Boring, no doubt, but now that I’m responsible for buying and building one, it suddenly takes on a lot more seriousness. Mainly because if I get it wrong, not only do I have to pay for it, but I have to live with it for the next x years.

Mainly for price reasons, we’re probably going to start with Ikea cabinets; I’ve been reading up on how to get the best out of them through adding custom doors, handles and so on. Unfortunately, where we are the choice is basically Ikea, Home Depot or full custom; price probably precludes custom, but I don’t want it looking *too* catalogue-esque.

Anyway, some questions:
– obviously we’ll get it measured up by a pro (you get the cost of that back anyway if you buy from Ikea), but these places that offer a full design (of Ikea cabinets) – worth it or not?
– What’s the standard height of an Ikea kitchen countertop? Obviously you’d want it to be the same height as the stove, but I’ve no idea whether it’s variable or not.
– What’s the standard depth of Ikea cabinets? Again, you don’t want the appliances jutting out too much, but need space for the fittings for a gas stove (for example).

Too much to learn, too much responsibility if it goes wrong… 😕

You should be able to get a designers catalogue / book with all the dimensions in it. I relied on that when designing mine. The professional service wasn’t up to much.

My brother just DIYed his own Ikea kitchen, wasn’t that hard. I helped him out and did the electrics.

Pretty sure the depth of kitchen units is standard and the wall units are all smaller depth but also to a standard

Worktop height is also a standard 75 cm?? is it 80 ??
Anyway this si the size that allows standard fridges, washing machines, and other white goods to fit under them

Its not like bikes they all work to the same basic size to make it easier for you

Ikea hada n online kitchen design service wher eyou could do your own – its not hard to do as mine was basically U sshaped so pretty much designed itsel

It is fairly standard. Think its 600mm deep, 900mm high (top of worktop), units are generally 450/600/1200 wide.

The only thing to watch for with Ikea is that the cabinets backs are almost flush to the wall. Most other brands leave a space for “services”. Personally, I prefer to have the space inside the unit.

^^^This

Where are you based?

Base units are 600mm deep and wall units are 300mm, both come in various widths and wall units come in different heights too.

Base units should come with adjustable feet to raise or lower them to match existing appliances etc. though if starting from scratch you want to keep them at a height that means you wont have to cut the plinths down when it comes time to fit them.

Where are you based?

Canada 🙂

When we were looking, Wren kitchens were only marginally more expensive than Ikea but because they come pre-assembled you save money/time on fitting.

We’re really impressed with ours, as was the guy who installed it.

But Wren won’t be in Canada, so that doesn’t help you 🙂

Ikea cabinets are deeper than standard, so whilst Ikea worktops fit with other manufacturers cabinets, not all worktops will fit over Ikea cabinets.

We didn’t find the lack of a service gap an issue, we were prepared for this from the outset, we did however get slightly deeper worktop (extra 2cm I think) which allows for cabinets to run straight where walls are slighlty uneven.

Different leg options so standard height is variable, all our appliances are built in so no issue for us.

It’s possible to get a deeper worktop from somewhere else – I prefer a slightly deeper worktop anyway. That means you can arrange the cabinets and services with some margin for error.

The only cabinets I haven’t liked are B&Q (poor quality) – and even expensive kitchens will have similar standard of cabinets to IKEA, just will come ready assembled.

Howdens always seem to be well-rated, and not that much more expensive.

We’ve got an ikea kitchen and really pleased with it. I spent hours and hours dicking about with their planning tool, which was worth doing. I built the units which was fairly easy, but got a mate who’s a chippy to fit it,as i’m crap at that kind of thing, also he cut a unit to be a bit shorter.
The lack of service duct at the back is something to be aware of – you might need to do some cunning carpentry to take into account pipe work.
either way, we spent a quarter of what Wickes quoted us!

Do you know how a tape measure works? Can you work a computer? Do you know the pointy end of a screw driver?
If the answer is yes to all three you can design and build an ikea kitchen! They have a brilliant web based design software which will allow you to design and place your kitchen units and set them in a virtual room on your computer. The room can have windows and doors placed in it and it allows you to change the wall colour too! The hardest bit of a kitchen to design, in my opinion, is the Worktop.
We have an ikea kitchen and are very impressed.
Good luck.

I built a kitchen (MFI) back in ’98. that was my second & I don’t really want to do it again if I can help it. not all of our walls are straight, I’m not certified for electrics or gas & plumbing is just plain messy

but if you have straight walls, the gas, electrics & basics of the plumbing are there, it’s a doddle.

although having said that, I’ve been watching Canadian programme “Holmes Inspection” & you don’t want to get on the wrong side of that fella 😉

Boring, no doubt, but now that I’m responsible for buying and building one, it suddenly takes on a lot more seriousness. Mainly because if I get it wrong, not only do I have to pay for it, but I have to live with it for the next x years.

Mainly for price reasons, we’re probably going to start with Ikea cabinets

It was at this point I got a bit confused, then realised the title wasn’t “Talk to me about kittens”

Kitchens without wood burners, how odd.

Gloss white ikea kitchen here. I found the carcasses to be as good as or better than similarly priced stuff at how dens, mfi and homebase. They do sit flush with the wall, but as they stand on legs, plenty space for services underneath. I had a couple of pipes I could t easily move so just notched the carcasses around them. No problem at all. If youre paying for labour I guess that’s going to add cost tho.
Units are 20mm deeper than standard. I was having the room re-plastered from bare brick so just had it done from worktop height up so the units sit deeper into the wall. Alternative is to sink an upstand behind the worktop.

You don’t live in an old house do you Druidh? No box skirtings, no walls that kick-out as you get down towards the floor, no services running along walls? 😉

Basicly a kitchen is just a load of different sized boxes fixed together , after geing designed by a bloke or a woman who cant get another job, totally pointless having fancy handles, soft close doors, and drawers, internal waste bins and built in appliances, while they look nice to women and push up the commision for the reps, thats before you put expensive butchers block or granite wortops on the top of the boxes, and downlighters.

Cheap kitchen, pull handles cheap laminate, because when you move the new people will skip it, and buy another one, for the now second hand house.