I haven't a clue if this company is really any good. I came across this because I too am looking for assistance in designing an IKEA kitchen.

https://inspiredkitchendesign.com/ (Sorry I initially forgot to include the link.)

Do you prefer not to use ikea’s own kitchen designers?

Patricia Colwell Consulting, a frequent contributor in the Houzz forums, designs IKEA kitchens professionally and does beautiful work. https://www.houzz.com/pro/dada139/patricia-colwell-consulting

Thank you all! @kristen I met with an Ikea kitchen rep for an in store appointment but didn’t care for what they suggested. It was very generic and I felt that they just wanted to get as many cabinets on the wall as possible even if it didn’t work from a functionality standpoint.

Or...try posting your layout here and let those who work on layouts work on it for you.

Post a fully-measured layout of the space and a sketch of the entire floor along with your goals for your Kitchen, how you plan to use it, your family composition, etc.

Fully-measured means the widths of each window/wall/door/doorway and the distances between each window/wall/door/doorway. Include trim in window/door/doorway measurements. If something cannot be moved, locate it precisely on the layout (see the sample below to see how to locate it).

The sketch is so we can see the Kitchen relates to the rest of the home and how traffic flows in, around, and through the Kitchen. While it doesn't have to be to-scale, it should show the relationships of all the rooms to each other, including doors/doorways.

All this and more is described/discussed in the Layout Help FAQ:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5500789/faq-how-do-i-ask-for-layout-help-what-information-should-i-include

Sample layout:

I used IKD ( @inspiredkitchendesign) I was very happy with the results. They primarily work with Ikea kitchens although they are not affiliated with them.

linda--

Could you please go into a bit of depth about your experience with IKD? I'd really appreciate it,as I am sure would others.

You can read about several negative experiences with IKD as well, if the all but useless search here complies. Their recourse was to just refund the (insanely red flag cheap) $400 fee and not take any responsibility for the issues that were created.

Frankly, if you want a more creative and versatile design, and you yourself can’t use the Planner to create what you want, you need to look beyond IKEA. IKEA has very limited sizes and options compared to any basic semi custom cabinet line. Even other stock cabinet lines have a huge number of options when paired with something like Revashelf. Accept IKEA for what it is, not what it isn’t.

But anything on a budget is not an expectation to bring to the table if you have to hire others to work within the framework of IKEA. IKEA is built for DIYers. The costs start to add up way too much when you move out of that realm. You’re better served by other brand options, outside the IKEA multiverse then.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5647040/white-shaker-battle-ikea-vs-the-rest-of-the-cabinet-world

I have to step in on Ikeas designers they do exactly what every other kitchen cabinets saleperson does. They work from a program and that is all they do. I have been designing Ikea kitchens for 20+ years I have actually a couple of times tried the planner it made be nuts so I just use graph paper my easel and a nice sharp pencil. I do the 2D floor plan then draw a 2D how each wall will look for my clients. If I really have to I do a 3D I am not good at them and have only a couple times been required to do so. I have used those cabinets for many jobs that look custom with a bit or imagination. They use filler strips just like any other semi custom maker and to be honest I really don’t know what semi custom means since the only thing I find is that you can order doors in different finishes the boxes are still only in certain increments which to me is not anything custom beyond what Ikea does.. just maybe not as many door choices. If you want to have a specific door then probably better to go where there are more choices. I do mostly contemporary design so Ikea suits that perfectly. I have had clients with Ikea for at least 20 yrs one family has 5 kids that grew up in that kitchen and it still looks awesome except they changed the counters about 5 yrs ago. Many of my clients just figure they can spend the money they save for something else.

Semi custom allows many changes in the basic boxes. Some allow extended stiles, or wide stiles. many will cut chases for plumbing or wires. Many will build in the decorative door side into the box, so that you don’t waste 3/4” on an applied door or cover panel. Many allow changes in the size of the box in 1/4” increments. They allow increase or decrease in cabinet depths, widths, and a few in height. The number of doors and finishes is huge. Many semi custom have custom factory tough colors available. You want any Ben Moore color? You got it. Semi custom is almost as versatile as full custom these days, and has been for quite some time. That ability to factory customize isn’t new to the market at all. It’s been available for 30+ years at least.

Ikea is a 1 on the scale of ability to customize. Something like Plain and Fancy is a 10. Most semi custom lines will fall in the 6-9 range for ability to customize their offerings.

There are thousands of other available options in both stock and and semi custom that improve the efficiency of how a kitchen is used. Even very basic stock cabinet lines like Aristokraft or Woodstar have the choice of 12” or 15” deep wall cabinets. They have 9”, 12”, 15”, 18”, 21”, 24”, 27”, 30”, 33”, 36”, 39”, 42”, 45”, & 48” widths in cabinets. They have 12” high cabinets, which is a sore spot with IKEA and kitchens using 30” high cabinets. A 15” cabinet over the fridge is just too tall for a 84” top alignment.

So now, you can’t claim ignorance about what semi custom is, and what it can do compared to what what ikea can’t do.

Yes you have to know what you are getting with Ikea vs any semi-custom line. I happen to like the look of Ikea as our kitchen is Contemporary. Every cabinet company we looked at was outside of our budget. Ikea came within our budget even with having a person do the install.

We worked with the sizes available and I'm happy with everything. Could it have been perfected more. Absolutely! But not without going over budget,

IKD worked with me to figure out what I needed and where to best utilize my kitchen items.

I tried to use the Ikea planner and I went bonkers. I did use the Ikea salesperson before I hired IKD. I felt like I was rushed and talked into things that weren't working for me with the Ikea planner.

I paid $250 for the IKD services. Could I have done my kitchen just using Ikea planners ? Yes.

Live_wire_Oak Have you had an Ikea Kitchen?

I’ve done several IKEA kitchens. It’s in my laundry room right now. But I’m under no illusions that it can pull the sword from the stone and knows a word that rhymes with orange.

We were planning to use IKEA in our remodel/addition and I'm still considering them for our new build (our house was destroyed by wind and rain so we are having to build from scratch). The software has been bonkers lately with the current kitchen sale going on since Bodbyn doors are 30% off.

I gained more confidence in using IKEA by watching Kody Harvey on YouTube. Yes, there are limitations but I dare say that IKEA can work in at least 75% of kitchens and are very affordable compared to other brands and custom cabinets.

Your best bet is to post your 2D floor with accurate measurements. Most of us know what IKEA's cabinet options are so you should be able to get a pretty accurate plan.

I worked with IKD for our kitchen 3 years ago and it was a good experience. However, I did a LOT of homework beforehand and got a lot of help here as I pondered the options. I liked that IKD provided much more detailed plans that my contractor could follow/reference (we were moving doorways) and found them to be very responsive to questions from the contractor about some IKEA particulars. The person who worked on my project was very knowledgeable about IKEA kitchens and made sure I ordered everything I needed. I think I went thru 3 revisions, but I started with my own plan vs. a blank slate.