We try three kitchen design services, starting with Cork’s new Ikea store

What's popular among the Cork buyers queuing up to avail of Ikea's new design and order service to create their kitchens?

Fri, 19 May, 2023 - 10:30

Carol O’Callaghan

Who wouldn’t love a new kitchen to loll in on a Saturday morning? Imagine idling about in pyjamas, sipping coffee and taking pleasure in cooking, maybe even having friends over for brunch rather than escaping for a café breakfast because you can’t bear the drab, dated look?

IKEA, CORK

As an infrequent visitor to Dublin, the idea of Ikea opening up in a Cork suburb set my heart aflutter with excitement.

It’s not a fully-fledged shop, mind you; more of a Tesco Express-type experience offering a design and order service for, among other things, kitchens.

Popping in, I find a half dozen kitchens on display and multiple samples of different colour and style finishes. (During my design consultation, staff surprise me by saying mint green is the most in-demand colour.)

So what is popular among the Cork buyers queuing up to avail of this new design and order service to create their kitchens?

I’m immediately told it’s dresser-style glass-fronted units sitting on countertops, and lighting strips under wall cabinets to illuminate work surfaces — and that there’s a shift from harsher spots to ambient lighting with its softer glow overhead.

For buyers prioritising sustainability, cabinet doors manufactured using recycled materials will appeal, as will smaller commitments like 100% cotton hanging string bags for fruit and small vegetables and glass storage containers instead of plastic.

No Dublin Ikea Marketplace here, however, to lure you into an unplanned €100 purchase of bits and pieces you didn’t need in the first place but couldn’t resist on the way to the checkout. It’s sustainability by default, you might say.

But with sustainability being the buzzword of the moment, it can cause a reluctance to rip out a perfectly good kitchen carcass, even though an inconvenient layout and 1990s styling grates on the nerves.

Curious about the overall design service from start to finish, I sat with one of the kitchen planners to walk through a kitchen layout and appliance positions.

You can take a PDF of the design home with a link to an online 3D model.

Delivery and installation is a swift four to six weeks depending on the time of year, I’m told. So, if you’re in a hurry and don’t need to muse on a design and endlessly adjust, and you don’t need the builders in, this service could be the one for you.

But I know if I was buying a kitchen I’d opt for a specialist kitchen company and the years of practical experience that comes with it, plus the minding you get while planning, maybe panicking, changing your mind more than once when finalising what is for most of us, a huge spend.

CASH & CARRY KITCHENS

National showroom designer for Cash & Carry Kitchens Marie Brown advises me to look at the pros and cons of the existing kitchen.

Marie adds: “Ask yourself, what am I missing if I keep the kitchen? If you decide to take it out, sell it on Done Deal, or give to a local community centre that might use the units so it doesn’t end up in landfill.”

Looking at where a new kitchen is produced is a consideration, too, she maintains.

From air fryers to combi microwaves: Does your home really need an oven?

“Manufactured in Ireland with less carbon footprint in shipping is the biggest plus in sustainability,” she says.

“The other thing I would encourage is to make selections that prioritise longevity over trends. Select materials and surfaces that are going to last and stand through different trends. Yes, a pink kitchen sounds exciting today but will you want to rip it out in five years?”

She also references how energy saving with savvy appliance buying, referencing the pitfalls of our beloved kettle, particularly.

The more traditional Shaker-style kitchen in ivory from Cash & Carry Kitchens.

“It’s shocking how much energy they use,” she says, “Go ahead and bite the bullet and get a hot-water tap. It gives you the right serving at the right temperature. It will save so much energy in the long run and pay for itself through the years of use.”

Other trends playing nicely to our eco-conscience include the downdraft hob combining hob function with a traditional extractor hood. Marie says it costs less than having two separate appliances.

Kitchen colour finishes, while trend-driven, appear to have built-in longevity this year.

“Natural units with black accents to pop is a timeless look,” Marie says. “There’s a big shift in how kitchens are used in Ireland with open-door larders with work surface and space for small appliances. The kitchen is now showcased. Hiding appliances makes the kitchen look more pulled together, more like furniture.”

KUBE INTERIORS

David Fagan, director of Kube Interiors, says customers are asking more about sustainability credentials when looking to buy. “They want to know where are the materials from,” he tells me. “Are they carbon neutral, safe? All of our timber comes from sustainable forests. We use Dekton surfaces which are carbon neutral in their manufacture and they’re all recyclable.”

When it comes to aesthetics and functionality, David cites the three most popular choices: “People ask how do I fit in my coffee dock, pantry and extractor island. Then it’s colours and surfaces after that. They also want to know the energy efficiency of hobs, ovens, and appliances. They don’t want throwaway projects.”

Like Marie Brown, he sees the boiling water tap trending with an added eco benefit. “Some of them can serve chilled still and carbonated water. It means they’re not buying bottled water in plastic bottles.”