BRUTALLY HONEST IKEA KITCHEN REVIEW | CABINETS & SEKTION SYSTEM 

UPDATE 8/20 - Thanks for all the support! I'm seeing a lot of questions regarding where we got certain products, so I linked our hardware, sink, cabinet fronts, etc. for you guys. You can shop our IKEA kitchen here: kit.co/oakabode/classic-kitchen-look-book -- hope this helps! I'm going to film a Year-3 IKEA Kitchen Update soon here for y'all, too.

Excellent review. May I suggest you drop the music because it is competitive and distracting. Silence is golden.

I recommend using the online kitchen design tool and ordering directly from the tool as items are needed. I’ve heard it’s when people order everything at once that there are nightmare delivery issues. I was able to design the whole cabinet layout, all the drawers and shelves, side panels fronts, etc, which was an amazing experience. I then ordered a few cabinets at a time directly from the design tool and installed them a few at a time so as to reduce clutter and minimize order confusion issues. Once the base cabinets were in I ordered the drawers and fronts and doors again to reduce order mixup. Once the base cabinets were in I ordered the upper cabinets with shelves but without doors and installed them while my granite countertops were being fabricated. I used plywood countertops while waiting. I never had any order mixups or delivery issues and by ordering in stages, I was able to pay out of pocket as I went. I should mention that there’s an ikea very near me, but I ordered everything online and then usually picked up the order the next day and there was never a missing item. Building my kitchen was an Absolutely amazing experience and the finished product totally rocks.

I have had those same cabinets for 8 years, and largely agree with your statements. I picked them up myself though. If you don't like IKEA doors, just have a cabinet shop make them however you like. As far as quality, over the years I have had a few issues with the doors. They are made of MDF. I have a couple of drawer fronts that have swelled just enough to split the paint at the corners. For no apparent reason, as the humidity where I live is not high. Its a warranty issue they should cover if I take them in. There are a couple of others that my children have let water drip down the face, and wiped it up, but left water on top of the door. It fairly quickly peels the paint off and swells the door. That said, this kitchen was half the cost of equivalent cabinets and I have no regrets going with them. The hardware is made by Blum and is excellent. The dampers are reasonably priced. The bases are as good as any other chip board bases. The leg adjusters are convenient for leveling things in an uneven older home. The rail mounting system works well. A couple of recommendations. Make sure to square up the cabinets when mounting the back panel. Seal the bottom corners with caulk in all cabinets. Particularly the sink cabinet. It is only a matter of time before water gets in it. If the edge is not sealed it wicks into the gap and then swells the board. The front edge will also do the same but not as fast.

It was a little flimsier than I expected. I had to add a 2x2 piece of wood to the bottom on the rear side in order to stabilize it better ru-vid.comUgkxXTh-lz-8W6GcB219vTLp27-MxbZYObBX . It is also starting to bow a little at the outer wall ( I've had it up for about 6 months), I've already had a shelf tumble down because of the bow and the fact that the little shelf brackets are quite short. I went out to home depot and got some longer ones so that the shelves don't tumble down again. Overall, it looks very nice for the price and it holds a lot ( I use it as a pantry). I am very satisfied with my purchase. I just strongly suggest reinforcing it before putting it up.

White interior is a pro! Reflects more light making it easier to see what's in the cabinet. I suggested to a friend that was repainting her cabinets & doors, that she go ahead and paint the interiors white while she had the doors off. She was thinking of adding lights to the interior of the cabinet. And even though she cursed the whole time she was painting, she is grateful that she did it. Paint is cheaper that electrical lights!

I’ve watched A LOT of videos on IKEA kitchens and so far you are the best at explaining what you did and how and they way you speak is also easy to follow. Your design is great! Keep up the great work!!!

