Something people often wonder is – does Ikea build flat pack granny flats? 

  

Quick answer – No. But you can still buy several essential items for your granny flat from Ikea, fitting out many rooms such as your kitchen, living and dining area, bedrooms and bathrooms. Plus a whole lot more covered below.

  

This is a trend I have been seeing lately – people investing in a granny flat, and dressing it up with items they purchase themselves from Ikea

 

Today I will cover how you can make this work for your granny flat, the items that Ikea sells you can use in them, and how to keep your costs low. Lastly, I will mention further costs that need to be known!

 

 

Let’s get your shopping list prepared below.

  

How Ikea and Granny Flats Work Together

 

There are multiple ways that you can go about this.

 

After all, it is possible to buy a flatpack granny flat – just not from Ikea. “Granny Flat Kit Homes – The Little Known Problems That Can Come Up” lists the builders of these.

 

Or other budget options include:

 

• Modular homes.
• Relocatable homes, and
• Shipping containers.

 

Alternatively, you could:

 

• Hire a designer for floor plans, and become an “owner-builder”, to build your own granny flat, like I did, or
• Convert your garage or an unused shed on your property into a granny flat.

 

So, if you’re still thinking about whether it’s worth spending your money to invest in building a granny flat on your property, one of these options may be just what you’re looking for.

 

You can fit them out yourself, by simply purchasing the majority of the products that you need from Ikea, which will save you a lot of money.

 

 

It’s also important to note that, when purchasing these items from Ikea, because you are buying stock items, rather than custom-made, you are already saving yourself a lot.

 

 

Negotiating with a Builder to Save Costs on Building Materials

 

A great way to save money when building your granny flat is to first find a great builder, one that you feel as though you can talk to easily, openly, and truthfully.

 

Then, you’ll be able to find time to sit down and talk to them about outsourcing (meaning, going out, looking for, and purchasing your own materials).

 

You see, even though many times tradies and subcontractors will get a cheaper price (perhaps even the wholesale price) on items that they buy in large quantities (for example, paint or tiles), this means they will spend extra when hours sourcing these for you.

 

By doing so, this will end up costing you more in labour – which is on average, $50+ per hour. So, if you do this work, you will save on these costs.

 

Hence why I recommend that instead you purchase your own products for your builder to install whenever you possibly can.

 

But there are times when you can save on materials, by buying things that are second-hand. Other times, you should definitely splash out and spend more money, buying high-quality materials from a retail store like Ikea.

 

But exactly where do you spend and when do you save? Well, see your shopping list for Ikea below, where I will touch on this.

 

What to Buy from Ikea to Furnish Your Granny Flat

 

The materials for your granny flat will be what costs you the most.

 

You can see where I recorded all my expenses for my main materials, which cost me a total of $57, 913.

 

But a lot of these costs were for my frame and flooring, the labour for my plumber and electrician, amongst other things.

 

So, it is possible to set yourself a budget for furnishing a fully functional granny flat without compromising on your style.

 

Let’s go through the rooms and what you need for them one by one.

 

Bedroom/s

 

Another thing to consider is just which rooms you should splash out and spend money on, and which rooms you can save by spending less money on.

 

To put it simply, the two rooms that people love the most in a home are their kitchen and bathroom.

 

While they are also generally the most expensive rooms to build, it is worth considering spending money on these rooms, Why? So the tenants or future buyers feel comfortable in these rooms, rather than wanting to rip them up and renovate them.

 

Ikea has plenty of beds with storage, both underneath and overhead. This is great to store away your bedding and linen, even clothing and accessories.

 

 

Many granny flat bedrooms also have built-in wardrobes. But you can add more storage solutions to these wardrobes by way of:

 

• Frames.
• Baskets.
• Multi-use hangers, and
• Hooks.

 

Your bedroom will be organised and look more spacious, as you will be able to get everything off of the floor, with everything having its’ own spot to be stored away.

 

Living Area, Dining Area, and Kitchen 

 

A great way to design your granny flat is to have the kitchen or kitchenette, living and dining area all in the one room – that is, an open plan layout.

 

You can easily furnish the majority of this area with some high-quality items from Ikea.

 

Starting with your kitchen, where it is also important to splash out and spend. At Ikea you can purchase an entire flat packed kitchen. This will be tidy, functional, and have plenty of storage space.

