Kitchen S.O.S.
Help embee:
“OK fanatics, I have an Ikea problem. I have an Ikea kitchen bought in Canada in the 80′s. It’s a great kitchen and good as new. The cabinet dimensions are all metric.
A selling point for these kitchens was–and still is–the ability to easily reconfigure everything as needs change. I badly need some new interior fittings, but somewhere along the line Ikea started selling only imperial (that is, American) sized kitchen stuff in Canada — which is a metric country.
Everything but kitchens and beds at Canadian Ikea IS metric.
Every Ikea in the world outside of Canada and the US apparently has the parts I need but, with all of their billions and all of their creativity, they can’t ship what I need to Canada. (I managed, with extreme difficulty, to gain telephone access to their unlisted Canadian head office, but they could do nothing to help.)
As a further issue, we are expanding said kitchen. The 80′s vintage doors are no longer available, so we wanted to replace these doors with a current design. Same story–suitable doors available everywhere outside of North America, but no way to get them here. Of course, local cabinet makers can match the old OR new doors at a staggering price, but Ikea promised me everlasting expansion and reconfiguration availability and they welched on it. Their attitude is “too bad”.
We LIKE our Ikea kitchen and also can’t afford to replace it with all new stuff. So does anyone out there have some access to decision makers at Ikea–or some other creative idea? Surely this situation defies Ikea’s marketing philosophy, and I can’t possibly be alone.
Any suggestions out there?”
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embee: You might also check out ikeafans for more information on IKEA Kitchens
Hi Embee,
I had a very similar problem a while back while trying to add to a wall unit after moving and needing a whole new section and a similar metric kitchen problem. They switched a few years back from metric because of the problem with availability of sheets and comforters etc. Unfortuanely, it was discontinued and my local Ikea didn’t have any solutions.
there is a website :
http://www.planetfeedback.com/ that will direct your letters and concern to the appropriate people who can help,most often the ceo of the company, who usually follows through, especially if they know your letter is “shared” on the website. Catch more bees with honey, so hold back the frustration level and anger, and i’m sure they will move heaven and earth to help you out. My additional wall unit components came from several stores overseas as did my kitchen pieces, and they matched perfectly. I recall it being quite a bit more expensive but well worth not having to get rid of pieces i was happy with and having to get a whole new kitchen.
Hey Embee! Indeed, do come to the IKEA Fansite and Forums. Forum members have been known to go out of their way to seek out, purchase and ship items (parts, even) to other members across borders. We have members all around the world, including IKEA co-workers in several countries. Come join us!
Hi
What we finally did was make our own doors but kept the metric boxes and internal fittings. We used MDF and then painted. You could have a woodworking firm do the work with specific measurements for a wood finish or use router to create ‘raised panels’ for different detail.