installation fee for the dish rack. This item was also listed separately on the invoice.
One good thing though, was that despite how the accessories were counted differently, I could just “lump” them into the same delivery consignment. In other words, by paying for one delivery fee, the accessories I bought could be delivered together with the kitchen cabinet.
Therefore, before I made payment, I also did one round of shopping at IKEA to ride on that delivery.
Note: Payment for delivery, on the other hand, is a separate process that takes place after payment at the cashier. You don’t pay for both at one place.
Delivery and Installation Don’t Fall on the Same Date
One confusing part about the delivery and installation was that Tom could only “guess” the delivery date before he fixed my kitchen installation date.
The delivery date, however, could only be confirmed when I paid for the delivery (which takes place after I paid for the kitchen cabinet).
Tom told me that should the delivery date ends up after the installation date, I would have to return to him to reschedule the installation date. To add on to the complexity, the installation date also has to coincide with the date my ID is free and not working on the kitchen.
Thankfully, despite all the what-ifs, the dates were confirmed as planned!
Delivery
The delivery process was like all other IKEA purchases, except that installation was scheduled on a later date, rather than at the time of delivery.
The difficult part, though, was to trust that all parts were delivered; the boards etc were all delivered packed in cardboard and they were heavy so I gave up stocktaking.
According to the horror story from 2014, there was indeed something wrong with the delivery, but it was discovered only on installation day. I thought that since I was already taking on this project on an experimental basis, this will be another checkpoint where I could tell if IKEA had improved its service standard since 2014!
Installation Day for My IKEA Kitchen!
The day finally came for the final stage of my IKEA Kitchen Planner adventure!
2 guys, in IKEA uniform, turned up that day, albeit 1 hour late. They were also not the same staff who came down on measurement day.
The leader ran through with me the plan that I had finalised with IKEA Kitchen Planner. We confirmed details like where I would want the “joining line” of the countertop to be at, since we were using 2 pieces of countertop to cover the overall length of my kitchen cabinet.
Note: Do keep your invoice handy to conduct the stocktaking together with the IKEA staff. I also used it to verify to him that I had paid for the installation of the accessories.
Installation Time
When I checked with them, they said they could finish by 4pm – that was 5 hours including lunch break. My ID, who was around (to make sure they didn’t damage parts of the kitchen he had renovated, like the painting) told me his guys only needed 2 hours to deliver (from the time of bringing in the parts) to completion.
They covered the drainage. The other hole was for the sink. The hole for the water pipe was drilled on site. The same spot before installation of kitchen cabinets.
Well, I never had my ID do this part of the job for me, so if anybody can help me verify if it’s possible (to deliver and install customised kitchen cabinets), please let me know!
For the record, the cabinets were done at 4 plus. After cleaning up, they left slightly after 5pm.
Full Run Down of IKEA Kitchen Planner
Now that I have (longwindedly) covered the full chronology of my experience with IKEA Kitchen Planner, here’s an overview of the entire process:
- Book a Measurement Service in person at IKEA – overall time from booking to actual site measurement is about 2 weeks
- Payment is done immediately after booking is made
- Measurement Date is only confirmed earliest 1 day later, via phone
- Run through how you want the cabinets to be like (Bottom only? Top and bottom? Orientation? Location of stove/hob?)
- No need to be overly concerned over design and materials at this stage
- Book an IKEA Kitchen Planning appointment online at (https://family.ikea.com.sg/kitchen-appointment)
- Earliest date available is about 1 month
- Surf https://www.ikea.com/sg/en/cat/kitchen-cabinets-appliances-ka001/ to decide what designs and materials you want
- Put all shortlisted designs into IKEA wishlist (make sure you are signed in) – good for narrowing down what you want, make for Plan A / Plan B, and show IKEA Kitchen Planner what you have in mind
- Meet IKEA Kitchen Planner at IKEA
- Finalise kitchen design
- Book a date for installation
- Pay for the finalised kitchen plan, its components and services at the main cashier
- Pay for delivery and the Delivery counter after the main cashier
- Confirm delivery date at the Delivery counter
- Receive delivery
- Installation of IKEA Kitchen cabinets
I will be touching on my thoughts on using IKEA Kitchen Planner in the next section. Use the links below to return to the other parts I had talked about:
- Thought Process for Choosing to Use IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Chronology of My Experience
- Consolidation of My Experience – Full Run Down of the “Right” Process for Engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Evaluation on IKEA Kitchen Planner Services and Product
Mr Salty’s Thoughts on IKEA Kitchen Planner
Here comes the very subjective part of this post, which was what I felt after having experienced the full service of IKEA Kitchen Planner. I know this is the part where people (especially IDs) will have strong, differing opinions, but I think my experience and opinions combined will help those who are about to go through the same process make better decisions.
