New Kitchen - Where to start?

[afterdenon]

We went to Units Online and just got a local fitter. Really pleased.

[WhereIBelong]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

Best kitchens I have fitted are Magnets. Really good quality. Howdens have good gear as well.

Bear in mind there is a lot of myths surrounding kitchens and prices vary enormously. However at the end of the day the actual carcasses are all but identical. However the doors are where the difference lies and quality as well.

The Ladies will give you the design advice but the one big tip I will give is the electrics. Never skimp on the amount of sockets to install. I put in 9 double sockets above our worktops so no cable from an appliance has to stretch to reach a socket. The more the better and they cost so little in material when the Electrician is installing.

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Ours is a Magnet kitchen. Fitted in the late 70s.

It has grey doors so is back in fashion again... Though we do need new worktops this year - the laminate has just started cracking. Not bad really...

[MsMinervaMouse]

We just got a quote with a local company. Solid wood for £12.5k, and includes fitting and appliances, but not any extras such as tiling or flooring. My dad's girlfriend is insisting that we should just get an MDF type kitchen as this isn't our forever home and we'd be wasting our money. Honestly don't know what to think now! We could save a lot of money by ordering online and hiring a fitter, but we have no clue what we're doing and ideally just want someone to come and do the whole thing and then leave. The main advice we've had is to always get 3 quotes, so that's what we'll be doing I think. Local company, DIY and big brand.

[Disney_time]

We're having a Wren kitchen fitted at the moment, by our own joiner and so far we, and the joiner, are very happy with it. He previously recommended Howdens but started to have difficulties with Howdens kitchens, their measurements and availability etc. He asked us to look at Wren as he had fitted a few and we are glad we did.

Quality wise, its fine so far, but as our last kitchen was 25 years old, there are some things that are just not high quality any more. For example, the sink stopper feels cheap compared to our old one, but they might have fancier sinks than the one we chose.

Price wise, again we are happy compared with what we imagined the cost would be. We did have a bit of a grumble with the branch staff who stated they didn't take Amex (we wanted to pay with this for the points). They weren't very pleased that we called the head office and also tweeted them to check, then produced the proof. I guess it must have cost the branch more than if we paid by another CC.

Regarding not getting your plans until you pay up - I think that's OK, if you didn't order from them, their plans would be no good to another company, they would have to do their own.

[Lairbears]

Before you do anything work out where your bottle necks are and try to plan your design to reduce these. Like TM said don't skimp on your sockets get them in, the more the merrier, you'll not regret it.

[KarenG]

We are having our kitchen / dining room combined into one big space with original house wall knocked down / redesigned by an architect / planner who massively surprised me by saying that cheaper kitchens such as IKEA - as long as the fitter is good - can be just as good as the more expensive ones and that if the person fitting them isn’t great it can be a disaster. Basically make sure the person fitting them knows what they are doing and all will be good.

[mickey house]

I am likely to buy our new kitchen from wickes and fit it myself which is very cheap compared to the likes of magnet and wren, but having seen some really expensive kitchens supplied and fitted by companies for silly money, I would rather burn £50 notes.

As Tom said don't be mean on the sockets, and the doors are what costs the most money. Years ago my mum went to a local kitchen door shop and the guy was trying to sell her replacement kitchen cupboard doors for stupid money (but they would fit them - two minutes a door to fit), and when she laughed and said no thanks, he literally halved the cost. She doesn't deal with shops that behaviour like that, so she bought the doors from B&Q (lor similar store) for a fraction of the money and they were/are fine.

[familybell]

Thanks everyone, a lot to think about

[jdybnsn]

I did a video call "Team" meeting with an IKEA kitchen planner this week really impressed with the service and able to download lots of room plan combinations (changing worktop colours & styles etc) afterwards to show hubby...and printed off all the plans too

Prices quoted were roughly half those quoted by Wickes

[walt4it]

We were in a exactly the same position over 18 months ago and with a kitchen that had seen better day many years ago.

I started with a similar thread to yours - click on here to read

We then took ages and ended up replacing the boiler in eth kitchen first.

I also ended up typing up a whole refurb thing for The Dibb as I had read so many others and hoped it would help in situations exactly like this - the whole refurb with photos is here


We took ages to decide on what we were happy with - not what the different shops could sell us to fit a space. This was our space and once we found a kitchen we were happy with we were then introduced to a fitter who was simply amazing. Quality work and after 7 months there is nothing we would either change or have found at fault in our new kitchen .

Hope the above links help - it is the proverbial minefield out there and just remember once it is completed the next person to ask how much it cost, will always say they know a joiner and it would have been at least half that
Don't believe them and focus on what you want and in your own budget.
The whole process is not as stressful as it is made out , as long as you do your homework beforehand.

Hope this post helps