Was it Worth It?

    The kitchen is the heart of the home and a majority of the time the most expensive part of it.  Like most moms I am usually in the kitchen or doing laundry so these two spaces in the house are the most important to me.  I seriously could have dirt floors in the rest of the house as long as I have decent kitchen.
  In an effort to save money we decided to do an IKEA kitchen.  They look good, have those cool drawers that don't slam shut, and they are inexpensive compared to other kitchen cabinetry.  I did research on the quality of the cabinetry by 1) searching reviews on google 2) talking to my friend who installed an IKEA kitchen last year 3) talking to another friend who knows someone who put in an IKEA kitchen.  I didn't say I did extensive research, I just did research.  Anyway... all those sources said that the kitchen was worth the money and the effort.
  Even though we haven't even broken ground we decided to buy our kitchen because IKEA was offering a discount of 20% off the entire kitchen including appliances through MAY 1st.  IKEA kitchens are already less expensive than most other big box stores, so an additional 20% is a real deal.  the only catch for us is the closest store is about 4 hours away.  We had to calculate the additional cost of driving, renting a UHAUL, and the time and effort it would take to put the cabinetry together to see if it really would be a deal.  In the end, even with all of the work we figured we saved about $1,500  by buying during the sale.  We probably saved  $4,000-$5,000 by getting it from IKEA vs.  Lowes (I still love Lowes) or  Home Depot.
   We spent a whole day at IKEA in April planning out the kitchen.  It was totally worth it when the helpful associate gave us free meal tickets since we had been there for 7 hours!  I had the salmon and Dan got the Swedish meatballs.  It's not bad for cafeteria food.  FYI  they're having a Mother's Day brunch for those of you who live near one.  We then drove down 2 weeks later to pick the whole thing up.  We got the STAT door style, this refridgerator and this dishwasher.  Whirlpool makes their appliances and they come with a good guarantee.

    One of the reasons the kitchens at IKEA are less expensive is because you have to actually put them together.  They come in about a bazillion pieces with directions with no words and you have to figure out how to get those bazillion pieces into a working piece of cabinetry.

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  Dan and I have probably bought about 5 larger pieces of furniture from IKEA and have been very happy with them.  I try and look at the time we spend putting together the furniture like one of those team building activities you do at workshops and leadership meetings.  It's a time for Dan and I to improve our communication and teamwork in a loving way.  We usually reflect on the whole experience and see what we've learned from it.  This happens when we've finally started talking to each other and Dan has healed from whatever tool I threw at his head.  Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to putting this all together.       
  I will have additional kitchen details once we actually have a house to put the kitchen in.   Take a look at the pics at let me know if you think it's worth it.

Friendly IKEA Employee.

A man and his U HAUL (This is Dan being Dan)

Loaded Truck

Kitchen in a garage.  This was around 12:00 am.

   
  Anyone else have an IKEA kitchen?  Have any tips or tricks ?  Please share any wisdom you may have.