We purchased IKEA countertops for our farmhouse kitchen renovation. They were the most affordable stone countertop option that I could find, and they had the light and bright color options that I wanted for the fresh farmhouse look.
Choosing Countertops for our farmhouse kitchen renovation
When I started my kitchen renovation last winter, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go with butcher block countertops, stone or laminate. I knew I wanted something neutral that would work well with my farmhouse style, but I had to consider budget, durability and maintenance.
I ruled out butcher block fairly quickly because I was worried about having too much wood, since all the floors in my house are the original hardwood. I know wood floors and wood counters can look really lovely together, but our floors are heart pine, which have a naturally amber hue. I just knew they wouldn’t look right.
I knew I didn’t want granite, because I wanted to keep things very bright. Of course, I loved marble, but the cost was prohibitive.
Choosing quartz countertops
I did my research due diligence and decided a light colored quartz would be the way to go. They were slightly more expensive than granite, but in a kitchen with little counter space, I knew we could swing it. I liked that they wouldn’t need any regular care or upkeep, and they were supposed to be relatively indestructible.
Since we were able to restore the original hardwoods and paint the cabinets, I thought spending a little extra on our countertops was justifiable.
Shopping quartz countertops at IKEA
I priced countertops at several different places. After finding out about the prices of IKEA countertops, we decided to go take a look at the options there.
When I went to IKEA to look at the sinks, faucets and counters, I wasn’t prepared for so many choices. There were options for color, thickness and edges.
The IKEA countertops we ended up with are just over one inch thick. We went with the color ocean foam and we opted to not do the beveled edges. The color is a true white, not cream or ivory, with specks of gray.
Cost of IKEA Quartz countertops
They cost $69 per square foot, BUT, and this the exciting part, a couple weeks after I purchased them I happened to be at IKEA again and saw they were ON SALE! My heart sunk. They hadn’t even been delivered yet. If I had only waited a couple more weeks to order them, they would have been 15% off. Well, my smart sister said I should just go to customer service and see if they would honor the sale retroactively. They gave me the 15% back, no questions asked. I walked away with over $300 cash in my pocket.
Cleaning IKEA Countertops
One thing that was important to me, as a mother of four messy kids, is how easy they would be to clean.
I mostly only use water and a microfiber cloth to shine them right up.
I had a couple of rust spots from leaving wet cast iron out overnight a couple times, and it came right out with Soft Scrub.
I was kind of thinking I was stuck with the stains forever, but with a little dab of this stuff it came off without a problem.
IKEA quartz countertops review
I wasn’t used to hard countertops and, at first, we broke a few dishes. We are used to it now, so I haven’t broken anything in quite a while.
I am very happy with my quartz countertops from IKEA. I love that they are strong and easy to care for. The white color adds so much brightness to my kitchen. I would highly recommend them, especially if you can snag them during one of their kitchen sales, like I did.
Frequently asked questions about our IKEA quartz countertops
How thick are IKEA quartz countertops
Ikea quartz countertops are offered in 3/4″ and 1 and 1/4″ thickness. They typically go by centimeters and IKEA offers 2 and 3 centimeter options. We chose the 1 and 1/4″ (3 cm) for the cost savings. With the stone’s hard surface, they feel plenty substantial and durable.
How much are ikea quartz countertops
The cost depends on the thickness and color. The 3/4″ ocean foam IKEA quartz countertops that we bought for our home were $69 per square foot. They were running a 15% off kitchen sale, so we brought ours home for $60 per square foot.
We needed about 50 square feet total, so we spent about $3,000 on our new IKEA countertops.
Who installs ikea quartz countertops
The cost of installation is included in the price of IKEA countertops. We had the old countertops demo’ed, so the installation was pretty seamless.
How do you clean quartz countertops
I was a little intimidated by the bright white color of our new IKEA countertops, but I figured out pretty quickly that they are super easy to clean. I usually just spot clean them with a microfiber cloth and water. For a stubborn spot, lemon essential oil or Soft Scrub with bleach takes it right out.
If a spot still won’t come out, allow the lemon essential oil or cleaner sit for about 10 minutes before wiping it away.
