BRUTALLY HONEST IKEA KITCHEN REVIEW | CABINETS & SEKTION SYSTEM

We've had our IKEA kitchen cabinets for about two years now, so we have a thing or two to say about their durability. Make sure to check out the blog post below for an outline of most of the points in this video.
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Instagram: @oak_abode
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Disclaimer: We're not professionals or experts on this topic, so all we can do is share our own personal experience in hopes that it helps you in your journey! We always recommend consulting with the pros directly. This post contains affiliate links which may lead to a commission if purchased. This comes at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

[bigjulie]

Excellent review. May I suggest you drop the music because it is competitive and distracting. Silence is golden.

[SummitBidTech]

I recommend using the online kitchen design tool and ordering directly from the tool as items are needed. I’ve heard it’s when people order everything at once that there are nightmare delivery issues.
I was able to design the whole cabinet layout, all the drawers and shelves, side panels fronts, etc, which was an amazing experience.
I then ordered a few cabinets at a time directly from the design tool and installed them a few at a time so as to reduce clutter and minimize order confusion issues.
Once the base cabinets were in I ordered the drawers and fronts and doors again to reduce order mixup. Once the base cabinets were in I ordered the upper cabinets with shelves but without doors and installed them while my granite countertops were being fabricated. I used plywood countertops while waiting.
I never had any order mixups or delivery issues and by ordering in stages, I was able to pay out of pocket as I went.
I should mention that there’s an ikea very near me, but I ordered everything online and then usually picked up the order the next day and there was never a missing item.
Building my kitchen was an Absolutely amazing experience and the finished product totally rocks.

[court]

I have had those same cabinets for 8 years, and largely agree with your statements. I picked them up myself though. If you don't like IKEA doors, just have a cabinet shop make them however you like.

As far as quality, over the years I have had a few issues with the doors. They are made of MDF. I have a couple of drawer fronts that have swelled just enough to split the paint at the corners. For no apparent reason, as the humidity where I live is not high. Its a warranty issue they should cover if I take them in. There are a couple of others that my children have let water drip down the face, and wiped it up, but left water on top of the door. It fairly quickly peels the paint off and swells the door.
That said, this kitchen was half the cost of equivalent cabinets and I have no regrets going with them.
The hardware is made by Blum and is excellent. The dampers are reasonably priced. The bases are as good as any other chip board bases. The leg adjusters are convenient for leveling things in an uneven older home. The rail mounting system works well.

A couple of recommendations. Make sure to square up the cabinets when mounting the back panel.
Seal the bottom corners with caulk in all cabinets. Particularly the sink cabinet. It is only a matter of time before water gets in it. If the edge is not sealed it wicks into the gap and then swells the board. The front edge will also do the same but not as fast.

[BeowulfIsMinNama]

White interior is a pro! Reflects more light making it easier to see what's in the cabinet. I suggested to a friend that was repainting her cabinets & doors, that she go ahead and paint the interiors white while she had the doors off. She was thinking of adding lights to the interior of the cabinet. And even though she cursed the whole time she was painting, she is grateful that she did it. Paint is cheaper that electrical lights!

[lisaemery]

We have had our cabinets about nine years. Still in love with them. Still no scratches or breakage of any kind. So easy to clean. I would not have ever thought of any of your cons. They never crossed my mind. We picked up our own in our minivan. Took a few trips. For best customer service show up on Monday morning or another weekday morning when it is very slow.

[patrickgage]

We had an Ikea Kitchen installed about two years ago. Brilliant! We shopped around -Wickes, B&Q, Wren, Magnet, etc. having seen a friend's kitchen we went to Ikea. We used their kitchen planning service - outstanding! - they do not try to sell you anything but they do try to provide you with what you want. No ridiculous discounts, just straight prices, and they are reasonable. We found their counter tops to be fifty mil instead of seventy five mil, cheaper and does the job. Their cabinets are lower to the floor, providing more storage space, and the trim underneath is thus cheaper, 90 mil instead of 150 mil. We went with meter high wall cabinets instead of the usual 80 centimeters, again more storage space. Slim cutlery drawers add extra space as well. Their 150 wide cabinets fill in awkward spaces and provide additional useful storage. Their kitchen fitter was outstanding, calling me one morning to say he would be ten minutes late due to traffic and staying more than one evening until 10:30 to complete a specific task. The video shows exstensive wall tiling, we went with a solid white panelling - much easier to clean. And of course all of the doors and drawers are soft close.
Now here is a point they don't tell you about. Everything arrives flat packed and not all of the bits and pieces are necessary. Collect them together in their original packaging and return them to Ikea for a refund. We got £61.00 back! Now who else will do that for you? If you shop online for kitchen fixtures you will find the basic cabinets are similarly priced no matter the supplier. Where they get you and the cost goes up is the additional bits and pieces - the handles, the hinges, the corniche across the top, trim under the cabinets, etc..
Would I recommend Ikea? Like a shot! .

