We’ve just finished the kitchen we started last December in Portland.  Thanks to IKEA and an empty finished wall, the install went from 640 pounds on a shipping pallet to a complementary pantry and storage addition in less than 4 days. Not having any plumbing or electrical also made things easy.

There are probably many reasons IKEA has been so successful world-wide, however besides easy instructions, simple tools required, and snap together pieces, they even bring the cartons inside when they deliver: a bonus when there are stairs involved and heavy bundles.

The great thing about visiting the store in person is the kitchen design personnel can point out flaws in your thinking and planning even when you’ve done several before: like remembering to add a filler between a cabinet door and the wall. I wasn’t sure why we’d received an expensive side panel until I realized the IKEA lady anticipated an exposed portion of the pantry that I hadn’t seen when laying out the drawings.

Only item missing in the finished setup is a countertop, which will be added later.  Erica now has more storage than she ever imagined with dedicated drawers for things like baking, snacks and canned goods. Here’s last December’s half of the kitchen for the full picture:Oh, and we had a good time seeing the grand-girls and their parents as well.

Everything said here probably sounds like a product placement, but rest assured there was no quid pro quo from IKEA, just fun to have a quick and successful project.