Whether it helps you make your decisions, or to manage your expectations for IKEA Kitchen, these are some of the qualitative aspects you have to look out for when engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner.
Work Etiquette
My ID had to remind the IKEA installation guys not to lean the heavy, hard panels on the wall prior to installation. He had a point, as that might make a dent in the wall which would be tricky to fix. This was especially so, considering we had already finished the paint job of the house. To the IKEA guys’ credit, they took note of that and did not commit the same “mistake” again.
They also did some simple cleaning up before and after the installation. This meant that we don’t need to worry about some trash being trapped under the cabinets for years to come.
Of course, by simple, I meant they swept the floor with their hard bristle broom after installation, which wasn’t effective against dust that was abundant after all the cutting and drilling.
The so-called rails that the cabinets are hung on. The vertical partitions are held in place by a bracket nailed directly onto the wall.
They didn’t clean the insides of the cabinets too, which meant the sawdust and wood bits resulting from the drilling were still inside. I didn’t mind that, though, since I would have did one round of cleaning of the cabinet interior. If you are very particular about this, though, remember to check and instruct the installation guys to clean the interior for you.
Overall, their cleanliness habits were pretty decent. Perhaps my presence kept them vigilant, but at the end of the day, it’s really better to be around to supervise the whole installation process, since they might need some clarification too.
My experience with Tom, the staff stationed at IKEA to help me do the planning, was also pleasant. He was helpful and knowledgeable. He was also objective in his advice – he gave facts about materials and left the customer to make the comparison and decision.
The only downside, though, was that the planning was done right at the IKEA Kitchen showroom. We were interrupted N times, from passerby asking about things from specifications of the kitchen to way to the toilets.
Workmanship
Prior to this, I didn’t think much about workmanship. Since the parts were made in the factory, I assumed there was some quality control.
The variable, though, lies in the installation process.
Those with OCD would have been put off by the fact that the top of my cabinet doors and drawers weren’t a pretty straight line. I’m not saying the doors were so misaligned that they looked like the skyline of a mountain. They just weren’t so perfectly straight that if you follow the tops using your finger, you are bound to find kinks when moving from one door to the next.
For comparison, the renovation done at my mum’s home, by an ID, was perfect.
Friends asked me why I didn’t ask the IKEA guy to redo the doors. I considered that asking him to re-align the doors would require him to re-drill a hole in the side panels. Since the doors were just 1mm off, it might mean enlarging a current hole. Either way, it would weaken the overall structure.
To me, long term integrity of the cabinets is more important than making minor adjustments to aesthetics.
It struck me, though, that IKEA didn’t pre-drill the holes like they do for all other DIY furniture. I’m not sure if they had very high regard to the skills of their installers? Or were they thinking of giving the installers room to make adjustments according to the actual situation on site?
Cost
The overall cost for using IKEA Kitchen Planner came up to $2300. This compares to the quote of $3500 that my ID gave me (which could potentially be more after the work starts).
That being said, I went into the decision to use IKEA Kitchen Planner with the estimation of $1,200, based on the prices I saw for METOD modular kitchen online.
Considering I chose to customise the kitchen, the material cost of my latter choice comes up to about $1,500 too. The remaining cost that I paid came from installation, accessories, measurement and delivery cost.
Those who want to go for METOD should be able to fence in your budget to what IKEA posted online, plus 20% – 30% for installation and accessories.
