The Ikea Kitchen Fiasco

We wanted a quality kitchen, without having to sell a kidney. "Hey, why not get an ikea kitchen" I said.
So we visited the megastore, looked at the cabinets and benchtops, took home all the info. I measured up and spent many hours browsing the catalogue to find the perfect solution.
After weeks (no, months) of thought and mind changing, I was set.
All I had to do was order it. Of course you can't order over the phone or online. You have to visit Ikea in person.
Ok, no problem. I'll take Greg with me and we'll get it done in an hour or so.
Here's the thing. The staff are probably nice people when they are not at work, but while they are on the clock, they are trained to be as unhelpful and surly as possible. At the kitchen section, I spoke to a staff member who seemed irritated that I had interrupted her busy schedule of standing around and bitching with the other kitchen staff member. Well, sorreeeeeee!
The kitchen section staff don't help you choose a kitchen by the way, they are there purely as data input people. Don't ask for help, you will be disappointed.
I told her what I wanted, she typed it in. She checked availablility. Oh yeah, that's another thing. If what you want is not in stock, you can't order it, noooooo You have to come back in and get it at a later date. A tad inconvenient when you are ordering a swag of gear and want it delivered.
Anyway.... The Ikea chick printed me a list of 66 items that I required (this included hinges, knobs and such). Now for the fun part....
Grab a trolley and go and find all the items in the self serve area. No, better grab another 2 trolleys - and they are big trolleys!
We spent around 2 - 3 hours finding everything we needed and getting through the checkout. Then we also picked up another 2 trolleys of stuff from the 'full service' desk.
Now that we have everything (we hope), it's time to arrange delivery. Take all 5 trolleys to the delivery counter and they take all the stuff and put it in a different room awaiting delivery.
All up, we spent 4 hours, 15 minutes in Ikea. It was dark when we emerged, tired, broke and hungry.
Ok, so this may be my most negative rant so far on the blog, but I am still happy to have the kitchen I have chosen. I just wanted you all to be aware of the drama associated with buying a kitchen from Ikea.
There may be a further entry about assembling the blasted thing yet.

Less than 4 weeks til move in day

Ugly steel beam..... how do we cover it?

Voila! Beautiful timber beam is now a feature.

I just love the beautiful timber door and french doors now they are finished.

We have been given notice by our landlord so our move in date is now fixed - the 9th June.

Wet areas are ready to tile. The licensed waterproofer has been and stung us for $825. It took him 3 hours or so. He used half a bucket of waterproofing goop. This could well be the industry to get into methinks! If we had known what a scam it was, we might have been tempted to be less law abiding and create our own 'waterproofing certificate' to satisfy the building inspector.

The kitchen cabinets arrive friday ( in flat pack), the tiles arrive tomorrow. Plastering & cornicing is half done (downstairs that is) so we are on track... I think.

Our goal is to have the downstairs and wet areas completely finished by move in date. Bedrooms can wait - we'll just sleep in the living area for a few weeks.

Stay tuned for an indepth account of buying an Ikea kitchen - not as simple as you think....