IKEA Kitchen vs. a Local Kitchen Company — What Nobody Tells You Upfront

IKEA kitchens are not bad. Let’s get that out of the way first. They look decent, they come with a handy online planner, and the price on the website looks very reasonable. But here in Spain, we’ve seen enough kitchen projects to know that what you see on the IKEA website and what you actually end up paying — and getting — are often two very different things.

Here’s an honest breakdown.

You’re in charge of the measurements. All of them.

When you use the IKEA planner, you input your own room dimensions. That sounds fine until you realize that a few millimetres off can mean a worktop that doesn’t fit between the walls, or a gap that nobody knows how to fill. IKEA won’t send someone to measure your kitchen. That responsibility is entirely yours. And if something doesn’t fit when it arrives, that’s your problem, not theirs.

What if you’re not even in Spain yet?

This is something we see constantly on the Costa Blanca. You’ve bought a property here, you’re still living in the UK, and you want the kitchen sorted before you move in. With IKEA, you’d need to find someone locally to take measurements, place the order, receive all the boxes, check everything is there, and manage the installation. That person is essentially a project manager — and they don’t come free. Suddenly the “affordable” IKEA option has a whole extra layer of cost on top.

The installation price isn’t what you think

IKEA quotes installation at something like €800–1,000, which sounds okay. But read the small print. That usually doesn’t include connecting the plumbing. It often doesn’t include carrying the boxes into your home. It almost certainly doesn’t include removing your old kitchen. And any non-standard adjustments — pipework in an awkward spot, a worktop that needs cutting on site, sealing around a sink or hob — those are extras. Every single one.

The delivery problem nobody warns you about

A kitchen arrives in a lot of boxes. A LOT of boxes. Screws, hinges, panels, doors, drawer runners — the list goes on. When the delivery driver hands you a clipboard and asks you to sign that everything arrived, how exactly are you supposed to verify that? You sign, they leave, and two days into installation your fitter discovers something’s missing. Now someone has to go back to IKEA, order the part, wait for it, and come back. More time, more money.

Worktops need proper finishing — and that’s often not included

Worktops from IKEA frequently arrive uncut and without edge banding. The installer has to cut them on site and seal the edges — especially important around the sink and hob, where water will inevitably find its way in. If those cuts aren’t properly sealed and you have a laminate or MDF worktop, the moisture gets in, and the worktop starts to swell and warp. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.

Once the installer leaves, you’re on your own

The person who installs your IKEA kitchen didn’t make it, didn’t design it, and has no relationship with the manufacturer. Their job is to assemble what arrived. If the result isn’t quite right — a gap here, an uneven door there, something that just doesn’t look finished — they’ve technically done their job. There’s no single company responsible for the whole thing from start to finish.

So can IKEA kitchens look great?

Yes, absolutely. We’ve actually installed IKEA kitchens ourselves for clients who specifically requested them. They can look really good with the right finishing work. But they’re rarely cheaper in the end, and the process is more stressful than most people expect.

The calculator gives you a ballpark figure based on your kitchen size and options. The real number comes after a proper site visit and measurements — which, unlike IKEA, is something we actually do.