It's the most wonderful time of the year... Sure, we love the holiday season, but there's nothing quite like the excitement of the IKEA kitchen sale 🙂

Now...

We've been through this cycle of on-sale/off-sale for years now, and with having the experience of remodeling 200+ IKEA kitchens per year, we've learned a few things about navigating through the waters of the IKEA kitchen sale...

And in this article you'll learn:

• IKEA Kitchen Sale Dates (This Is Always A Little Vague)
• How Often The IKEA Kitchen Sale Happens
• When Is The Next IKEA Kitchen Sale?
• The 90 Day Price Match Guarantee
• How To Hack The IKEA Kitchen Sale To Get A True 15% Off
• Why You MUST Plan Your Kitchen Well In Advance
• The Curse Of 2014: The Risk Of Back Orders
• Small Things Add Up Quickly
• Do Fixtures & Appliances Count?
• The Maze Of Countertops
• How Being Kind Can Save You From Paying Double For Your IKEA Kitchen Remodel
• Avoiding Change Orders
• Manage Your Own IKEA Kitchen Order & Delivery

Now, there's one basic rule before we get started...

And thats qualifying for the sale...

As of writing this, you'll need to spend a minimum of $4,000 to qualify for the 15% discount... (And if you don't, just buy a new microwave to put yourself over lol!)

Let's get started...

(By the way, if you have any questions about IKEA's kitchen sale, IKEA's products, the kitchen remodeling process in general, or just want to say Hi, you can reach us in real time on Facebook messenger by clicking here...)

This is the only point that is a little vague, so we'll get through this first...

The sale dates are never set in stone... Heck, IKEA employees that we work with on a regular basis usually have no clue when the IKEA kitchen sale starts...

They usually know a few days, or sometimes a week before the sale actually starts...

Then they leak the information to us... I won't name my sources, so don't even try it! 🙂

The IKEA kitchen sale happens approx 3 times per year...

We brace ourselves for it based upon the seasons...

Early Spring

Mid Summer

Late Fall/Early Winter

And all of these are iffy as there was one year where they didn't have a sale for the entire year...

(NOTE: When they launched the new SEKTION line of cabinets, they underestimated the volume, which caused a ton of problems for homeowners & contractors for approx 18 months... They cancelled the sale for approx 1 year, but we think they've got it all figured out now... Fingers crossed!)

You can base the next IKEA kitchen sale on the season you're in while you're reading this...

Usually, it happens every 90 days...

And lasts for 30 to 45 days..

So if you're waiting for the sale, you're probably either a few days or 90 days away...

As of writing this, we're expecting a sale to drop in the next 2 weeks... 🙂

UPDATE: As of 03/01/2017 The IKEA Kitchen Sale Has Gone Back To Being A 15%-20% Discount Without Having To Receive A Gift Card. We'll leave this point here just in case they ever go back to this version of the sale...

The new version of the IKEA kitchen sale was kinda frowned upon by homeowners & contractors alike...

The old sale used to be 20% off in the form of cash staying in your bank account...

With this new model, IKEA will give you your 15% off to you in the form of store credit...

So lets say you spend $5,000 (before tax & delivery) on your kitchen cabinets...

You'll get a gift card for $750 to use in the store...

Which is cool, if you like Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry juice concentrate LOL...

But if you don't, we've discovered a little hack to make sure that the 15% off never leaves your bank account... Now, this is currently legal in IKEA law as of writing this, but it may change in the future... We hope it doesn't...

Here goes...

Say your kitchen order, before tax & delivery, comes out to $7,000...

All you do is divide $7,000 by 1.15, which gives you $6,087 (and a difference of $913)...

Then, you'll take the $6,087 and multiply it by .15... That is where you get your $913 difference above...

So you'll split the order at $6,087 (or as close to it as you can) and use the $913 gift card from the first order of $6,087 to pay of the $913 balance...

And viola, 15% of your hard earned money staying in your bank account...

One of the worst things you can do is try and plan your kitchen, at IKEA, during the sale...

Good luck with that...

