The PERFEKT kitchen

... unfortunately, though, by the end of the visit to IKEA on Thursday, no one could give a FAKTUM about the thing!

After many hours of playing with the kitchen planner program from IKEA's website, I finally had a plan I was happy with. So, with printouts and measurements in hand, off I went to what I thought would be a fairly quick and easy process of ordering a kitchen. WRONG!

The initial plan to arrive at IKEA early so as to 'beat the rush' (because everyone knows the kitchen department is the busiest part of the store - no, seriously, it is!) was a good one. Unfortunately, we were so early, the showroom hadn't opened yet so off to get a coffee and for the hundredth time in the space of a week, check the measurements were correct (particularly for the benchtop - custom made!). Once we finally got into the store, we made it to the kitchen department and came across a very friendly service assistance who insisted I order and install the cupboards FIRST before then checking all the measurements for where the benchtop would sit and then later ordering it separately. Little did he know, he was talking to 'reno Mum on a mission': "sorry, I need to order everything today"... so he reluctantly sat down with us to go over everything, make me fill in forms and sign at least one disclaimer before taking lots of my money, shaking my hand and saying "good luck with it all!"... good luck indeed! It was then that we learned the kitchen that had just been ordered would need to be collected from the downstairs warehouse THAT DAY...

Now, I've always been a fan of IKEA's ability to flatpack anything and everything conceivable, but even with the mastery of flat packs, a whole kitchen was always going to be a challenge to take home in the car (even the Outback!). We did manage to squeeze most of the smaller parts in the back of the car but the larger pieces just weren't going to fit. The lack of suitable transport meant the employment of the services of IKEA's transport company to deliver the rest the next day.


"And there was evening and there was morning"...