It didn’t feel like home until the open-concept IKEA kitchen was completed.
For those who love to cook, bake and entertain, the galley kitchen is a nightmare. This is how IKD customer Phyllis felt when she found the right home at the right price, with the wrong kitchen. The small kitchen has all the facilities you need but lacks warmth and welcome.
For this Connecticut homeowner, the decision to tear down the galley and create an open-concept kitchen was an easy one.
We spoke with Phyllis’ daughter Christine about the project. She explained that cooking is her mother’s passion and is very particular about her utensils and cooking methods. For Phyllis to really love her new home, she needed a large, open-concept kitchen that wasn’t separated from her living area.
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This mother-daughter duo was preparing to undergo a major renovation of their IKEA kitchen.
This was a necessity, so Christine and Phyllis didn’t start with a budget. They just wanted the best possible deal.
“We didn’t have the budget per se, but we priced the cabinets as custom, semi-custom, and the IKEA/SHM route….We chose the last model because it gave us the most flexibility and style for the price. Because you can.” – Christine, IKD Customer
To make room for the extra space, Phyllis and Christine hired a contractor to remove the bedroom and bathroom and reconfigure the layout to include a new kitchen, laundry room, and pantry.
Phyllis fell in love with the semi-handmade, shaker-style door before learning about IKD on the supplier’s website. At Semihandmade, she recommends multiple designers, but Christine explains why she and her mother chose her Inspired Kitchen Design over others:
“Communication was key. Mike was very responsive and easy to work with. I also liked that they were very experienced with IKEA.
After an initial discussion with Mike, the design fell into the talented hands of Daniel.
IKEA offers the best value for your kitchen remodel.
Christine has taken over the role of project manager. Her kitchen was small and simple, so she didn’t need to hire a designer to serve her. But her mother’s kitchen was a more complicated task.
Like most customers, she consulted an online planner first. Her opinion on it is brief.
“I tried working with the online IKEA planner, but the results were terrible.”
On the other hand, it was easy to work with Daniel. He understood the importance of this kitchen and how much it meant to Phyllis. Daniel perfected some more unique design elements, such as a custom built-in hatch that allows Phyllis to reveal fine china and drawers in place of the base his cabinets.
Even with those special touches and custom semi-handcrafted doors, Christine knows it’s a better deal than using a custom cabinet installer.
“They would have come and worked it all out like magic, but it would have cost twice as much.” – Kristin, IKD Customer
Exactly how much did the materials for this IKEA kitchen design cost?
Christine and Phyllis chose to use the drawers of the SEKTION cabinet box rather than cabinet doors and shelves. The reason for this is that drawers are more functional and aesthetically pleasing. These factors are equally important to Phyllis, as is her ability to age in place. Using drawers not only saves Phyllis time by eliminating the need to crawl over the floor and dig into cabinets, but it also reduces wear on her knees.
In total, this kitchen design utilizes 15 MAXIMERA drawers, 3 pull-out SEKTION cabinets and 3 traditional SEKTION cabinets. Custom designed by Florence, his hutch includes four glass-fronted cabinets with two drawers underneath.
The island kitchen drawers and doorfronts are desert gray semi-handmade shakers, while the rest of the kitchen features white semi-handmade shaker drawers and doorfronts. The countertops are IKEA marble-look white quartz.
To keep the look even cleaner, Phyllis and Christine opted for an all-in-one refrigerator.
The total cost of IKEA products for this project was $4,189.
IKEA supplies were difficult to come by during the pandemic, but the installation went smoothly
Phyllis and Christine hired a local IKEA contractor who is familiar with the nuances of IKEA kitchen installations. Installation went smoothly because he knew how to get around the rails and depth differences that average contractors often trip over.
However, procuring supplies could have been better. As this IKEA kitchen design ran towards the end of the pandemic, backorders were still a significant issue. Christine sourced many items from Florida and shipped them to Connecticut to fully equip his mother’s kitchen.
But in the end, she got everything the contractor needed to complete her mother’s kitchen.
There is nothing I would recommend more than a repeat customer.
Kristin and Phyllis are thrilled with their kitchen renovation and appreciate the opportunity to help transform Phyllis’ kitchen from a space she never could enter into a space she never wants to leave.
Kristin feels that the IKD design of her IKEA kitchen helped the process run smoothly.
“It was a much smoother process and much less anxiety-inducing…they know a lot of hacks.”
Christine is very happy with the finished design and is working on another design with IKD. This time it’s for a kitchen in Florida.
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