kitchen questions

What do you all (ha - Both!!) think of kitchens from Ikea?

I was looking round the place today, and there are some nice designs.
I do think that a key thing would be to have someone fit it who knows what they are doing, and who has fitted ikea kitchens before.

You see, the kitchen is massive, and it will be highly costly to kit out with cupboards and work surface. To my mind, I thought we should put an adequate kitchen in at the moment, one that will last us a few years, but not our absolutely best ever, wowee kitchen, because we can't afford it. Does that seem sensible enough?

The nexus range is quite nice. Wood veneer cupboards- totally plain. No dust trapping ledges. There are 2 colourways that are options; Patrick likes the more orangey mid-brown oak veneer, I like the darker brown stain. Patrick's option does slightly remind me of the kitchen in Hazelbank, but I shouldn't hold on to that image particularly, as a newly fitted, sleek lined kitchen would be a far cry from what we had in Gala.

Anyhow, your thoughts would be appreciated. There are a lot of decisions to be made regarding the house, and some of it is quite daunting. It will be totally magic when it's done though.

PS - we have gone with your idea, Ali of knocking down the outside shunky. Just need to figure out whether we should move the window on the back wall of the kitchen to enlarge and centralise it, or else it will be tucked in one corner and we will be unable to run cupboards into there. Think I may just have answered my own question, but it involves some propping up of the back of the house to prevent it collapsing when the window is temporarily removed. Yikes!!!