Ikea-Meccano

I am a sucker for Ikea build-it-yourself furniture. My favorite toy as a child was a Meccano set and Ikea is Meccano for adults. I doubt I would be so tempted by Ikea furniture if I didn't have to screw it together and, like Meccano, know that the bits fit together faultlessly.

After building kitchen cupboards a couple of years ago there has been a hiatus but last week I gave away the small bar table to a student who needs to stand at her computer instead of sitting all day.  As a replacement I bought an island bench.

Ikea staff had to help me load the three heavy boxes into the car and I drove home carefully, aware that they could become lethal missiles in an accident.  By the time I had them in the kitchen at home I was too tired to think, but still I couldn't resist opening the boxes and reading the assembly instructions before I went to bed.

Kitchen 2016

The island bench is easy to construct but you end with it upside down. It was far to heavy for me to turn over, even with ingenuity, but my friendly neighbour and her son came to my rescue. Once it was the right way up we stood admiring it and asking ourselves why the kitchen looks much bigger with this big bench than it did with the small bar table. It has made a remarkable difference.

Kitchen 2013

Meccano for adults

You'd never guess so many nuts and bolts
are needed to make a table!

What is it about making Ikea furniture that is so appealing? I get a buzz from pushing in the bolts and screwing in the screws. They always fit and the pieces are drilled in a way that makes it hard to make a mistake. (When my kitchen installer was flummoxed by a cupboard attachment last year and suggested drilling extra holes, I insisted instead that we demount it and try again from the beginning. It turned out that one of the pieces was upside down and that if extra holes had been drilled the cupboard swing door would not have worked at all.)

This weekend I made a little table and felt again the thrill I felt as a child with my meccano set. Meccano and Ikea furniture have a lot in common, which is probably why I keep going back for more.

Table and chair

Old kitchen - new kitchen

Old kitchen - actually it was darker than appears here.

I am still amazed how much difference it has made having a new kitchen. I was undecided until the last whether I needed a new kitchen and almost sent all the boxes back to Ikea when they were unable to do the installation. However I am very pleased I persevered.

New kitchen

These two photos don't really tell the whole story. You can't see that the old kitchen drawers don't work (which is why the cutlery is in jars on the bench top) nor that the cupboards don't shut properly and you probably wouldn't notice that the bench-top is very narrow and much too low for a tall person.

I think it is the height of the new kitchen  bench-top that makes the most difference. Every morning I marvel that I don't have to bend to make the tea. I breakfast at the little bar table I made from the bench-top cut-off, look out over the garden or into the sunny dining room (which is most often a framing or collage work space) and marvel anew.

Breakfast

View from bar table to the garden

My Ikea kitchen drama

In the first week of April I bought an Ikea kitchen and prepaid installation. A first installer came in May and a second in early June. Last week Ikea rang and said (three months later and without the hint of an apology!) that the installer was too expensive and anyway they would not install as one of the walls has asbestos in it. I had heard that Ikea had had a lot of problems with installation after their kitchen sale (they no longer offer full installation) so I think the wall is a convenient excuse. The local kitchen company tells me every kitchen in this area has fibro walls and you just have to be careful not to disturb it.

40cm kitchen base cabinet

So boo to Ikea. They don't hold to their contracts if it becomes inconvenient and I am less than impressed. My local kitchen company is going to do the job and removal is scheduled for tomorrow. Meanwhile ... I spent the weekend assembling Ikea  cupboards  and discovering how that soft-close drawer mechanism works. Pretty cool that!

Addendum: turns out I was right about my fibro wall being an excuse for Ikea. The Department of Fair Trading says that the firm subcontracting to Ikea didn't have a license to install kitchens (I had wondered why they seemed so amateurish) and have been told not to offer installation services. I had asked the Department of Fair Trading whether I was owed any compensation for the  extra costs involved for my installation. The answer was no, and I am fine with that... just happy to have a new kitchen.

Kitchen revamp 2

The frog hangs from the fridge door and laughs. The fridge was moved a couple of weeks ago in preparation for the installation of a new IKEA kitchen, but the local installer went out of Ikea business the day before he was scheduled to remove the old kitchen. The new installer has not yet made a date to begin the job. So my kitchen remains empty and the many IKEA boxes continue to clog up my studio. The frog keeps laughing.

Fantastical fabrics

If you are selling furniture in a giant featureless warehouse, why not decorate it with fantastical fabrics to give it character? This is the IKEA pick-up area in Tempe where I waited for some time for my cash'n'carry kitchen.

Fabric hangings at IKEA

Kitchen revamp

My 50 year old kitchen is overdue for a revamp. There is nothing much worth saving - benchtops (45cm!) are falling apart, cupboards don't shut, stove is so old it is probably dangerous to use -  so the whole lot will have to be replaced.

Old kitchen.

It has taken me ages to bite the bullet but now IKEA has a kitchen sale with 20% discounts if you buy three appliances, so I have finally ordered a new kitchen.  I used the excellent online application that shows you what wont fit and what will but still had to visit the store twice to check things out.

The kitchen was delivered yesterday. Now it will sit in my studio for a month as they can't install until May. But I don't mind. I am looking forward to using a stove that works and having a range hood finally. That will be pure luxury.

New kitchen