However, that would mean that the cabinets can’t be fully customised. For example, my kitchen was 4.2m long and the various combinations of METOD cabinet could only at best fit at 4m. METOD also only came in 4 designs, which is only good if you are looking at a quick and convenient replacement for your kitchen cabinets.
Another method that IDs may use to discredit IKEA Kitchen Planner will be the list of “surprise” items that add on to the cost (just like how my initial budget of $1,200 ballooned to $2,200).
You may find the price tag at the display for a cabinet door, but since you can change the size / quality / texture / design of the door, the relevant cost also changes. Similarly, that handle on the door has a separate price, and will be different for different designs.
However, no matter how much “surprise” you get thrown into your face, all these items will be listed down in the invoice. When you review the invoice, every cost is logical and you made the choice to take it.
This compares to the quote that IDs give. On both my experience, the quotation given by IDs for kitchen cabinets in particular, were not as detailed as that given by IKEA Kitchen Planner. While this ambiguity gives them room for “giving you extra”, it usually means if you don’t push for them to give the extra to you, you will be losing the money right from the start. Similarly, since items like “handles” aren’t listed, if you happen to choose the cheapest handle in the store, they won’t be coming to you and offer you a refund. Instead, if the door you choose costs more than what they offered in the quote, they won’t hesitate to ask you to “cover the extra cost”.
An analogy will be the comparing IDs to full service carriers like Singapore Airlines and IKEA Kitchen Planners to budget airlines like Air Asia. You pay a premium to buy a ticket with Singapore Airlines, which in itself comes with a lot of bells and whistles that you do not need, but you paid for it anyways. On the other hand, you have to pay for every single thing you want on Air Asia. At the end of the day, you are very clear that everything you paid for was exactly what you wanted.
Needs vs Cost
For me, again, my decision was based on my needs. As a bachelor, I don’t do any form of heavy cooking. The most elaborate dishes I ever made was pasta and stir-fried vegetables. Most of my meals were made with microwave and that was the heaviest object the kitchen cabinet needed to hold.
I only needed enough storage space to hold the food (i.e. act as pantry), some extra utensils, cooking ware and cleaning detergents (under the sink). A single bottom cabinet could hold everything with space to spare. I also told myself that without a top cabinet, I would be less prone to stock up on extra bowls and dining ware, obtained either through sales or as free gifts, that will never be used.
Like I mentioned earlier, a laminate kitchen top and a regular kitchen cabinet was therefore all I needed. With good kitchen hygiene, the kitchen cabinets from IKEA would withstand daily use just like a stone kitchen top.
IKEA Kitchen Planner or Interior Designer?
Now that I’ve cleared the doubt about whether IKEA Kitchen Planner provides a decent service and whether IKEA Kitchen Cabinets’ quality is reflective of its “budget pricing”, let me return to the first question of whether you should jump straight into making an appointment with IKEA Kitchen Planner (not after you fixed the appointment for measurement, remember?).
After trying out IKEA Kitchen Planner and having had experience with 2 IDs (one who renovated my mother’s home and another who took charge of my new flat), I would say it really depends on what your needs are, before deciding which one to go for.
The above shows the “Before and After” of the same spot, where I had the gas pipe removed by City Gas.
When to Stick with an Interior Designer
If you are already renovating the whole home and getting an ID to work on the project, you might as well get the ID to renovate your kitchen. After all, the added premium you are paying for goes to having someone help you oversee the installation of your kitchen cabinets. With IKEA Kitchen, you will have to take leave from work to do that.
However, do keep a look out on what I covered. ID, with profits in mind, will be prone to persuade you to go for the more expensive option. All they needed was to persuade you to go with the quartz kitchen countertop and you will be paying double for just a single item. I’m talking about $1,000 vs $2,500 for my kitchen that required 4.2m of countertop.
Always think back to whether you really need that stone top. If aesthetics is the only reason you want a stone countertop, remember that any design is possible with a laminate (yes, from stone to neon to Hello Kitty). If your ID can show you hundreds of designs for the laminate of your wardrobe, it will be absurd if they say they can’t do the same for your kitchen cabinets!
