IKEA Kitchen

Yes.

Pros
1) Better looking
2) Great quality hinges
3) You know that you can always replace any component (unless you go for a size that becomes obsolete)

Cons
1) Can't think of any, other than lousy customer service

i have used the better and best quality ikea cabinets and they are great--way cheaper than comparable from any other vendor, and good styles/designs

Quality of the boxes is crappy. Had a little drip under the sink and the MDF bubbled up.
Have to adjust the doors every 6 months as there's slight movement of the hinges.
ALWAYS make mistakes in your orders. You have to return at least 3 times to get replacements and that's if you're lucky. I know people who had to do it 6-7 times.
Some of the "wood" doors are made of very cheap paper over MDF.

Look great at first.

You can look at some of the chinese made kitchens that you can find in Brooklyn/Queens that will be similar price and look better.

I love my Ikea cabinets. I highly recommend that you use an Ikea certified installer if you go that route. I'll skip the pros for now.

Cons
1. Ikea's modular system might have fewer options than HD's modular system. So you might not find a perfect solution for that extra space in your run of cabinets. A clever carpenter can customize that little bit, though.
2. I bet a lot of general contractors who don't take the time to learn the Ikea way could muck things up in assembly or installation. Hence the certified-installer rec.
3. Not sure about HD, but Ikea's boxes come only in white and birch, so if you choose a cherry door, can you live with the horror of a mismatched interior every time you open the door?

Forgot to mention, certified installers can handle the ordering and delivery of the cabinets and all other pieces, and have working relationships with the managers at Ikea, so they make sure that the order is right and find out about any backorder situations.

Go for the wide-opening hinges.

Leak under sink is a plumber problem, not a cabinet problem. Real wood would also object to pooling water.

completely disagree w/ ab11218

i have spec'ed and installed many sets of ikea cabs--none of these problems--i plan carefully, go once to ikea and order carefully, receive delivery and install--the install system with brackets and anchors is idiotproof and effective--never an issue with repalcements, or anything--once had a damaged part, called the store and they delivered the rplacement the next day--never had problems with hinges, tho they need some occasinal adjustment due to setttling and normal stuff you'd find in a poggenpohl kitchen

maybe your installer is a moron--and your friend who had to return 6-7 times to the store????

alan, this was not my first kitchen and not my first leak. the bubbling was the first and the last.

i'd guess that using the ikea installers will help with 90% of the headaches that people have dealing with the constant errors. they also will know how to put together the cabinets as some instructions are just blantantly wrong.

Wbottom, i've had 6 friends and myself put in the orders for cabinets and 3 times was the least that we had to go back. it has been 5-8 years, maybe they've gotten better since then.

my experience with ikea spans 20 years--i am an office professional who enjoys small unambitious renovation projects--ikea instructions are always accurate, and they always include all (but no extra) parts--and the info they provide that allows one to plan assemblage of cabinets, and order appropriately, incl mounting hardwaare, trim strips, handles, hinges, feet, everything; is superb--i am careful as i engage to build out a section of mounted cabinets in a given space--but where i make a mistake, it's always about me, never about ikea--if one is careful and detail oriented as a DIY'er, or has a competent installer, IKEA is fine

Ikea relies on having good installers. The hardware is actually made by blum, considered to be a very good hardware company by those in the trade. We use the boxes a lot with custom doors in our projects. Millworkers hate them because they can never beat the price for the quality.

i glue the seams in the boxes with monster glue...takes seconds and that, combined with their compression hardware, makes em really solid..

It's important to use the right torque if you use a power screwdriver instead of the little wrench they give you.

Don't know about their kitchens but don't take anything for granted with their instructions.
A) They do occasionally have missing parts
and
B) Make certain that the non ambidextrous parts are attached or facing the right way from the getgo, because you almost never find out 'til the end.

Oh and I wouldn't buy anything at Home depot. Thought the now defunct Home Depot Expo had beautiful stuff.

i use an 18 volt cordless drill with the clutch set very light

much as i think ikea cabs and furniture are good deals, and i have no problem assembiling and installing, id rather be surfing

I've never been impressed by Ikea. It feels like K-mart quality "furniture" that you pay twice as much for because it's Swedish.

My neighbor put them in his condo. I thought they were indistinguishable from higher end cabs. Be sure to choose hi-end S/S appliances to "cover" for the lack of Italian cabinetry. Use the Ikea installer. They are still fine a year later...

how much are the ikea installers compared to regular vednors, compared to mexicans you can pick u at home depot?

when i first moved in (wayyy back straight from college), i hired an agency that sells mexicans to carry large stuff - pretty cheap about $22/hr... they were ALL ADEPT at putting IKEA furniture together due to its popularity and they put my bed / computer table / drawers all within 30 minutes...

cabinets i would guess are a little trickier since kithcen dimension varies, so as a noob with cabinets, isn't each job basically custom? i wouldn't trust myself to measure everything and pick up the right parts in ikea.. would the ikea installer come to your home prior to make sure parts are a-ok? could i hire the mexicans to do this if its still $22/hour (years ago)

"i hired an agency that sells mexicans"

hmm, I didn't know that the 13th Amendment was repealed.