Discuss Review Kitchen Plan on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. Review Kitchen Plan - Need help with planning your remodel? Want a kitchen planner to review your ideas? This is the happenin' spot!.
Hi everyone - I'm new to IKEA, but love their products and am redesigning our kitchen. I would love any input you can offer on my plan. I've attached the file below. Just a few notes:
1. We're planning a deep cabinet for above the fridge, but for some reason, the software won't let me put it up there. It wants to put it on the floor.
2. We chose 39" wall cabinets in the stove area in order to accommodate an over-the-range microwave that we want a little higher than it would be with normal 30" cabinets. Does this make sense? Or is it a bad idea?
3. We have cover panels around the fridge right now, but they're the standard ones for a high cabinet and not the 3'X8' ones recommended for a fridge. I'm not sure I want to put the effort into a "built in" look - I mostly just want to hide the back of the fridge. Is it pointless to use these cover panels for this? I thought these were the cabinets used with many of the IKEA show room kitchens.
4. I want to reverse our sink so that the drain board is over the dishwasher. Does anyone know if this is an issue? Will the drainboard get hot? or will the steam barrier protect it?
5. When it comes to butcher block counter tops, is there any real advantage of the thicker Numerar over the cheaper thinner Pronomem?
6. My husband and I have never done a project this big, or even close to it, when it comes to carpentry and installation. Is it realistic to think we can do it on our own?
Hi squirrel girl and welcome to IKEAFans! Glad you're here.
The planner is a bit persnickety. Check the stickied threads at the top of the Kitchen Planning forum for tips and tricks to outsmart it.
Interesting space you've got there! If you could answer some questions it would be most helpful. Is there any reason you didn't use any cabinets on the right hand wall, or a wall cabinet above the base unit to the left of the door? And is that little wall structural? Could the range be moved down that wall somewhat? Do you have a mission statement? Are you in a house, condo, etc? Do you need more storage space or more counterspace if you had to choose?
For your specific questions re the countertop and the sink, I will defer to those who have installed them and used them to answer.
The thing about the deeper cover panels is that most fridges, unless they are true counterdepth fridges, are about 30" deep. If you use the standard 24" deep coverpanels, you are left with a bit of the fridge sticking out. People who want a regular fridge to look built in will build a frame out from the wall for the deep overfridge cabinet to mount to, and then cover the entire space with the wider cover panels. If you don't necessarily want that type of look, there's no reason to go to the trouble of making it look built in.
In terms of whether you can handle this type of job or not, a lot depends on your abilities and knowledge, and somewhat on your experience. Installing an IKEA kitchen is way simpler than installing a standard cabinetry kitchen, but it is harder than just building IKEA furniture. If you're not very handy, you might find it a bit daunting. I'd recommend finding a competent handyman to help out if that's the case. No real need for a kitchen or general contractor, though...a skilled handyman could do the job without too much difficulty. Just make sure they follow the instructions and install the IKEA way, not the "regular" way.
To answer some of your questions - this is a house... but one with an odd tiny kitchen. We have plenty of storage. Looking for more counter space.
I've ended the cabinets on the right hand wall where the wall actually ends. after that it opens up into our dining room. We actually have an island in that area where you don't see any fixtures. So yes, we can move the stove, but only to where that last cabinet on the right is.
And yes, unfortunately the little wall is structural. We currently have the fridge on the other side of the little wall and we're moving it to the other side to make that area more part of the kitchen and to give the person working at the stove more space.
The reason I didn't put a wall cabinet above that base cabinet on the left is that we were thinking that we'd use shelves there... make it sort of a coffee area with shelves for containers, spoons, cups... etc. We also thought that might make for a less awkward transition from the 30" cabinets to the 39" cabinets in the rest of the kitchen.
And thank you for the cover panel advice. I'm thinking we may just not bother with trying to make it look built in.
It looks pretty good considering the space you have. Where the stove goes - a bit to the right or a bit to the left - would depend on what side you like to work. I like to work on the left side of the stove and chop and add with my right hand. I would want the 12" and 24" cabinet switched in my case. But it is a personal preference thing. That would give more space to work in the corner.
Here are some screen shots with the cabinets fixed.
Those are great ideas. And you're right, I should explore moving my stove down a bit. I think that would be great.
And thanks for the updated file. Oddly enough, I can't find an option to include a microwave in my design and when I opened your file, your microwave disappeared.
The newer version of the planner and the old version are not compatible. Maybe you don't have the newer version even though it has been out for a long time?
Also, the 24" wall cabinet you have above the dishwasher has one door. That wide upper door tends to hit people in the head when they open it. You might find the 2 twelve inch doors better.
Thanks for the door advice. I'll definitely change that.
And yes, I have the newest version of the planner. When I saw the microwave in the posted plans, I reinstalled the planner to make sure I had the newest one, and sure enough, no microwave. It disappeared.
The only microwave options I have under appliances are cabinets for microwaves - not the appliance itself.
That is so weird. My version of the planner has the microwave as an option for certain cabinets like the options for a sink in a sink cabinet. Weird weird weird. But hey, that is the Ikea planner. Not a very good piece of software.
I'm trying to run it with Vista and I constantly get the black screen thing happening. Very frustrating.
We are the premier IKEA Kitchen Installer in Massachusetts. Our company offers complete in-house design service followed by an impeccable installation.
Custom. IKEA. Doors. The idea for Semihandmade came from a desire to offer the same craftsmanship we produce in our Los Angeles-based Handmade studio to a wider audience, at a lower price.
Our House ‘takes the pain’ out of the design and installation process by providing hassle-free service every step of the way. Serving CT and the greater NYC area.
