Schmidt kitchens

[Lily7050]

Has anyone got Schmidt kitchen?
Do you think they worth the money asked?

I visited Schmidt showroom today and got very impressed with smart solutions on maximizing storage space.
The quality is a few levels up from Howdens/Benchmarx/Magnet.

[JoJoSM2]

German kitchens are generally v clever. What’s the price you’ve been quoted?

[RealityExistsInTheHumanMind]

Are you anywhere near Pontefract. DIY Kitchens have most of the solutions shown.
They haven't got the bit that comes down from the back of the wall unit though. That's amazing - but I suspect pretty pricey.

Value depends if you have the cash to spare. I am more than happy with my DIY kitchen one. I was working to a tight budget and still got lots of nifty storage solutions.

[weepingwillow22]

We had our schmidt kitchen delivered today and it will be installed next week so will be able to update you then!

Cost wise it worked out to be more reasonable than other german kitchens we looked at and had a much wider range of finish options. We also liked the bigger drawers and the fact the glass drawer sides came as standard.

[Lily7050]

@RealityExistinginHumanMind: no, I am in SW London, three and half hours drive to DIY showroom. I am a bit concerned with lots of negative reviews of DIY Kitchens re. missing or damaged items. Though someone pointed out that eventually they will deliver everything. But I am not keen to live without kitchen for months.

[weepingwillow22]

I am impressed with the service from schmidt so far. Everything arrived as planned yesterday and the chap from the schmidt showroom came out to inspect the boxes.

[Lily7050]

@weepingwillow: I could not find a single negative review of any branch of Schmidt.

[weepingwillow22]

There is an old schmidt thread on mumsnet that was not very complementary about some of the branches. They are franchises so vary a lot in relation to service. We are using the Epsom one and they have been great so far.

[DragonflyInn]

Our Schmidt kitchen was fitted at the start of the year. Love it. Really good service and great quality products. Our kitchen has quite a few quirks and they did a great design that dealt with them all. However do negotiate the price! We got it down quite a bit from their starting point.

[Lily7050]

@JoJoSM2: I have not got the final quote yet. The estimate is around £10K for kitchen cabinets only, but the designer said she would try to get the best discount possible.

[mountains76]

I've been looking at Leicht kitchens at the moment, any reason why you've chosen Schmidt over Leicht? I wonder how to to compair on price as they look similar.

[JoJoSM2]

Don’t know how big your kitchen is, but 10k doesn’t sound too bad? (that’s around what we paid for DIY Kitchens but quite a lot of cabinets and finished in Farrow and Ball).

Even if you go for high end worktops and appliances like Siemens + hot water tap etc, it should still come in under 20k + installation.

For comparison, you could get a quote from InToto. They’re SW London branches are in Cheam and Fulham. Similarly to Schmidt, they specialise in clever modern stuff.

[Lily7050]

I like how Schmidt came with the idea of having taller base cabinets (78 cm while standard is 72 cm). In their pantry each shelf can be b=ulled out separately. If I understand correctly DIY Kitchens all shelves swing out or pull out together.

[Lily7050]

My OH is very impressed with quality vs price of DIY Kitchens. Their quote is just under £3K for cabinets. It might be difficult to justify £10K for Schmidt units.

[JoJoSM2]

If you’re quite happy with DIY Kitchens, it might be worth looking into them more.

I actually travelled up there (from Sutton) by train. They even picked me up from the train station and offered a lot of help with kitchen planning. They also made some bespoke stuff for us at extra cost.

Do you want to go taller hoping for extra storage or because you’re tall? If it’s the latter, then they’re actually quite ok - I’m just shy of 6ft and DH is 6ft4 and we find the kitchen comfortable.

The units arrived fully assembled so it was v easy for our builder to install the kitchen.

[Lily7050]

@weepingwilliow22: How did the kitchen installation go? Did you us Schmidt fitters? What about plumbing and electric? Have you found you own plumber and electrician or they were recommended by Schmidt?

[weepingwillow22]

We are mid installation at the moment (it is taking about 7 days). We used the fitters recommended by schmidt and they are really good. I would recommend using them as they know the product and will get a perfect finish.

One of the cabinets was damaged on the side and we were given the option of a repair (which you will not see as the side is hidden) or a replacement (the fitters will install it and then come back in 4 weeks when the new one arrives to swap it over).

Their fitters don't do electrics or plumbing so we are using our main contractors to this. This is proving to be more of an issue as they are very busy and not good at liasing with the fitters. We are struggling to get them on site to pull the wires through.

On tuesday when the kitchen is in schmidt have arranged for the worktop templating. We then have to wait a week for it to be manufactured/fitted along with the hob and taps/sinks.

I will update when it is all done but overall I would still recommend schmidt.

[Lily7050]

Thank you weepingwillow22. I did not expect dry fit will take 7 days.
Is it because you got quite large kitchen?
I do not expect Schmidt kitchens are delivered in flat pack, do they?

[weepingwillow22]

Yes I was surprised too at how long it is taking. No they are all pre assembled but the kitchen fitter does seem to be a perfectionist and is doing lots of adjustments. He is also working on his own which makes things take longer.

We have one floor to ceiling wall bank approx 4m long, a sink run of approx 3m and an island approx 3m x 1.2m.

[Lily7050]

Thanks weepingwillow22. It sounds like you kitchen is at least twice as big as ours. Then 7 days make sense.

[Lily7050]

@JoJoSM2: No, I am not tall, neither is my partner. We just want to maximise storage space and eliminate unnecessary dust collection surfaces. I will probably need to keep a small ladder to access tall wall cabinets.

The builder we talked on Saturday discouraged us to buy anything outside London (we are in SW London). He said from his experience there are always some issues and if the supplier is too far away it will take ages to get a replacement or a missing bit. We are still waiting for a detailed quote from this builder but from the estimate he told us he could get Howdens kitchen for the same price as DIY quoted me.
He never installed a kitchen from Schmidt or DIY-Kitchens but he seems knowledgeable about new requirements for electrics and about bathroom refit that we need to do as well.

[Lily7050]

@weepingwillow22 & @DragonflyInn: what do you think of Schmidt's Magnolia colour?
I have chosen it for kitchen doors/cabinets but now read on another thread that "cream" dates quickly.
Thought to me Schmidt's Magnolia looks me like warm grey rather than cream.
Should I switch to white or light grey like "Celest" or "Vison"?

This is the worktop material www.classicquartzstone.com/roma-grey-quartz-slabs/. Again in reality it looks more creamy-warm grey.

[Lily7050]

@mountains76: I do not have Leicht showroom nearby so cannot compare.
There is Intoto showroom near me but I did not visit it. I downloaded Intoto brochure but it is all in dark dramatic colours that will make our small dark kitchen even darker.

[LittlePicnic]

@weepingwillow22 How was your kitchen in the end? If you don’t mind me asking, how much was it roughly?

[RT1000]

They are franchises. I would be super careful. we used the Barnet / Hampstead Garden Suburb one and they have been appalling. they over promise and then don't deliver, and couldn't care less. go with another provider - they just can't be trusted to do what they say