How to plan and buy an IKEA kitchen yourself
IKEA Kitchens are designed to be installed by you.
At IKEA, we've designed our kitchens to be simple enough for you to put together yourself. Whether your kitchen is large or small, we offer well-coordinated kitchen products that'll support your every need, so let's get started!
1. Measure your kitchen
Measurements are important as they are the base for your kitchen.
Give yourself plenty of time to measure precisely. Make sure to make your measurements in millimetres so that your new kitchen correctly fits your space. Here's how you do it.
01 Start by measuring the floor to the ceiling. Then the distance between walls and from the corner to the doors.
02 Measure each window and their distances from the floor, the ceiling and the corners of your room. Do the same for the doors.
03 Mark down anything that sticks out into the room i.e. pipes, and also the position of power outlets, light switches, drains and water supplies (both existing and new ones).
04 Start by measuring your worktop from the corner where it will attach to the wall. Make sure to make your measurements alongside the wall and always start from the same point.
05 When measuring the depth, start from the wall and measure out. Don't forget to add 15 mm for an overhang, too.
06 If you need to measure for a freestanding worktop (a kitchen island, for example), simply start from one end and add 30 mm extra for an overhang.
2. Plan your kitchen
Outline your kitchen and see what it will look like.
When planning your kitchen, keep the three work zones in mind: preparing and cooking (red), washing up (blue), and food storage (green). How you position your work zones and the distance between them is called a working triangle.
01 A good working triangle helps you to move quickly and easily from task to task - and it simplifies if you're more than one person in the kitchen doing different tasks at the same time.
02 Single-line kitchens are perfect when space is limited. It's not strictly speaking a triangle, but the three points are still connected.
03 Parallel kitchens are great if you have many people cooking at the same time. There's lots of room for food preparations and storage, too.
04 L-shaped kitchens make the most of a corner. They're ideal if you want to add a small dining table or kitchen island as well.
05 If you have space, adding an island to your kitchen gives you extra storage, lots of workspace - plus, it's a great social hub. Give yourself 1200 mm between the island and other cabinets to move around freely.
06 If you have a large room, the U-shaped layout is great. It gives you maximum space and plenty of storage options.
3. Order and get it home
When you're satisfied with your kitchen plan, it's time to order it.
