Ikea kitchens are designed for the European market. In that market houses and apartments DO NOT come with kitchens, you have to buy your own. Ikea cabinets are MDF (fiberboard) and they are not designed for long-term use. I would strongly suggest you look at the local "big box" stores for real wood cabinets.

We put in an IKEA kitchen in our new-build house in 2014. Initially, we found it frustrating to try to build an order list because there are so many bits & pieces we were sure we'd miss something. Like you, we don't live in an IKEA city so we didn't have face to face access to their designers. So, we went to a local company that specializes in IKEA installations (IKAN in Victoria BC). They helped us finalize the design and made some innovative suggestions, such as using upper cabinets to make a peninsula. We placed our order during IKEA's Kitchen Event and saved enough money to do our bathroom cabinetry 'for free'. IKAN did the installation. Over a year later, we are happy with our kitchen. The drawers and inserts are well made and stand up to constant use. It's easy to clean. And looks good. I would do it again, but I do recommend you use a company that specializes in IKEA installations to help you avoid frustration.

I loved our ikea kitchen in our last house. I'd use them again. We didn't have them delivered, so I can't speak on that. They rounded up everything, but we checked it off box by box while we were loading and nothing was missing. Not sure what additional charges there would be unless you add different dividers. I'd recommend them to anyone.

And we installed ourselves. I'd save your money on install if you are capable of the task.

PS Our installer, IKAN, advised against using IKEA countertops. They felt they were of inferior quality. So we used a local company that specialized in countertops of recycled glass.

Last March, we started our first ever renovation after 2 years of researching kitchen cabinets and planning. We weren't particularly handy (yet) but our budget and kitchen dreams forced us to be. Cooking and entertaining are our favorite hobbies. We chose IKEA cabinets for a variety of reasons: ability to assemble and install ourselves, JD Power highest ranked kitchen cabinets for two years running, style/color, and durability. When we purchased, IKEA had just come out with their improved designs. We also looked at the big box stores but all collections felt cheaply made. We were able to completely customize our IKEA kitchen with drawers/shelves/trays, etc for much cheaper than what we could have at a big box store. Plus, the hardware is so heavy duty. We live 2 hours from the nearest IKEA so we needed to plan well and rent a uhaul trailer to transport all our cabinets. It took up one stall of our garage. We couldn't be happier with the end result. I'd buy IKEA cabinets again in a heart beat. We chose the white shaker style. Best advice for diy cabinet install...get a self leveling long range laser level and a 72" hand level.

Thanks everyone who advised, found earlier IKEA threads that discuss the Thermofoil peeling off some cabinets. Decided ikea not for me, I'll be going with with wood.

doing Ikea soon. my friends are using Ikea for 8 years, it is still looking good.

I have done Ikea kkitchens for over 20 yrs I have clients who still have their kitchen I installed 21 yrs ago it still looks good I have had Ikea in my houses the one we sold is now 15 yrs old and the new owner says she gets compliments all the time on how awesome it is and our s now is 9 yrs old looks and functions like new.