We had an Ikea Kitchen installed about two years ago. Brilliant! We shopped around -Wickes, B&Q, Wren, Magnet, etc. having seen a friend's kitchen we went to Ikea. We used their kitchen planning service - outstanding! - they do not try to sell you anything but they do try to provide you with what you want. No ridiculous discounts, just straight prices, and they are reasonable. We found their counter tops to be fifty mil instead of seventy five mil, cheaper and does the job. Their cabinets are lower to the floor, providing more storage space, and the trim underneath is thus cheaper, 90 mil instead of 150 mil. We went with meter high wall cabinets instead of the usual 80 centimeters, again more storage space. Slim cutlery drawers add extra space as well. Their 150 wide cabinets fill in awkward spaces and provide additional useful storage. Their kitchen fitter was outstanding, calling me one morning to say he would be ten minutes late due to traffic and staying more than one evening until 10:30 to complete a specific task. The video shows exstensive wall tiling, we went with a solid white panelling - much easier to clean. And of course all of the doors and drawers are soft close. Now here is a point they don't tell you about. Everything arrives flat packed and not all of the bits and pieces are necessary. Collect them together in their original packaging and return them to Ikea for a refund. We got £61.00 back! Now who else will do that for you? If you shop online for kitchen fixtures you will find the basic cabinets are similarly priced no matter the supplier. Where they get you and the cost goes up is the additional bits and pieces - the handles, the hinges, the corniche across the top, trim under the cabinets, etc.. Would I recommend Ikea? Like a shot! .

Another huge positive to me was their online kitchen designer. It has some quirks to learn, but overall VERY easy yo use to design your kitchen all by yourself. The software is also very smart in preventing you from making incompatible choices and tips on when something may not work, like a cabinet too close to a wall that would prevent the door opening all the way. It’s a great tool for designing your kitchen and seeing it in 3D before buying. You can even add stand-ins for existing appliances. Just make sure you measure your space very accurately.

We have had our cabinets about nine years. Still in love with them. Still no scratches or breakage of any kind. So easy to clean. I would not have ever thought of any of your cons. They never crossed my mind. We picked up our own in our minivan. Took a few trips. For best customer service show up on Monday morning or another weekday morning when it is very slow.

Thank you! I have been looking at Ikea cabinets for a while and your review made my choice easier. None of the "cons" would bother me and the "pros" are everything that is important to me. Great review.

I’m in Miami and we got our Ikea cabinets back in 2014, when they weren’t named Sektion. I unpacked and assembled all the cabinets by myself and installed them with my husband. I love them and haven’t have any problem with them. I have granite over them and no problem at all. I didn’t have any problem with delivery or customer service. I definitely recommed them and will get them for our next home (2022 overseas).

Yes plz do an instructional video!! Thanks for this video it’s helping me decide 🤔🤔

Offering another perspective on the customer service and delivery: We had super helpful folks for customer service, the kitchen staff at the store were fantastic to deal with and helped us grab a few items that we had missing on our build. The delivery was also really good. We live over 2 hours from the store and the folks who delivered were super nice and efficient.

Thanks so much for this info as we’re going to be installing a new kitchen in our next home and this has already helped me with the decision we need to make. ❣️

Such a great video! In my experience one trip was enough because I booked the Ikea kitchen planner (you get the costs for that refunded as a voucher if you buy the kitchen) and had them deliver (delivery was 300 Euros so not a lot). This saved me from having to go to the store multiple times.

I am literally sitting here designing my kitchen on the 3d planner as I type. Your timing is impeccable!

Great review, we are currently installing an IKEA kitchen and we must have gotten incredibly lucky, as our order was EXACT! Our remodel was huge, it is a BIG kitchen with a ton of cabinets. Our delivery service was spot on, and we only made one trip back for a mistake I made while designing on one drawer. I can say the whole process with purchasing, ordering and delivery was practically seamless. We are in Canada and have heard different things from different people, but our experience, so far, has been fantastic. I am really happy to hear after two years they are still holding up. (and that soft close is something isn't it! lol)

Great video. I’ve been designing our new kitchen for ages on the website. It’s a great tool. We must be lucky with our delivery service because I went in to our local store (Belfast) and ordered a load of the Pax wardrobes. They arrived two days later with no problems at all. Hopefully, when we order the kitchen it will be similar. Top tip from an ikea employee was to arrive at the store when it very first opens to order your stuff. They re stock over night so generally will have what you want at that time. He told us not to order online as the items don’t come from the local store but from a central location and can take weeks, sometimes months to arrive.

