How We Built a North American Kitchen in Our German Apartment
By the time we moved into our new apartment in Stuttgart, Duygu had already designed our dream kitchen. We thought the rest would be simple — order it online, pick a delivery date, and get it installed. Easy, right?
Not quite.
Surprise #1: You Can’t Take Your Own Measurements
Before we knew any better, we tried to be efficient. We created a measurement whiteboard on Canva and documented everything: the distance from the wall to the pipes, the dimensions of each outlet (up, down, left, right), the height of the ceiling, the width of the wall, the depth of the counter space, and even the placement of the kitchen island.
We submitted our perfectly organized whiteboard to IKEA… only to learn that it wasn’t enough. IKEA requires sending out their own expert with a special 3D mapping tool to measure your future kitchen space. No matter how detailed your notes are, they won’t proceed without this official visit.
That’s when we realized we’d lost a week and a half in our timeline. Luckily, the appointment itself was smooth despite the language barrier. Still, we wish we had known this before spending hours collecting measurements that couldn’t actually be used.
Surprise #2: Online Design Isn’t Enough
We went into the process thinking we’d simply hand over our IKEA kitchen planner file, click “order,” and call it a day. After all, Duygu had already designed the kitchen exactly how we wanted it.
But in Germany, you can’t just design online and check out. You have to book an in-person consultation with an IKEA kitchen expert before they’ll process the order. For us, that meant making an appointment at IKEA Ludwigsburg — and because we needed English, the available timeslots were limited.
The session lasted about an hour, and we came prepared with our own layout from the IKEA kitchen planner. The consultant walked through every detail and suggested a few changes to make the kitchen fit better. One thing we had never considered: there are two countertop height options in Germany — a higher one for taller people (ahem, Germans) and a standard one for shorter people like us.
We also learned that our dream quartz countertop would have had an unreasonably long lead time. Instead, we chose an Arbeitsplatte (worktop) that looks like quartz but was available much sooner — a compromise that kept our project moving without losing the look we wanted.
Surprise #3: The Language Barrier Is Real
When we started our kitchen design in 2024, IKEA Germany’s kitchen planner app was only available in German. And while Google Translate was our best friend, it was exhausting to translate button after button while trying to stay in the design flow.
Our workaround? We discovered that IKEA Netherlands had a similar kitchen planner app available in English. So, we designed our kitchen there first — entirely in English — and then rebuilt the exact same design in IKEA Germany’s web app. It sounds redundant, but it was much easier to focus on the design details without stopping every two minutes to decode a word.
By the time we booked our in-person consultation, the language barrier was no longer an issue — we had scheduled it in English from the start. That hour was all about refining our layout, not deciphering it.
Two Foodies Tip: Build Extra Time Into Your Kitchen Timeline
If you’re ordering a kitchen in Germany, factor in:
Measurement appointments (required)
In-person consultations (mandatory for most big orders)
Possible language barriers if you’re not fluent in German
Delivery and installation lead times
While the process took longer than we expected, it was worth it.
The measurements, consultations, and extra steps may have delayed our kitchen, but they also prevented costly mistakes and gave us a layout that works beautifully in our home.
In the end, we didn’t just design a kitchen — we learned how to navigate an entire design process as newcomers in Germany.
