Updated December 12, 2014.
Whether or not you are planning to use IKEA kitchen products (namely, its kitchen cabinets), you can get some benefit from using its online 3D Kitchen Planner.
Kind of.
What I mean by this: If the IKEA planner worked as it was intended, it might be pretty good. But it doesn't. More on that later.
I find it a disappointing offering from a company focused on efficiency and simplicity.
Note: This tool was formerly called IKEA Kitchen Planner. The scope of the tool has been expanded and it is now called IKEA Home Planner.
Use Any Kitchen Planner--It Doesn't Really Matter
Online kitchen planners such as the IKEA 3D Planner are marketing devices more than true design tools. Kitchen designers (except for in-store designers at those particular companies) do not use these types of tools. They are light-weight. They are buggy. And naturally, they direct you only to products from the host company.
But that last point doesn't matter as much as it may seem. Cabinetry tends to come in standard size. So, if you drop in a 30" IKEA sink base, you might as well be dropping in a Merillat 30" sink base. It's about the cabinets. In fact, all of the other stuff--lighting, flooring, counters, etc.--feels almost incidental. Once you're got the major spaces blocked out with your cabinets and free-standing items, you're well on your way.
What I Like About This Tool
- Clean interface, very IKEA. You sacrifice having a robust tool but get simplicity in return.
- Kitchen planner compiles a shopping list as you drop items into the plan. It's easy to switch to the itemized view and find out your running total.
What I Don't Like
- Buggy; weird things happen. I spent about an hour planning the kitchen. When I wanted to save it, I was prompted to create an account. Fair enough. I created the account and was promptly ejected from my kitchen plan--gone forever.
- You cannot "walk-through" the kitchen. You must remain on the outside.
- Small layout area, only about 8 inches by 5 inches.
- No way to pan the "camera" or viewpoint side to side in 3D view.
- Often an "item" (cabinet, appliance, etc.) will refuse to be moved or deleted.
- The 3D views don't look realistic.
- Very limited number of non-IKEA items (floor coverings, colors, etc.).
Alternatives
If you are dead-set on buying an IKEA kitchen, then this is an indispensable tool: it locks you right into specific IKEA items.
But if you're not going in the IKEA direction and just need an online kitchen planner, IKEA's may be too rudimentary for your needs. You can purchase kitchen design software, thus making your kitchen planning brand-agnostic. Your plan is not tied into IKEA, Merillat, or whomever.
There are free kitchen design options, HomeStyler by AutoDesk and Google SketchUp being two prominent examples. HomeStyler is about as rudimentary as IKEA's planner, but SketchUp is closer to CAD and offers infinite possibilities.
Visit Their Website
IKEA Kitchen Planner Review
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