30 September 2008

Ikea can wait

I had a conversation with one of my potential kitchen clients this week and she asked me why she shouldn't just go buy a set of kitchen cabinetry from Ikea for $5000 rather than what I was proposing for more than five times that amount. "What's the difference" she wanted to know. What's the difference indeed.

Good cabinetry is expensive, I'm not going to kid anybody. But cheap cabinetry is expensive too. It's expensive in that it needs to be replaced more often than the good stuff. A well-designed set of good kitchen cabinets should last you a life time. A set from Ikea will last you five years.

If you have a rental or a vacation home, cheap stuff's great. If we're talking about your primary home, be careful before you run down to the big blue and yellow box. The next time you're looking at a kitchen cabinetry display, open the drawers. Swing the doors, kick the tires. Talk to someone who understands what makes good cabinetry good and have him or her explain the difference to you. Keep in mind that everybody has an opinion and learn to tell the difference between a sales pitch and a genuine exchange of information.

Sometimes, all you can afford is the cheap stuff and that's OK. Buy the cheap stuff and make it look as great as you can. Just don't kid yourself.


Here's me standing in an Ikea kitchen in Italy. I'm happy not because of the cheesy cabinetry that's surrounding me. Rather I'm in a fantastic mood because of what I can see through that window.



Here's the view that had me grinning. Listen, if when you look out your kitchen window you can see the Sorrentine Peninsula as it drops into the Bay of Naples like this, ignore everything I just wrote about buying good stuff. You life doesn't need to be enhanced any further than it already is. But if you're like most people, read something other than price tags before you make a major purchase.

6 comments:

  1. :o) Thanks for the grin!

    --KitchAnn

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  2. "A set from Ikea will last you five years."

    Where did you get this inaccurate information? Have you had an Ikea kitchen for five years? How long had that Ikea kitchen in Italy been in that rental?

    This one's too close to home, Paul! Crafting a response on my blog, stay tuned...

    http://www.eco-modernism.com/blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Mind if I run your response here?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dude, why are running false info. Pogenpohl kitchens cost 15 time as much as IKEA cabs, they are a little nicer, saying that they are also mdf with veneer. Ikea cabs will last 5 years, what??? I have had mine for 4 and not one issue, not one!!! not one nick and I have 3 toddlers and a very careless wife. The hardware is all Blum, and they have features that cabs costing 5-20 times the amount have. I am a contractor that has installed at least 5 different brands of cabs, and I will have to say that IKEA cabs impressed me the most.

    Don't be scared though there are enough fools out there that will garble up you crap and buy your overpriced inferior cabs.

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  5. OK guy, you win. My entire career is a lie and IKEA cabinets are the best on the market. Happy now?

    ReplyDelete

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