Get the scoop on our entire kitchen renovation HERE.
karen j cosme says
hello, lisa.
thank you for the post. your countertop and sink look divine. i will also purchase ikea quartz…if i can make up my mind between buttermilk and organic white! and i like the pencil edge but my mom wants bullnose for safety. no, she doesn’t live with me and there are no little ones other than my cats. question: were your countertops installed by ikea’s service or did you select a different installer? i ask because there are some who say installers may use plywood as an underlayment which seems right, but sounds like more work thanks again. ~karen
Lisa Bass says
I did use IKEA and they did do the plywood underlayment because my house is old and uneven. They got it all level though and we just used some trim in front to cover the plywood.
Adrianne S says
What do you mean by trim? What kind of trim? Quartz or wood to match the cabinets? Do you have a close up picture for me to see? I ask because we are moving forward with our countertop change with IKEA and I don’t know how to fix this.
Lisa Bass says
It is just a very thin little piece of wood that is an inch wide. So, I would say 1/4" by 1 inch. We just used the smallest thing available that would cover up the gap between the counter and the cabinets.
Lynn says
Hello! This is my first visit to your blog!! I follow you on Instagram. We have granite in our kitchen that we remodeled 2 years ago. I don’t dislike it and its one of the lightest I could find, however my preference was quartz . Hubby was adamantly against all white kitchen at the time. Anyway, wondering what your thoughts are on putting this on a bathroom vanity as I have 2 bathrooms in line for renos! Grabbing a cup of coffee and off to read through your posts!!
Lisa Bass says
I think it would be just beautiful in the bathroom. I feel like you can’t go wrong with white!
lisa erickson says
Hi! I love your blog and am also doing an Ikea kitchen. I have debated with quartz vs granite because of the price difference, but ultimately love the simpleness of quartz. Was the $69/SF installed? And, are you near an Ikea? I’m over an hour away from my nearest Ikea and they will be charging me a travel cost as well. Did you look at other countertop alternatives before settling on the quartz? If so, what were some of your favorites?
Thanks for any advice you can lend!
🙂 Lisa in Maine
Lisa says
Yes, that was installed. We also had to pay the extra travel feel because we live over an hour away. It still seemed like the most economical option.
Cindy says
Hello, we are about to order an ikea quartz counter. We have the hittarp cabinets, which are off-white. We are going to order the ocean foam counter, but not sure how it will look with the cabinets. Do you think ocean foam would go well with off-white cabinets? We have been to ikea and looked at the samples with our cabinets, but it is so hard to tell with a little sample!
And I LOVE your kitchen!
Lisa Bass says
Does your off white have more of a yellow undertone? If so, I would say no they wouldn’t match. If the undertone is more blue or gray I think they wold probably complement each other nicely. Thank you so much for your comment!
Cindy says
Oh no, they do have a slight yellow undertone. Thank you for your reply! I guess we need to revisit Ikea…really having trouble figuring out a nice counter color for these cabinets.
Vadara says
Excellent choice! Quartz is always beautiful. Who did the installation?
Lisa says
They actually install them for you!
bharti says
I was wondering if I can get your honest opinion about ikea quartz countertop, and what is your experience the countertop? Does it stain, or chipped easily? Is it hard to clean the stains. We have light gray cabinet and we are considering doing ocean foam as well, I hope it goes with our cabinets. Reason I ask so many question is that I have kids and i want low maintenance as possible. Thanks in advance for your input.
Olivia says
Hi, I was wondering which shade/color are the countertops?
Thanks in advance.
Annette Trott says
What paint color is on your walls?
Annette Sept 19, 2018
Lisa says
Our kitchen walls are Benjamin Moore White Dove and the Dining Room/Living Room is Benjamin Moore Gray Owl. 🙂
Katie says
Hi!
We are in the midst of re-doing a beach house (built in the 1800’s – Cape style) and we are looking for a reasonably priced countertop for our kitchen. We are doing open shelving up top with white subway tile and the lower cabinets will be Benjamin Moore Hale Navy. We came across the Ikea Quartz in Pure White — what are your thoughts? Does it look high end?
Thanks!!
Countertops Omaha says
Such an impressive blog and well defined about Trends in Quartz Countertops. Thank you for sharing it with us and keep blogging!!
Sandy says
Hi Lisa,
Love your kitchen and your blog! What type of paint did you use to paint your cabinets and did you sand them all first? Yours were previously painted so maybe you were just able to paint over, I have outdated oak, so now as I type this I’m already second guessing. ?.