I did my IKEA kitchen about 10 years ago. It's holding up great. (It was the previous Kitchen system IKEA had--i think they updated some of the drawer hardware--hinges, drawer slides with the new system, but I think the basic construction is the same. I had to make some custom modifications (I made some upper cabinets deeper than the standard 12", cut some lower cabinets to be not as deep for one area of my kitchen, etc. I'm a hard-core DIYer). People talk about paying $10k more to get quality custom cabinets that will last for decades, but more than likely, styles and tastes will change so you will want to swap out the cabinet doors at some point, or reconfigure your kitchen a bit (and I didn't have 15k for cabinets). I also put some wood glue in the dowel/peg holes during assembly to guarantee a better hold.

Here in the UK Ikea now offer a paintable cabinet door. We had an Ikea kitchen put into our daughter's flat about 5 years ago (black wood cabinets and grey slab cabinet fronts) still looks really good - we got one of their reccomended installers and they did a great job. I'm just in the process of getting an Ikea kitchen put into our new home and here they have a really good range of door fronts and work-tops - can't wait!

Thanks for the review after having the cabinets for 2 years. Makes a big difference and I’ve been looking so good to know.

I literally just found your channel... your house is so cute plz continue posting more videos and updates they are so entertaining!! Also, I would love to see a video on how to decorate empty walls if you have any recommendations.

Great video and so helpful as we contemplate new cabinets in our kitchen. I would love to see a build video with your tips and experiential wisdom.

I love love love my IKEA kitchen we ordered & picked up in the Sacramento store & my husband watched RU-vid videos to learn how to install they are amazing!

Thank you, I really need to hear review like this to go forward with my decision on IKEA kitchen cabinets

This was super helpful! Thank you!!!

Excellent video, and extremely helpful ... thank you. And yes, a construction video would be great.

Thanks for doing this video. Just starting the process so its great to hear from someone who has been through it 👍👍. Was a little worried about quality of their products.

VERY, VERY HELPFUL, THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! I had seen a friend's Ikea cataog and tried a few times to get Ikea to send me a catalog and never recieved one. I felt Ikea had good quality cabinets and enough design choices, however knowing about their sevice, or rather the lack there of, is a COMPLETE DEAL BREAKER! Thank You for that honesty, I will be constructing my cabinets myself, which I was leaning towards anyway as I generally, in most things, tend towards doing it myself and in my own style anyhow. Also, knowing that all the drawers come standard as soft close was a Second Deal Breaker, I CANNOT STAND SOFT CLOSE ANYTHING, when I want to close something I'll close it, I don't need or want any hardware doing it for me.

Thank you for your very helpful videos ! Yes please do make a vid showing you put up the cabinets after you get them. Thanks again !

Totally agree! We love our Ikea cabinets and it's truly the most affordable option, unless you can salvage cabinets from someone who is redoing their kitchen. That's what I'm hoping to do for our next kitchen!

I learned a lot from your review of IKEA Kitchen. I would definitely be interested in a video of how to put together an IKEA cabinent.

Super informative & helpful. Thank you!

I'm in the process of doing my kitchen with IKEA and they said in anticipation that I needed to do at least 3/4 trips do finish it off. Thankfully that in Portugal they have a measurement service: I pay 50€ for a certified IKEA employee to take all measurements needed and to check if with that information the kitchen plan is doable. That so is so amazing!!! It really helps do reduce the stress but the trips are inevitable. Your video really touched all the pros and cons and was really helpful. Thank yoooooou 👏

The sink is fantastic!

Super helpful video! I'm designing an Ikea kitchen right now, and I'm wondering how you were able to face the front of your dishwasher to match your cabinets?

Customer service on the PHONE and in two stores in TWO STATES ARE FANTASTIC! We had such a great time they asked me to come back and visit!

Good stuff. Installed many including my own. Too bad the dark boxes went away.

