Kitchen planning

[SilverLiningPlaybook]

I have never had to plan or organise a new kitchen installation. My current kitchen is falling apart and the oven door has fallen off. I have heard DIY kitchens are good, but I can't measure accurately or use these online planners.
Wickes has a free design service, and Ikea are also good I hear. Please talk me through the best options, what to look out for, how much it should cost etc. I have no idea what I am doing.

When I was planning mine I found Wickes, IKEA and a couple of others were a waste of time. They simply asked what I wanted and put it in - no questions about how I would use the kitchen and no useful suggestions.

Is your kitchen an awkward shape?

Have you had a look at the DIY kitchens website and planner. It really is easy to use, especially if your kitchen is some form of rectangle. One of the big benefits is that nearly all the units come in increments of 50mm so it is pretty easy to get an almost bespoke kitchen for the price of a flat pack. The units also come fully built which makes them a doddle to fit (according to my fitter).

In fact, if your kitchen is pretty rectangular I'd be very happy to knock up a plan on DIY kitchens for you. Not for you to use (unless you wanted to) but to give you an idea of costs for your shape.

Mine cost 3.5k from DIY but I got my white goods elsewhere and used an independent fitter. Mine is open plan and 3.5m by 3.

Wickes are hopeless, they are only interested in cramming as many high priced ‘extras’ into a plan as they can ( never shelves, try for a wire corner unit) . They also have an 18month waiting time ( at least in our area) for fitting , so they will only sell the unit for you to fit. Good luck if they have mis measured or if any of the units are faulty, that will be your problem.

sorry about the oven door!

I found b & q online design really good, I did one online myself and one with an online design appointment. But I wasn't sure about the quality of their units.

I took the B&Q plan to others to match.
Wickes insisted on measuring before a design appointment which was in person and free so we knew our measurements were accurate.
Then bought from DIY kitchens and hired a local fitter.

Send the wickes plan to Diykitchens and they'll do you a quote from that.

This is all really helpful thank you.

@NannyGythaOgg our kitchen is more or less square really. Thank you for your kind offer.