First off, every computer in the kitchen department is usually being used, and has a line of 10+ people waiting for one before you even get there...

Plus, trying to design & plan your own IKEA kitchen, especially under the pressure of another customer breathing down your neck trying to get to use your computer next, can be pretty stressful...

What we recommend to all of our clients is to hire a professional to design your kitchen... And no, I don't mean IKEA's in store team nor do I mean their national installation team...

Here's why I qualify the hiring with "professional"...

Most of the "planners" or "designers" that either work at the IKEA store, or work for their "recommended" third party company, are merely hourly wage employees with no real world, on-job-site doing real design & construction experience...

Ask them to show you a design with a load bearing wall removed?

Forget it...

They're merely trained to replace your kitchen "cabinet-for-cabinet", with limited variation on the layout/footprint of your kitchen...

I mean sure, they're cheap... But cheap, can cost MUCH MORE in the long run...

It could cost you your dream kitchen, money, time and massive headaches...

But if you use a professional designer that understands construction and how everything else outside of IKEA's products works, you'll have a much better experience and will receive far more value for your money...

Plus, we know how to make IKEA cabinets to things they were never meant to do... We're a little sneaky, but it works!

We charge $497 for our in-home design service, and it includes all of your 3D drawings, 2D elevations, your layout, and a COMPLETED shopping list from IKEA... (The complete shopping list will save you from driving back and forth to IKEA because you missed something trying to design it yourself...)

We wouldn't expect to be able to walk onto your job and perform at the levels you would after 10 years of being there... So why would you think you could do the job of a kitchen designer, without any experience?

You'll thank me later, promise! 🙂

The Curse Of 2014: Thousands Of Unfinished IKEA Kitchens Across The US That Almost Bankrupted Every IKEA Kitchen Contractor & Left 1,000's Of Homeowners Without A Place To Cook Or Eat For 12 Months...

Yup...

It happened...

And I can remember having 40+ clients with unfinished kitchens at one point...

I'm sure someone at IKEA headquarters lost there job over it, but essentially, when they launched the new SEKTION line of cabinets here in the US, they under estimated the demand they would have...

And well, backorders upon backorders happened every single day...

It even got to the point where we were importing some of IKEA's sinks from London to Los Angeles...

It was bad...

And can happen...

And although they've pretty much fixed the problem, it's still something that can happen from time to time...

So as long as you know that backorders are a possibility going into it, you won't have the extra surprise...

When we have a homeowner contact us that says they've "designed" they're kitchen and just need a contractor to do the work, we're a bit hesitant...

We'll ask them to send it over to us so we can take a look...

And 9 times out of 10, half of the order is missing lol...

When I say half, I mean, they're missing all of the finish panels, moldings, toekicks & fillers needed...

Many of them are also missing handles (now sometimes this is done on purpose because not everyone will buy handles from IKEA)...

And these things add up...

And for the people that think "oh yeah, this kitchen is going to look great and be cheap!" they usually have a bit of sticker shock once we show them the actual price for their IKEA kitchen when all of the missing parts are included...

Now if you order your kitchen and have it delivered without these parts, rest assured that it will delay your installer/contractor and you're going to have to:

A. Pay for their time for the mistakes you made and the delays you caused while you drive back and forth to IKEA to pick up the missing parts...

Or...

B. Pay for your installer/contractor for the delay PLUS paying them to drive to IKEA for you to pick up all of your missing parts...

All in all, if you miss the small things, it could cost you much more than you had planned (SEE

Need new appliances for your IKEA kitchen?

How about a new sink or new faucet?

Perfect!

The IKEA kitchen sale actually covers appliances and fixtures...

Along with your IKEA kitchen cabinets, you'll be able to get all of your appliances at a 15% discount as well... Which often times can equal a free refrigerator or fancy built-in microwave...

May of our clients that are on a budget, whether it be to circumstance or by choice (flippers/investors) can save even more money by using a different brand of quartz countertop or even going with a prefab quartz/granite/marble...

Another way to save a little bit of cost if the change the edge profile of your countertops...

Let me explain...