Great overview. I am doing an IKEA kitchen currently and share many of your points. Keep up the awesomeness.

Thank you for your video!! I needed this

Wow!! This review was so good!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

Delivery for our kitchen was spot on, we picked a delivery day and time-slot at order time and everything arrived on time as expected.

Thank you not only for the review but for telling about your friend flying to IKEA and renting a truck back. Because that is a fantastic idea! I’m interested in getting an ikea kitchen and was thinking, “I’ll have to rent a truck and drive it there and back.” Except we have cheap flights to the city ikea is in! I really appreciate that little story. 😂

I agree. When I was shopping for my Ikea kitchen, the sales associates won’t even come to you to ask if you need help. They were all busy talking to each other.

Great video all good and helpful information thanks!

You are an excellent presenter and have given an excellent presentation.

Thank you for this video, we are considering ikeak kitchen remodel & this was very helpful. Would love a video on the install process

Very Informative!!! Thanks so much!!

This was so helpful, thank you 😊

Awesome vid! We have had THE worst coustomer service problems with Ikea in Canada. Only after I resorted to tweeting & tagging Ikea in the tweets did they sit up and respond. We had our kitchen delivery date cancelled, without any notice to us. We ended up renting a Uhaul trailer and driving to pick up our kitchen. Not cool! Love the Sektion cabinets & are in the process now of building them. The instructions are pretty straightforward for building them. Hubby spent time measuring etc.. so that’s labour intensive but worth it. 🙂

I have just finished my kitchen with Ikea cabinets, I have no complaint about their delivery service!

so helpful!! THANK YOU!!

Great video. Counterpoint to customer service: you have a YEAR to return product if you want to, and they’ll take returns in any form as long as the product isn’t broken. What I mean by that is halfway through my kitchen build I decided to change the upper sizes, but I had already built the uppers I had. Ikea took them back, opened hinges and shelves, no problem. They even took back an ensemble drawer I didn’t want. So if you take months to finish your kitchen, you don’t need to worry about losing money on extra toe kick or trim you don’t need, or if you change your mind.

thanks for all the great info! did you guys also diy your cement countertops?

Very good review! My question is why did you not put the soft-close option on the upper cabinets? It's dirt cheap and it just clips onto the hinges. If you love the soft-close drawers, you'll love the soft-close doors also. I built my ikea kitchen roughly a year ago and I went the route of Ikea boxes and custom faces that I made myself. (videos on my channel if you're curious.) One other suggestion is to remember the extremely generous ikea return policy. We purposely bought extra stuff, expecting to have too much, and then one of our ikea trips was to return the extra. So, buy an extra hanging rail, or some extra hinges, or some extra filler panels. Like you said, you are guaranteed to need at least 2-3 extra trips, so returning will not be an issue. OH, and also, if you buy during their 15% off kitchen sale, remember they give you the discount in ikea cards which need to be used on your NEXT visit. So JUST buy the cabinets. Then use the gift card to buy things like drawer dividers, extra shelves, dish racks, and so on --

I've put together 5 different Ikea kitchens in the last 15 years. Most of them have been the old Akurum system, but the last one was the new Sektion system. The Sektion system is a little bit harder to put together mainly because you have to awkwardly slide the back piece into the the grooves on the side pieces before the cabinet is put together, so everything is wobbly. The Akurum system you nailed the back on after the box was all put together. Sektion makes up for that in that it is much easier to hang the cabinets on the wall. One person can easily lift and hang the upper cabinets, which you couldn't do with the old system. As for the style, the Sektion cabinet door styles to me just look cheaper and lower end than the old Akurum styles. I do agree that a major benefit of Ikea kitchens is that the cabinets come in stock sizes, making replacing individual cabinet a breeze if there is damage. I redid my kitchen 14 years ago with Ikea cabinets, then 6 years ago I decided to expand my kitchen and took down a wall. I reused every single cabinet from the first remodel into the second, just changing the door style. I had to replace the sink cabinet due to some water damage. That's it. Actually going and ordering the cabinets is a major pain, as is going back for missing pieces. I am a fairly capable person, and every time I've gone there to order cabinets I've made a complete list in advance, right down to the stock numbers and quantities. The employee literally can just type it into the system. BUT, I still had to wait an extended time behind people designing their kitchens from scratch with the Ikea designers. There is no way to order quickly and get out of there. If you plan to take the cabinets yourself, plan on eating in the snack bar and then still waiting for the warehouse employees to assemble your order on the carts. YOU have to go through all the heavy boxes and make sure everything is there before you leave, and carry it out yourself. 3-8 hours in the store is 100% correct. Oh, and if you are missing something, you can't just go in and easily get it. You have to go back to the kitchen area and wait for an employee to order it, even if it is a small item. On the plus side, if you ever break something, you can go to the returns desk and just ask for it. If they have it sitting there, they will just hand it over for free. They have LOTS of random parts back there.

