I have a pair each of their large and small stainless mixing bowls. I use them almost every day. I also have their glass bottle pepper grinder. Its the best I've ever used. Oh, and a paring knife I absolutely love. More on reddit.com

It sort of depends how picky you are. Standard stuff like serving ware are fine. But knives, peelers, even scissors, there's no point in buying something cheap since you'll use them daily and you want stuff that will last, are easy to clean, and feel good in your hands. That said, we have a 5-qt iron core stainless steel pot from Ikea that we bought 20 years ago and it's rock solid. Best $30 spent ever. More on reddit.com

Pay someone else to come put a stone top on, it will make any cheap kitchen look 100 times better. Get a local kitchen guy (not a huge company) to come give you a design and quote. Sometimes it's about the same cost or maybe only a grand over, if so I'd go with the custom build (a couple of grand extra on a kitchen may hurt your wallet a little now, but the trade off is worth it) Just my experience and what I've heard from heaps of customers (So many regret not spending that little bit extra right at the start) More on reddit.com

I redid my kitchen with ikea and would go with them again. They have a design tool on their website where you can price everything out, add/subtract bells and whistles, and make sure everything fits. IKEA’s cabinets install on a rail system, so if you can hang that level, install should be easy. I paid for install because I didn’t have the time and the wife wanted it quicker. The delivery/pickup process and exchanges for ikea were simultaneously streamlined and annoying. For the same price point, Home Depot is also going to be in the mdf-range of cabinets. There is at least one company that makes ikea-fitting door and drawer fronts (Semi Handmade). They were too expensive for me on the initial kitchen buy, but may be a refresh upgrade for me. Drawers on the bottom (besides sink and corners), cabinets up top. Soft close is nice to have. Think about crown/bottom moulding for upper cabinets during the design phase; I didn’t and regret it. More on reddit.com