Well, here it is, the kitchen. What was the bane of my existence for about a week. At this point there are a few little details left to complete in the kitchen, but you probably can't notice them in the photos.
I've put together a few IKEA products in my time. I don't find it hard to see why Ingvar Kamprad is #7 on the world's billionaire list. He's put quite the efficient system together. I know that there are differing opinions about IKEA, but you'd be hard pressed to refute the genius of the production line they've got going on. Take for instance that the majority of their products relay on a limited catalog of fastners and parts, engineered wood products with a set number of different veneers, and in the case of kitchen cabinets, the same bases fit all the different styles of drawers, doors and layouts. Also look at the way they have their stores set-up, limited staff, products in-stock at the store, vignettes of rooms throughout the storeroom to show what the things look like. Then you have to put it all together yourself so they don't have to pay others to do it. They are famous for their flat-pack packagings so that 1. you can take most of the products home yourself, but probably more important to them 2. shipping is more efficient and they can fit more packages into shipping containers resulting in cheaper shipping costs for them. So, boom, just like that and you're a billionaire.
Of all the IKEA products I've put together the kitchen was by far the most difficult. This wasn't so much the assembly of all the cabinets, they go together like most other IKEA products, it was more about fitting their standard sizes into a room that wasn't sized based on their cabinet sizes. I planned out as much as I could ahead of time, but not knowing exactly how the cabinets were put together and what the dimensions they listed on their specs were actually measured to and the added complexity of trying to maximize the amount of cabinet space and not knowing the actual dimensions of appliances made the process harder put together than any other IKEA product. I think I did pretty well, I only had to move a few of the cabinets around to allow for clearances between the stove, dishwasher, and cabinets.
The countertops were the most difficult part of the kitchen. You need to have some serious tools and know-how to do the countertops. Again, what makes Ingvar a billionaire is what makes doing the countertops difficult. IKEA only sells the counter we bought in 2 widths and a few different lengths. Because of the pass through into the living room, and the breakfast bar facing the dining room, neither of the two widths would work for us. The only piece that I didn't and to modify the width was the counter that the stove fit into.
Well, here it is, the kitchen. What was the bane of my existence for about a week. At this point there are a few little details left to complete in the kitchen, but you probably can't notice them in the photos.
I've put together a few IKEA products in my time. I don't find it hard to see why Ingvar Kamprad is #7 on the world's billionaire list. He's put quite the efficient system together. I know that there are differing opinions about IKEA, but you'd be hard pressed to refute the genius of the production line they've got going on. Take for instance that the majority of their products relay on a limited catalog of fastners and parts, engineered wood products with a set number of different veneers, and in the case of kitchen cabinets, the same bases fit all the different styles of drawers, doors and layouts. Also look at the way they have their stores set-up, limited staff, products in-stock at the store, vignettes of rooms throughout the storeroom to show what the things look like. Then you have to put it all together yourself so they don't have to pay others to do it. They are famous for their flat-pack packagings so that 1. you can take most of the products home yourself, but probably more important to them 2. shipping is more efficient and they can fit more packages into shipping containers resulting in cheaper shipping costs for them. So, boom, just like that and you're a billionaire.
Of all the IKEA products I've put together the kitchen was by far the most difficult. This wasn't so much the assembly of all the cabinets, they go together like most other IKEA products, it was more about fitting their standard sizes into a room that wasn't sized based on their cabinet sizes. I planned out as much as I could ahead of time, but not knowing exactly how the cabinets were put together and what the dimensions they listed on their specs were actually measured to and the added complexity of trying to maximize the amount of cabinet space and not knowing the actual dimensions of appliances made the process harder put together than any other IKEA product. I think I did pretty well, I only had to move a few of the cabinets around to allow for clearances between the stove, dishwasher, and cabinets.
The countertops were the most difficult part of the kitchen. You need to have some serious tools and know-how to do the countertops. Again, what makes Ingvar a billionaire is what makes doing the countertops difficult. IKEA only sells the counter we bought in 2 widths and a few different lengths. Because of the pass through into the living room, and the breakfast bar facing the dining room, neither of the two widths would work for us. The only piece that I didn't and to modify the width was the counter that the stove fit into.