From what we've seen in the market place is that high-end cabinet brands like Bulthaup, Siematic, Poggenpohl, Vegasa, etc are always featured with a VERY thin, clean line countertop...

And since IKEA kitchen cabinets fit in their category (not in price, but in style) they look absolutely stunning using a 2cm (3/4") edge profile...

When you buy a slab of quartz countertop, they come in giant pieces that are usually 120" x 54" and have a natural thickness of 3/4" (2CM)...

What we've done is essentially cut and posh the quartz countertop to fit your cabinets, without fabricating an extra edge...

The most common edge profile gives a finished countertop edge of 1 1/2"... But will cost you and extra $3-$5/sqft for the fabrication...

Doing a 3/4" edge not only looks sleek and sexy, but will also put a few hundred bucks back into your pocket...

Contractors are interesting... And most of them guard their time like Fort Knox...

And if you come off as being difficult, a pain-in-the-ass or indecisive, chances are you're going to pay for it...

Clients like that tend to COST contractors a ton of time, which also COSTS them money...

So if you have an attitude or come off as being difficult to work with, you can expect the quote for your remodel to be triple from what it usually would cost...

This works in the benefit of the contractor two ways:

1. It scares you off so they won't have to deal with you as a client at all

Or...

2. You agree to the inflated price and now putting up with you is worth it 🙂

So be nice!

What is a change order?

A change order is when additional work is added to or subtracted from the original work order agreement between you and your contractor/installer.

When do change orders happen?

Change orders occur the moment concealed problems show up, usually after demolition... 

Or when the client changes their mind in the middle of construction... 

Now...

Some change orders can't be avoided... And most common ones are mold, termite damage, wood rot, out of code electrical, rotted plumbing, etc...

Which most of the above is concealed behind walls or cabinets and aren't seen until after the kitchen has been completely demolished...

It's also common in older homes, so it's wise to ALWAYS HAVE a contingency budget JUST IN CASE any of these issues are found...

(SIDE NOTE: I Actually received a 1 star review from someone that was NEVER even a client of ours because I educated her on contingencies... I hope you find it a bit more helpful than she did! LOL)

The other contingencies come from client indecisiveness...

Now sometimes you may feel that it's absolutely necessary...

And maybe it is...

But when you start changing your mind on design, materials, colors, finishes, etc in the middle of construction, you're going to be slapped with a change order every single time... So if you must, do only 1 and lump in all of your changes to that one...

Because the fee that most contractors charge just too write up the paper work for the change order is $300-$500...

You're paying for the inconvenience and the delay that you have actually cause your project...

Want to do 3 change orders to change things around? We don't mind the extra $1,500 if you don't 🙂

Managing an IKEA kitchen order, especially during the sale, can be hectic...

In order to make life a bit easier for our clients, we charge a fee of 15% of your cabinet order cost to manage the order placement, delivery schedule, inventorying the delivery, and returning/exchanging any and all damaged, mis picked or missing parts...

Many of our client appreciate the service, but some would rather save the extra cash and manage the order themselves...

Which is fine by us 🙂

Just know that after delivery, you only have 48 hours to report any discrepancies to IKEA, which means at hour 49, you will have to REPURCHASE ALL MISSING MATERIALS...

It's IKEA's policy, not ours unfortunately...

Although the IKEA kitchen sale provides you the opportunity to remodel your kitchen with beautiful cabinets that won't break the bank, you must keep in mind that you're still DOING A KITCHEN REMODEL...

And with doing a remodel, construction costs are still one of the most expensive to take on next to medical bills...

Seriously...

You can't approach your kitchen remodel with IKEA "blindness" meaning you're not going to get everything cheap... Especially good labor...

And if you do find labor for cheap, it will often times cost you more in the long run...

Contractors that charge premium yet fair pricing are usually worth their weight in gold and know the value of their skills...

So don't be alarmed if what you thought would be a cheap $10k kitchen is actually a $25k project...

Especially if you've over looked key parts of the remodel process...

And if you're ready to start your own IKEA kitchen and want to take advantage of the next IKEA kitchen sale, simply click the button below...