Take a guided tour of the kitchen!
Finally! I've begun work on cataloging and describing all of the pictures and from my (now complete) IKEA kitchen installation project. IKEA has wonderful instructional materials on how to install their kitchen products; however, I've found the Internet otherwise lacking in a "real-world" example. So with no further ado... start here.
I designed and ordered my kitchen all in one fell-swoop at IKEA Houston. The designers are extremely professional and quite knowledgeable. Though somewhat diffident, I was encouraged by the enthusiastic "you-can-do-it-yourself" words of the IKEA kitchen staff. Hopefully, though currently in the middle of my project, I'll be able to spread that confidence to others.
For a full list of all of the kitchen demolition pictures, you can view the kitchen pictures directory listing
The kitchen took around two weeks to arrive in Houston after placing my order. The new design is a 16' x 12' L-shape. IKEA has reasonable pricing — around what you would pay from Home Depot — but you can save thousands by installing the kitchen yourself. Anyway, my ordered arrived flat-packed on one monolithic, 1200-pound pallette. It fit snugly divided between a Suburban and a Grand Cherokee, and we were able to transport and unload the new digs quite effectively.
One of the boxes (a piece of countertop) was punctured in shipping — the IKEA representatives of Houston realized this when I picked up the order and promptly ordered a new countertop. It will be shipped to my house, free of charge. I was able to keep the damaged countertop to boot.
Updates
Mon, 20 jan 2004 – We made huge progress this weekend. The best way to describe what went on is with pictures, so I've created a timeline of events.
Thu, 08 jan 2004 – My digital camera broke and I'm going to be out of town this weekend for my birthday. There won't be any new kitchen pictures until this coming Tuesday, but those should be interesting — Monday brings the plumber and electrician.
Thu, 28 jan 2004 – The digital camera started working again — miraculous! Here is the the newest view: current.
Tue, 03 feb 2004 – Woah! Post Superbowl pics! current 1 | current 2.
Tue, 09 mar 2004 – I've uploaded all of the pictures that I have to date — there are around 300 or so. You can check out the directory listing for the time being, though I will be updating this kitchen installation section soon!
Wed, 22 feb 2006 – I've begun a guided tour of the whole project. I'll take you step-by step through all of the pictures that I've taken, describing each in (probably) more detail than you want. Begin the tour now.