Very nice review of both IKEA kitchen and husband. Love your kitchen and tips you gave.

Distance from the store is key! When I moved to North Carolina…I was soooo close to the IKEA in Charlotte that I used to use it as a route marker to get to our house..”Take 85 to the big blue and yellow building….turn north and go down 3 stoplights…and you’re here!” Very convenient for me and my girlfriends were all jealous!! Nice job on the kitchen…I see a career for you with IKEA installations!

Excellent review. Re delivery, subcontractor or not, it is fully IKEA’s responsibility to choose them wisely so you are right to call them out on that.

Thanks for making this video. It has helped give confidence in going forward with Ikea. I wanted to ask which model of microwave you have in the ikea base cabinet. I'm considering doing the same. thanks.

Flooring question...did you take the planks under the base cabinets...wall to wall?

A assembly bid would be awesome.... loved the review, very Very helpful!

I saw online IKEA store that you can buy these covers for the peg holes. Its only like $2-$3 for about 100.

Nice. Happy to come across this video. Short of doing the full install yourself are there other ways of saving? I wonder if you can assemble yourself and then have a professional install them

Our IKEA kitchen is 14 years old. Still works fine. Only real two downsides- buying your kitchen will take a whole day esp. at a busy IKEA outlet. You will need to organize your own alternative bench tops as their choice is very limited. Singular. You need to be careful too that they may be short of some items. Real pain in the ass - I was missing a couple of door handles as they had no more stock - and guess what - we still don't have them. The drawer runners are German made so perform for years. It was also a third of the price of any kitchen company alternative. So all in all - IKEA is a great option.

Did you do a construction video? Can’t find one on your channel. Thanks for this video! We’re planning on an Ikea kitchen this spring. We have one 20 minutes from us. 👍🏻

My favorite part of ordering my Ikea cabinets has been the customer service. They really were great! Perhaps they listened, which is just good business. I have a personal service agent, who know my order and cares.. I was given a direct number and email. She always responds. Sandra at the Houston store has really has gone the extra mile and made me feel comfortable. They met every delivery date and no mistakes. They called the day before, early day of and 30 min before delivery. Great guys. The installers seem just as helpful and willing to work with my crazy schedule. My installation is in 10 days. I will let you know how it goes, but I am feeling good about the process.

I love your headband! Where's it from?? Thank you!

I have always wondered about the Ikea kit-set kitchens, great informative video thank you. Question - where did you purchase the copper looking utensil holder that is visible in the background on your kitchen bench?

Your kitchen is beautiful! I love the cabinets! I am thinking of buying the bodbyn cabinets for my kitchen. How are the bodbyn cabinets holding up for durability? Does the off-white color have a yellow hue, or is it a true off-white? Have you noticed any yellowing with age? Thank you.

Well presented and I think spot on and by the way, your house looks really stylish (very nice).

Excellent video (from a DIYer boomer who built their own house, for the most part). Hanging cabinets is really challenging & we've been thinking about replacing our oldies with IKEA. But you've confirmed what we'd heard about their customer service & I don't really feel like spending my time having to deal with all their crap, even for a good price. Will also check out your blog.

Very informative video. Thanks for sharing.

Would love cabinet installation video!