Although I complained quite a bit about my ID, I had a very good working relationship with him for the renovation of my whole flat. It is very common to have conflicts with your IDs, but most of them are willing to go the extra mile as the competition is tough in this industry.
The Best Time to Go for IKEA Kitchen Planner
If you are thinking of just replacing your current kitchen cabinet (or downsizing like I did), then it’s more economical to go for IKEA Kitchen Planner. However, do note that the IKEA guys can’t do things such as re-routing your water pipes (perhaps they do, but I don’t know because I didn’t ask them to do it. But if they do, you most likely have to factor in extra budget for that), removing gas pipes (that can only be done by the City Gas), or the hacking / replacement / cleaning of tiles.
Just Replacement of Kitchen Cabinets
If you are like one of my friends who decided to undertake the whole renovation of her new BTO (yes, without an ID!), then having IKEA Kitchen Planner lightens your workload a lot! They are just like a mini ID, albeit only for your kitchen. All you have to do is to let them come in to your house for measurement, show up for the kitchen planning to choose the designs, materials and accessories you want, pay for it and the IKEA Kitchen Planner will take care of everything.
Like I said, you can even shop for the rest of your house after your kitchen planning appointment, so that you can have your, say, TV console, Billy bookcase, beds, lighting, shoe cabinets etc delivered together, for one delivery price!
And then while the IKEA installation guys take their 6 – 8 hours of time installing your kitchen cabinet, you can spend your day off touching up the rest of your house. Who knows? If you have difficulty tightening that screw on your TV console, they might be able to lend you a hand. If you get what I mean >.-
Parting Words
Although IKEA’s official marketing makes it sound like engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner is as easy as when you buy a bookshelf from IKEA, there’s more to it.
As I had laid out earlier, there’s a fixed (and Singaporean) procedure to go about getting it right. The whole process is also more than just popping into an IKEA store, choosing the item you want and then go home with it after payment. Be prepared to spend a little more time to communicate with the IKEA guys, from measurement to planning and to installation.
Budget wise, remember that the price you see online is not everything. Unless you are an accountant by practice, or you know a kitchen cabinet inside out, factor in 20% – 30% extra after noting down all the prices you found during your research. Remember that under-budgeting is common for layman like us.
The quality you get from IKEA Kitchen cabinet won’t be premium. However, just like any other IKEA product you buy, it won’t collapse in the first month you install it. And if it does, IKEA is still there to take your complaints and fix things back for you. Just don’t buy a corgi and expect it to hunt food for you.
Similarly, none of the unfortunate incidents that were recorded down in the infamous 2014 article happened to me. IKEA Kitchen Planner might have improved, or I might be really lucky. However, given that there were no similar complaints of such grievous nature for so many years, it could mean things aren’t really as bad as it looked like.
The only thing I can’t say for now is the durability. It has only been 4 months since IKEA Kitchen Planner completed my kitchen. Although I’ve been using it on a daily basis for light cooking, nobody expects to pay for a kitchen cabinet for it to collapse within half a year.
For this, I would like to crowdsource from readers on your experience. When did you have your kitchen cabinets installed by IKEA Kitchen Planner? What is your usage like? When did the first sign of wear and tear (like the edge of the laminate peeling off) show up?
With that, I end my lengthy usage report of IKEA Kitchen Planner. I hope my experience provide some insight for you! If you find this post useful, please share it with your friends! Leave comments to let me know what else about my renovation journey you would like to me share with you.
You can also read my other post on I used IKEA’s Fejka’s Artificial Wall Plant for decorations, or my experience installing a Yale digital lock for my front door. Lastly, Follow Hello Mr Salty for more salty updates!
Remember, salty is life!
Use the links below to return to the relevant sections of my experience with IKEA Kitchen Planner!
- Thought Process for Choosing to Use IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Chronology of My Experience
- Consolidation of My Experience – Full Run Down of the “Right” Process for Engaging IKEA Kitchen Planner
- Evaluation on IKEA Kitchen Planner Services and Product