Oh Em Gee!! IKEA is maddening!! The bathroom has been so much fun, but designing this kitchen is nooooot as lovely of an experience. First of all, why in the world are IKEA cabinets $2200?! IKEA. Cabinets. Not including  the counter and appliances. Just. The. Cabinets. 🤯. It makes no sense to me!!
When I first arrived at IKEA, I was actually pleasantly surprised by how happy it made me. The tiny room displays were so inviting and pretty, I felt assured that both the cottage and main house would be gorgeous despite their compact statures. There was a really pretty living room, a bathroom I may copy for the 3/4 bath in the main house, and even a couple nice looking kitchens. At first I was intrigued and excited to begin the kitchen planning.
I was assigned to a man named Paul who did explain he was fairly new at kitchen design. FYI, by the way, you can’t just show up and design a kitchen with a designer. Appointments have to be made well in advance  ( this IKEA was backed up by three weeks). Paul admitted the cottage kitchen was a challenge due to its lack of space in conjunction with its shape. I considered pushing out the back wall to create enough space to build a galley kitchen, but expanding the exterior would put me over budget and eat into the budget for the main house.
👆🏼In case anyone is interested in learning the different kitchen shapes, this is a great explanation.
Let me tell you, kitchen cabinets are actually hideous. And piecing them together is like playing Tetris except somehow not at all fun. If my budget was unlimited, I’m certain it would have been a better experience. It just seems like things are more expensive only because they are made for a kitchen. Maybe I should put bathroom cabinets in the kitchen. “Oh yes, these are DEFINITELY for a bath room. Only $50?! Great! Haha I fooled you, they’re going on my kitchen!!”
The issue with IKEA  cabinets (other than price) is the doors are not inset. On the one hand, this is what creates the sleek modern look ikea is known for. On the other hand, the door style requires there be space for the door to hinge open. Space being the key word. Space being something that is majorly lacking in the cottage kitchen. It was like trying to squeeze Cinderella’s mean step sister’s gigantic foot into the tiny glass slipper.
Once I realized three hours had passed, we still hadn’t figured out how to deal with the dead space to the left of the sink (a corner cabinet with lazy Susan won’t fit in my kitchen), and the moderately decent solution for too much money was actually less than moderately decent, I ran off. Poor Rudi needed to be free! I texted with Mike who assured me we’d find better cabinets for a significantly lower cost, as well as nice countertop that is reasonably priced (the quartz at ikea has a 25sf minimum and starts at….are you sitting?….$1500!! )
It was a successful day but I’m exhausted.  I learned about how ikea works and I’m not sure custom cabinets would cost more. If so, then ikea could be a solution for the main house (not the counter top though!!) and/or for someone who wants a sleek modern look and can’t afford going custom but can afford ikea. The Home Depot cabinets are not pretty, but for a rental likely fine and worth the price. I feel like money is better spent on getting durable appliances and reasonably priced hard to ruin countertop.
I’ll keep y’all  posted.
Toodles!
Xoxo
QJ
Quintessential Jill: Life discoveries of a happy go lucky Californian. 