Thank you! Great help.

Grateful for the oak creek store now!

Very informative!

@oak_abode, what's the sink you have? can I pls have the brand and model? thanks.

I saw the title and thought it was click bait. But you really did have a lot of good cons for people to think about. You shared a lot of information that I have not really heard from others, and even if some of them seem like small things to some of us, they might be a big deal to others. Very nice video. Thanks for sharing and cheers.

great video!!! what size of your base cabinet for microwave?

Thank you. Good review on IKEA !

GREAT REVIEW. I HAD NEVER HEARD IF THE SEMI HAND MADE CABINET DOOR FRONTS. ONLY WANT TO UPDATE MY KITCHEN CABINET DOORS SO I'LL DEFINITELY CK INTO THAT.

I don't like white cabinets, but the white interior allows you to see better than if they were dark inside. Thank you for creating and posting this !

Love the open shelves we looking for something similar for our new apartment

In Germany there is a black wood option for the base cabinets as well 🤔 still not that much variety, but I guess it's just more economical for IKEA to only have those two colours for their kitchen cabinets

Great info. Thanks!

We’re finishing up our 4th Ikea Kitchen, and it’s STILL a challenge for us. This time, I planned to order the fronts from one of the companies that sells fronts for Ikea cabinets. Once you order from those companies, delivery will take 4-6 weeks. We changed our mind when installation came to a screeching halt because we needed an end panel in order to continue. So, we drove to Ikea that very day and ordered fronts in the gray Bodbyn. Everything was delivered in less than a week for a reasonable fee. Not exactly what I wanted, but with the money I saved, I splurged on cabinet lighting and appliances. One thing to keep in mind-if you’re not buying Ikea sink and appliances, you’ll likely have to make some modifications. My biggest complaint is the flimsy backs to the Sektion boxes. We used 3/8” plywood to sturdy them by installing “L” brackets on the inside to hold the plywood onto the back. BTW, I don’t think we’d do the decorative toe kick again. I’d stick with the standard one that clips onto the feet.

Great video! Thank you!

Heads up, you might want to look on the microwave install requirements there... I planned to do something similar with mine in a pantry. Wasn't till I went to open the microwave box and install it that I learned it needed much more clearance all around for venting. Ended up buying another unit specifically for built-in scenario and didn't fit quite as nice or as big...

This is a great video thank you! I am planning on remodeling my kitchen and have heard good things about the IKEA cabinets. I especially like the online kitchen planner that they have on their website. However, I am concerned with my proximity to an IKEA store. I live in Charleston, SC and the closest store is Charlotte, NC. Would it be best to order everything online and have it delivered? Or take a road-trip/mini-vacation to do the pick-ups?? Thanks again!

Never understood the hate towards the Ikea furniture..., we love the stuff. We have heaps and heaps of Ikea furniture/cupboards, bedroom furniture/wardrobes and never had a problem. In Australia our Ikea delivery service is awesome..., never had a problem. Next time I renovate I 100% will put in the "Black" Ikea kitchen..., go and have a look, it won't be out of place in a top end kitchen.

Very helpful. Thank you.

I thought about Ikea but then sort of changed my mind. I didn't see a lot of options. I do like the frameless type of cabinets though. It was a really good and honest review.

Gorgeous kitchen!! I wanna paint my brown kitchen white ... it looks worth it !

Also include trips to pick up backordered items!

Great review, thank you. I live a few kilometres away from IKEA 🎉👍. Will definitely take all of your cons into consideration.

Thanks for all helpful tips... Especially the trip factor living 3 hours away from the store deal breaker.

Ton of respect for this review!!!!! If you still active about your kitchen cabinets hundreds of predrilled hols, you can easy and pretty fast fill them with bathroom sheetrock filler and 3" putty knife like you do any wall and then paint with white non gloss acrill spray. But off course you should try it on some scrap piece.

That's crazy to hear about the customer service and shipping issues. My experience from start to finish with the people I dealt with (kitchen specialists at Ikea, delivery company/guys) was seamless. I must have lucked out!