Isolation Day 18: Designing A Kitchen

I Knew I Shouldn’t Have Gone on Ikea’s Website!

After yesterday’s post, I may have stuck around on the IKEA website a bit too long to see what cool new things they had in stock. I ended up stumbling across their online planning services page. Did you know they offer dedicated design tools for almost everything? Kitchens, bathrooms, sofas, chairs, desks, beds, and wardrobes—they have it all.

I decided to give the kitchen designer a go. Our current kitchen is starting to show its age and could really use some extra storage.

The Plan

Unfortunately, we live in a rented flat, so we can’t make major structural changes. That said, our landlady is really nice, and the current kitchen is a bit of a hodgepodge of different-sized cupboards due to the room's awkward shape.

For those interested in how I mapped this out, I used the Room Scanner App to get the dimensions. I’ve used it in every home I’ve lived in for the past few years—it’s a life saver when you need to quickly price up furniture or plan out a space.

The Strategy:

• Keep: The cooker and sink stay put.
• Remove: The under-counter fridge and freezer (we don’t use them; we have a standalone fridge-freezer that completes our "cooking triangle").
• Replace: Everything else is getting ripped out and reimagined.

Time to Plan

I headed to IKEA’s Kitchen Planner to create a new design. Since they didn’t have a room shape that matched ours perfectly, I went with the "Indent South East Corner" and used the floor obstacle tools to manually fill in the 10cm gap on our north wall.

I also added the radiator and the boiler. I’ve toyed with the idea of boxing the boiler and pipes in, but for now, I’m leaving them as-is.

Cabinetry & Layout

• Base Cabinets: I started in the right-hand corner to ensure alignment. It took some shuffling, and we had to rethink the sink to squeeze in a dishwasher, but I finally got all the base units to fit perfectly next to the washing machine.
• Wall Cabinets: This was trickier! Our current ones are a meter wide, while IKEA’s standard units are 80cm. I started with the cooker hood cabinet and worked my way out. I’m happy with the layout, though I wish the glass door options didn't keep disappearing when switching to 3D view!

The Finishing Touches

I added the fridge-freezer, extraction fan, microwave, shelves, and a two-seater dining table. To get away from the "all-white" look, I customized the backsplash with black tiles and swapped out the cupboard doors, worktops, and handles for something with more personality.

I even threw in some SYMFONISK speakers for good measure!

The "Depressing" Part: Costing

I tried for half an hour to get a total price, but it turns out they don't sell the full package online—I’d have to send the design off to an IKEA staff member for a quote. It’s a bit disappointing when you’re just trying to do some quick research to show a landlady, but the exercise was still worth it to see what's possible.

So, what do you think? Would you go with a similar design? What must-have accessories would you put in your dream kitchen? Let me know in the comments below!

Since you've been working on this design for a while, I have to ask: even though the online tool wouldn't give you a price, are you going to send the final render to your landlady as a pitch, or are you just using this for your own inspiration for a future home?