1 year IKEA kitchen review | Costs, regrets, storage & organization

In Germany, it is common for rental tenants to build their own kitchens. Alternatively, they can choose to buy it from the previous tenant, which was what we did in our first apartment.

This culture might have been an unintentional result of pro-tenant laws. If there is a fitted kitchen, landlords are responsible for fixing anything that goes wrong. This can become very expensive for the landlord, so most choose not to provide any fixtures. The "kitchen room" is provided, with the right pipes and electrical lines, but the cabinets, appliances etc are not. Usually it also comes with a tiled backsplash that the tenant is not allowed to drill into, but in our case the walls were completely bare.

It is also worthy to note that in most German states, more than 50% of the population rents and would rent for their whole lives. Unlike the UK and US, people in Germany usually rent for a long term (our contracts usually have a minimum term of 3 to 5 years) so this ability to customize the whole apartment, including the kitchen, is actually welcomed by the tenants.

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IG: @ccloudyhills

This video is not sponsored.

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L I N K S

Our kitchen* :

6:39 oak veneer shelves
(buy them in hagebaumarkt stores)

6:54 stocolor backsplash paint

7:17 plate organizer*

7:26 magnetic timer*

7:31 bamboo knife block*

7:49 extendable dish rack*

7:53 removable command hooks*

Links marked with * are affiliated links.

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T I M E S T A M P S

0:00 Preview
0:17 Why an Ikea kitchen?
0:46 Installation & costs
1:41 Laminate finishings
2:27 Storage & organization
4:08 Appliances
6:29 Regrets on not having uppers?
6:50 How's the painted backsplash?
7:14 Favourite non-Ikea kitchen items

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F A Q

Camera + Lens*

Wide angle lens*

Microphone*

Tripod (camera)*

Tripod (phone)*

Editing software - Adobe Premiere Pro CC

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M U S I C 🎶

I use various platforms including:

[cloudyhills]

Just realised I forgot the oven 🥸

KULINARISK, 3/5 stars
We bought the version with a steaming function instead of pyrolytic cleaning, and that's my biggest regret. Somehow I find it really inconvenient steaming with an oven, it gets so foggy that you can't see when your food is done without opening the oven, which lets all the steam out...

Otherwise, I love cooking with the convection mode, the food always turns out really delicious. But a tiny complain I have is that the default setting is on a fan mode, which I never use (I find fan cooking makes the food turn out more dry) so I always have to press extra buttons before I get to convection mode. The timer is also really annoying to control on the touch screen and difficult to explain in words.

Overall, if I could choose again, I'd go with an oven with pyrolytic cleaning and without a touchscreen!

[lindaroyal]

I appreciate you sharing your opinion after using the kitchen for a year. It's nice to get an honest opinion. And...I have been looking for an expandable dish rack, mine has seen better days. I have looked on different site trying to find one, I believe the one you have is pretty much the same as the one I purchased years ago. I got mine from a store in the US - Bed, Bath & Beyond, no out of business. TY

[BianaBova]

As someone who used to have an ikea kitchen, I feel your pain about the appliances: 1) Our dishwasher also didn't clean very well, and was quite slow. 2) The freezer drawer of our fridge had these built-in dividers that made it impossible to store large items, like pizza boxes 3) the range hood did next to nothing 4) the microwave was WAY too over engineered, to the point where we had to teach all of our guests how to use it. And worst of all 5) The stove was TERRIBLE. It took forever to heat up (cooking eggs took like 20 mins) and the heat controls were super slow to respond, making cooking significantly more frustrating and harder to do well. The apartments we had before and after that place had super old and rudimentary appliances by comparison, but it shocked me how much better they were in function and design.

[katbar]

The Kitchen does look lovely and I agree the lack of upper cabinets does leave the kitchen light and airy. It was very good value but it is a shame about the quality of the appliances. I'm sure Ikea could do better with those. As for the dishwasher cutlery shelf... I have a dishwasher that was double the cost of the most expensive Ikea one (I used AUD and Aussie suppliers to check) and I have the same shelf and the same problem with the knives.

[allakuminskaja]

omg we had the same problem with another brand of the dishwasher, then I started to regularly clean the filter, and it helped so much ! so now, every time the dishes start to come out with some residual things, I know that it's time to clean the filter

[prettyvacant]

Thank you so much for this video Hillary! I will be building a house from scratch for the first time ever next spring and I will certainly be coming back to this for ideas and tips once we get to the kitchen finishings.

[ushakrish_]

Love hearing about your 1-year experience with the IKEA kitchen. The details on costs, storage, and organization are super helpful. Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts. 👍🏼🔧🍴💖👍

[BikerBabeNiloy]

The stone worktop supplier went broke :) thats why IKEA had to stop selling those types of worktops for a while. I really love to see your personal style with these videos! Keep up the good work :D

[carinaurban]

I have a 6 year old ikea kitchen (including the fridge) and i love everything about it! only thing i can comprehend is the touch screen of the stove hahaha. thank god i got an oven with pyrolitic cleaning, couldn't imagine living without it anymore. greetings from munich :)

[dragonirl]

To cover the corners of the island, you could use L-shaped wall protectors, painted a similar color to the wood. It would blend in better than just exposed edges.

[AR-uztf]

Your kitchen is lovely! All of the storage is amazing, I couldn’t imagine having that much storage space. I wish I could design my own kitchen around my needs and wants while I’m renting! I wish your vids were longer but I love them all!

[awsomesaucepan]

Thank you so much for this video! I love the idea of not having upper cabinets and having mostly drawers. And you pointed out all the names and brands plus the material used as well, in which I really appreciate as a first-time houseowner.

Many thanks!

[rulu]

It is beautiful! I enjoy how well-organized you are. I contemplated buying a panel-ready Ikea dishwasher recently, but opted for a Bosch one instead, after watching your review of the Ikea one, I'm glad I chose how I did, and I'm sorry you are not happy with yours, my last dishwasher was terrible, it was frustrating...

[audrieallysongabales]

I always watch your videos when I need to reset or rest my mind. Stunning kitchen as always 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[Anniefawesome]

I have a german coworker and she told me the kitchens arent included there which is so weird and yet so cool.

[dusty]

That range hood is very cute and the painted backsplash looks great.

[habitationathighaltitude]

A beautiful kitchen! I have the same range hood (in black) and I hear you on the toggle switches! Something about using it just... sparks joy! 😄 I went for a non-Ikea stove and the small Medelstor dishwasher, which works okay so far. Good call having Ikea install the main part of the kitchen for you; I made my dad do it and while he did a great job, it took him several days and there was a lot of swearing involved. 😅 (Saved a lot of money, though) Good call on having lots of drawers, too. It's more expensive, but well worth it for making a kitchen so much more comfortable to use, imho.

[MyNino]

My IKEA kitchen is30 years old and still going strong!

[eattherich]

I like the clean, modern lines of the cabinetry - no fake "Shaker" for these homeowners. I prefer uppers, but most of my kitchens have been small.

[TalithaL]

Thank you! This was a very helpful video. Your kitchen looks lovely, especially because of how you style and decorate it.