 

It is also a lot less expensive than the Polytec Australian made kitchen that I purchased for my granny flat.

 

It will have almost everything that you need, including:

 

The only thing it does not have is your appliances, but these can be added, as can other items, including:

 

• A splashback.
• Drawer dividers, and
• More storage solutions, such as an island or trolley, shelving, or wall organisers such as towel rails, hooks, or magnetic racks.

 

Why spend this extra money adding these extra storage spaces? It is important to keep your bench top clean and free of space, and all the items in your kitchen within reach. As “Granny Flat Space Saving Ideas” discusses, it will also help make your granny flat ‘feel’ so much bigger.

 

You can start looking at the pre-designed Ikea kitchens, and changing them, including adding more cabinets and altering the style to suit you and your granny flat here.

 

Now, moving on to your dining area.

 

If you are building a small granny flat for just one or two tenants, think about getting a fold-out table instead of a large table taking up floor space.

 

Then, moving on from your dining area to your living room, which should flow on from the fining area.

 

 

Some great suggestions for purchases for furnishing this area include:

 

• Storage boxes with lids.
• Wall shelves.
• Seats that you can stack out of the way.
• For a smaller granny flat, a chair that looks as lovely on your outdoor area as it does in your living room. Or, if you have the room, a bigger sofa with in-built storage.
• A footstool with built-in storage.
• A TV bench with storage space.
• A rug, to separate the room from the dining area.
• Hanging plants, to bring a little of the outdoors inside.

 

Also, if you are planning on putting children in the granny flat, think about making this a multi-use room where they can rest and play, by including functional, flexible items such as storage with wheels for toys, and side tables that they can also sit at and colour.

 

Architecturally Designed Granny Flats can include  multi-use rooms, how to set them up, and just why they are so helpful in a small space.

 

 

But some great purchase that you can make are:

 

• Towel racks/rail holders
• A shower head.
• A vanity unit.
• A mirrored cabinet with storage.
• A sink
• Taps

 

 

Second-Hand Items

 

Then, there are some things I have not yet mentioned in this article but are essential. A way to save yourself some money is to buy these as used (second-hand) materials.

 

The materials that I suggest you do this for are:

 

• Light fittings, and
• Interior design decorations.

 

You can look for these on Gumtree,  eBay, or Facebook Marketplace.

 

Or, you can jump online, and type in and look up “recycled building materials yard”. This will point you in the direction of many sellers of used building materials, household items, etc., in your area.

But Wait, There’s More…

 

Other Costs

 

Though, so far, this all sounds quite inexpensive, as a basic flatpack can cost only $10,000 and many other things you need to fit-out the granny flat can be purchased at Ikea, which you can do yourself, there are several other costs I have not yet mentioned.

 

So, let’s begin.

 

All amenities, to connect to your services, such as water, stormwater, sewer, telephone, power, gas, and plumbing, will need to be added, and this can cost you $10, 000 in labour alone.

 

Then you have the necessities for electrical work, which is another $5000 or so, and the necessities for plumbing, which is $5000 or more (this varies depending upon the materials you require).

 

This area may still cost you more again – if any of your water, electricity or gas metering cannot be connected from your main home, then they will have to be fed separately, from your street. This will require metering systems to be installed, which has to be done by a level 2 electrician, and this will cost you more for the time they spend on your site.

 

Another regulation for a granny flat is for it to have privacy – it is also just important to consider if you are planning on renting out the granny flat. You might want to budget more for this – that is, spend more money on items such as landscaping or gates, which could cost you more than $3000.

 

Last, but definitely not least, it’s always important to think about your Council fees – such as Certifications, inspections, and contributions. “Granny Flat Section 94 Contributions“ discusses how you might be asked to pay your local Council several thousands of dollars in contributions.

 

Conclusion 

 

If you need more motivation before purchasing the materials for your ideal granny flat, you can:

 

• View Ikea’s Inspiration and Idea’s page.
• Download Ikea’s Shopping App
• Use Ikea’s Place App to ‘place’ their products in your rooms, seeing them to scale, ensuring they’re the right size and style, or
• See a home that Ikea’s interior design team decorated.

 

When ready to start building, you can read how to build your own granny flat, and save yourself a lot of money by doing so.