Lisa says
Hey Sandy! I just used cabinet enamel from Lowe’s. Ours were painted already, so the paint went over it really well. You may want to sand them a little.
Ragnheidur says
Hi Lisa
Your kitchen looks so beautiful. I am wondering did you put the tiles on the wall before installing the sink or did you put them afterwards
Kind regard Ragga
Elizabeth says
Hi- what is the countertop called? Like the butcher is hammarp.
Lisa says
I don’t remember if it had a name like that.
MELISSA says
I thought you used pure white quartz based on your pictures and videos. I used to think I would get ocean foam but we just ordered pure white for my kitchen.
Kalik Collin says
I am surprised by your post. I got a valuable information. Thanks for sharing useful information with us.
Jen says
https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/farmhouse-on-boone/a-farmhouse-kitchen-renovation-part-1
Hi Lisa, I’m getting 404 not found errors on a lot of web links in your farmouse part of your site. That one above is one… not sure if the link just needs to be updated or what, but thought you’d like to know. It’s not the first one I’ve found 🙁
Isabelle says
I think granite kitchen worktops looks awesome. I rebuilt my kitchen and it looks extravagant, on account of the Granite lworktops given by Slab Finder ←- click the link for more details and view there gorgeous designs. WEBSITE: https://slabfinder.com/wp/
Kyle says
Looks great! Could you help with the actual thickness of the quartz countertop? IKEA advertises them as 1 1/2” (3CM), and as 1 1/4” in another place, and 3cm is actually 1.181 inches… I have a tight squeeze under molding from a beadboard wall that I hope to fit and it’s down to these tiny increments!
Thank you
Patty says
Hi. Can you tell me the exact thickness of your countertops? 3cm should be about 1-3/16”. I had Caesarstone installed and it’s exactly 1”. Caesarstone said they don’t make it in this thickness. The fabricator said it came this way. I’m trying to figure out if it’s inconsistant.
Diane says
I have Honey Maple cabinets and bought white countertop. Do think it will work?
Cathy says
Does IKEA have 36″ deep countertops for a peninsula?
Ellen says
Are you still happy with your countertops?
Granite Countertops Perrysburg says
Great article! Give me lots of valuable information about the IKEA Quartz Countertop. This is a great article, and something I think needs to be communicated more often. Keep sharing such informative posts. Thanks!!
Lisa says
Lisa,
Thank you for sharing your experience with IKEA Quartz countertop. I am thinking to the ocean foam one like yours and have it installed. Do you still like your countertops? Did IKEA do a good job installing?
Lisa says
Yes, the installers they sent did a great job. Our house is old and uneven, so it wasn’t super straightforward either. We sold our house last January, so we no longer have these countertops, but I feel they were a major selling feature for our home. It sold really quickly.
Melissa says
When you ordered from Ikea, did you have a buy a full slab or 1.5 slabs or something? Did you just pay for the exact amount you needed? Also did they come measure or did you do it all for ordering?
Lisa says
They came out and did the template, and then we had a price based on the amount.
Jane says
I love your kitchen and home aesthetic, but I was surprised you went with quartz and wanted to know why. Now I’m stumped over you finding marble to be more expensive.
I’m in NJ and I bought Carrara Marble countertops in late 2016. The price for the marble was $65/square foot. The quartz was a tad higher. I actually was leaning towards quartz but the stone manufacturer I visited who had literally hundreds of sample blocks didn’t have a single one with a pattern mimicking the marble well enough, rather endless variations of little greyish flecks. It was annoying because it’s not that hard to copy a marble pattern.
Ultimately I went with honed marble. I think it’s not for 99% of owners because they stress over etching and marble etches. The day they were installed, I sealed them after the installers sealed them. Next day I squirted lemon juice onto them (somewhat intentionally), saw the etch and smiled. I love the imperfect look. But I have a friend who seals her un-honed marble once a week and is obsessive about dish rags catching everything. That’s no way to live or enjoy your kitchen/home.
Your unfussy nature tells me you’d be equally fine with the imperfections, though for filming, not so sure it would work as well.
Anyway, long comment to say your home is lovely.
Janet Engle says
Hi!
Your kitchen looks great! I was just at IKEA and was surprised at the low cost of their Caesarstone countertops. My question is how your seams look. In the store they look terrible but the guy assured me that in my house they would look great and in the store they are usually in a hurry.
Thanks in advance.
Janet