Are Ikea Countertops Worth It? Here's What Homeowners Say

If you know Ikea, you're familiar with the convenience and style the Swedish home store retailer delivers, all at affordable prices. But when designing your kitchen with Ikea cabinets, should you just go ahead and go for Ikea countertops too? If you ask homeowners, you'll get a slew of mixed opinions. Some Ikea customers say they love Ikea's pre-cut and custom countertops, which come in different kinds of kitchen countertop materials from laminate to glass composite to stone, for their accessible prices and classic looks. However, others posit that you could get the same type of countertops, especially those made from stone, from a local shop. Further, some homeowners report finding similar countertop options for cheaper prices than offered at the popular home store.

In a recent Reddit thread about whether Ikea countertops are worth the price, one person commented, "Ikea used much thinner quartz than what we wanted," echoing concerns others brought up like the thinner countertops' susceptibility to chipping and wear and tear. Ultimately, like many other homeowners on the thread, that particular customer went with a local company which offered a thicker countertop slab for a better price. Many people also stated that Ikea sources many of their countertop options in bulk from local shops, but with a limited set of colors and style options. So, if you want to have more visibility and customizability in the process, it might be better to go with a local countertop provider.

Ikea countertops cost most homeowners between $2,000 to $5,000, not including installation (though you could install them yourself for more savings).  That's about $59 to $89 per square foot. When picking the perfect countertop materials for your kitchen, Ikea's prices are also in line with what can be found at home improvement shops such as Home Depot, which has pretty similar pricing options per square foot. Going with slabs of quartz from local shops and stone yards has saved some homeowners thousands of dollars when installing their kitchen countertops. Still, one of the main topics of the aforementioned Reddit thread was that Ikea offers financing options for their countertop varieties. "If you're already financing the IKEA cabinets, rolling the counters into it isn't a bad move," one commenter advised. 

With this in mind, if splitting your countertop payments over time is a helpful motivator (especially when facing the high financial investment that comes with kitchen renovations), Ikea countertops could very well be a viable option. Ikea also offers other ways to save money on kitchen countertops through seasonal kitchen sales and membership discounts. Overall, if the convenience, relatively affordable prices compared to high-end manufacturers, and financing capabilities are big selling points for you, then Ikea can deliver. Ikea handles the measurements and logistics of sourcing the countertops, so going with the retailer could also save you some legwork and additional research compared to working directly with a smaller shop that could offer reasonable pricing like Ikea.