[darinnetherland]

Another huge positive to me was their online kitchen designer. It has some quirks to learn, but overall VERY easy yo use to design your kitchen all by yourself. The software is also very smart in preventing you from making incompatible choices and tips on when something may not work, like a cabinet too close to a wall that would prevent the door opening all the way. It’s a great tool for designing your kitchen and seeing it in 3D before buying. You can even add stand-ins for existing appliances. Just make sure you measure your space very accurately.

[andrewgalbraith]

Offering another perspective on the customer service and delivery: We had super helpful folks for customer service, the kitchen staff at the store were fantastic to deal with and helped us grab a few items that we had missing on our build. The delivery was also really good. We live over 2 hours from the store and the folks who delivered were super nice and efficient.

[pattoja]

I’m in Miami and we got our Ikea cabinets back in 2014, when they weren’t named Sektion. I unpacked and assembled all the cabinets by myself and installed them with my husband. I love them and haven’t have any problem with them. I have granite over them and no problem at all. I didn’t have any problem with delivery or customer service. I definitely recommed them and will get them for our next home (2022 overseas).

[chrisbaier]

I did my IKEA kitchen about 10 years ago. It's holding up great. (It was the previous Kitchen system IKEA had--i think they updated some of the drawer hardware--hinges, drawer slides with the new system, but I think the basic construction is the same. I had to make some custom modifications (I made some upper cabinets deeper than the standard 12", cut some lower cabinets to be not as deep for one area of my kitchen, etc. I'm a hard-core DIYer). People talk about paying $10k more to get quality custom cabinets that will last for decades, but more than likely, styles and tastes will change so you will want to swap out the cabinet doors at some point, or reconfigure your kitchen a bit (and I didn't have 15k for cabinets).


I also put some wood glue in the dowel/peg holes during assembly to guarantee a better hold.

[theresamunro]

Great review, we are currently installing an IKEA kitchen and we must have gotten incredibly lucky, as our order was EXACT! Our remodel was huge, it is a BIG kitchen with a ton of cabinets. Our delivery service was spot on, and we only made one trip back for a mistake I made while designing on one drawer. I can say the whole process with purchasing, ordering and delivery was practically seamless. We are in Canada and have heard different things from different people, but our experience, so far, has been fantastic. I am really happy to hear after two years they are still holding up. (and that soft close is something isn't it! lol)

[sallyannc]

Here in the UK Ikea now offer a paintable cabinet door. We had an Ikea kitchen put into our daughter's flat about 5 years ago (black wood cabinets and grey slab cabinet fronts) still looks really good - we got one of their reccomended installers and they did a great job. I'm just in the process of getting an Ikea kitchen put into our new home and here they have a really good range of door fronts and work-tops - can't wait!

[beege]

Thank you! I have been looking at Ikea cabinets for a while and your review made my choice easier. None of the "cons" would bother me and the "pros" are everything that is important to me. Great review.

[KaraDK]

I’ve watched A LOT of videos on IKEA kitchens and so far you are the best at explaining what you did and how and they way you speak is also easy to follow. Your design is great! Keep up the great work!!!

[waiyan]

I have just finished my kitchen with Ikea cabinets, I have no complaint about their delivery service!

[nanoj]

Such a great video!
In my experience one trip was enough because I booked the Ikea kitchen planner (you get the costs for that refunded as a voucher if you buy the kitchen) and had them deliver (delivery was 300 Euros so not a lot). This saved me from having to go to the store multiple times.

[bstrong]

I am literally sitting here designing my kitchen on the 3d planner as I type. Your timing is impeccable!

[mammalion]

VERY, VERY HELPFUL, THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! I had seen a friend's Ikea cataog and tried a few times to get Ikea to send me a catalog and never recieved one. I felt Ikea had good quality cabinets and enough design choices, however knowing about their sevice, or rather the lack there of, is a COMPLETE DEAL BREAKER! Thank You for that honesty, I will be constructing my cabinets myself, which I was leaning towards anyway as I generally, in most things, tend towards doing it myself and in my own style anyhow. Also, knowing that all the drawers come standard as soft close was a Second Deal Breaker, I CANNOT STAND SOFT CLOSE ANYTHING, when I want to close something I'll close it, I don't need or want any hardware doing it for me.

[ianc]

Great video. I’ve been designing our new kitchen for ages on the website. It’s a great tool.
We must be lucky with our delivery service because I went in to our local store (Belfast) and ordered a load of the Pax wardrobes. They arrived two days later with no problems at all.
Hopefully, when we order the kitchen it will be similar.
Top tip from an ikea employee was to arrive at the store when it very first opens to order your stuff. They re stock over night so generally will have what you want at that time. He told us not to order online as the items don’t come from the local store but from a central location and can take weeks, sometimes months to arrive.

[tanifeliz]

Yes plz do an instructional video!! Thanks for this video it’s helping me decide 🤔🤔