Disappointed with kitchen designers - anyone else?

[vinobell]

We are knocking through to make a kitchen diner so are completely starting from scratch with our kitchen. Have been to magnet, wren, wickes and 2 independent designers/companies, and i don't like the design from any of them! They all have different opinion on where to put key items - fridge/oven etc and I've ended up going round in circles. I have come up with my own design that i think works but would require some bespoke units.

How did you come to a decision about your kitchen, any better companies or other ideas? Or just any advice!

We had the world's fullest design from a local company we wanted to use. The guy put the entire kitchen in the space the old kitchen had been in despite the opened up room being three times the size. He didn't want to put the sink in an island because it looks untidy, etc, etc, etc.

Magnet's designer came up trumps for us but their pricing was astronomical. We recreated the design, with some tweaks, with DIY Kitchens for half the cost overall. Download one of DIY's kitchen planners and plot everything out. In terms of bespoke units, they are bound by the door sizes, but pretty much everything else can be tweaked and they have a huge range of unit sizes anyway.

Kitchen designers we've seen have all been hopeless - just interested in their product rather than how the kitchen would work for us.

We're also knocking through and I've ended up designing the kitchen myself. I just spent ages working out what we actually need storage for, how much room we've got to play with, and then enacting imaginary scenarios in my draft plans - e.g. "DP comes in to make cup of tea while I'm cooking dinner" or "unstacking the dishwasher without walking 5 miles".

Kitchen being fitted next month so fingers crossed it works cos it's only be me to blame!

Hi a friend of mine designed her own the way she wanted it and then got her builder to buy the kitchen through Howdens. She was really pleased with it.

I worked with my kitchen guy to make the kitchen I wanted, I came up with the general idea, he came up with some awesome ideas to make the most of the awkward space and then we tweaked it together BUT it's a handmade bespoke kitchen (for the same price as the independent quoted for a crappy design full of filler pieces) but with loads of windows, a giant fireplace, 2 ceiling heights one very short and one extremely high and 3 doorways it was always going to be a challenge.

If you're not happy try to see what you come up with then go and see them and see who can make it work / or make it better.

DH and I ended up using an online design tool and spent lots of time planning our kitchen, drawing on what we liked about designs that had been drawn up at Ikea, Next and Magnet. We then found an independent kitchen fitter who looked over the design and highlighted a couple of issues. Kitchen came from DIY Kitchen and the fitter did everything, from plastering, flirting and ceilings, through to polishing the units once in.

Ive heard really good things about DIY kitchens especially on here, so thats the way we may go - trouble is the best use of the space would be some in between sizes e.g. 650mm and I'm not sure they can do that? either that or i think you can still get bespoke online cabinets fitted.

we have awkward spaces too - low ceilings/windows in random places, but really its not that difficult a space. I'm just so worried about making mistakes. But no professional designer seems to be able to come up with a solution either. Feel really stuck and not sure where to go from here. I've read the MN kitchen thread but thats more about details. I'm stuck on large ticket items e.g. where to out the fridge.

Why are the designers all so useless tho? one told me not to put my fridge in a corner then put it in the other corner so the door couldn't open

hate to play this card - do you think women are better at designing kitchen then men? my last designer has designed kitchens for 12 years but told me he can't cook?!?

You know what you want in your kitchen. Some things work and some won't. I don't like islands but you might.
I don't know if women are better at designing kitchens than men - that sounds like a bit of a generalisation.
Maybe people who cook are better at kitchen design than people who don't cook.

sorry Mike thats completely fair - i guess i meant to say that I've been frustrated that all designers I've worked with don't cook but seem happy to tell me my thoughts are all wrong.

In the end I designed ours using a wickes online planner to get a general idea. We ended up moving a door to get it right but well worth it. Then we went to a local independent who were fantastic. They suggested a range where the company could make bespoke sizes where necessary. It took around 8 months from designing, tweaking to completion but we are really happy with it. Our previous kitchen was an off the peg one from mfi, but we used a good joiner to adapt bits where necessary.

I did our own, old school - squared paper and little cut outs for each available cupboard size (you can get sizes and often prices too online). There were a few bits I really really wanted e.g. Range cooker, spice jar pull outs each side, dishwasher near the sink a 1m wide big drawers, 'landscape' 1m wide stacked wall units - you get the idea. I then messed around for ages and worked out where to compromise (so I can't fit in a big side by side fridge freezer for example). My design was a world better than anything a kitchen designer came up with. We have ended up with just 2x5cm 'fillers' to pull the sink and dishwasher central to a window, whereas the proper designs seemed to have dead space all over the place.

What's your budget OP? And what "design" theme are you after - country/shaker style, ultra modern? What materials? Wood, granite, marble, mdf?

Then once you have these you can either find a local or independent designer to fit your requirements and budget.

My dream one day is to have a Clive Christian kitchen

I did our own, old school - squared paper and little cut outs for each available cupboard size (you can get sizes and often prices too online). There were a few bits I really really wanted e.g. Range cooker, spice jar pull outs each side, dishwasher near the sink a 1m wide big drawers, 'landscape' 1m wide stacked wall units - you get the idea. I then messed around for ages and worked out where to compromise (so I can't fit in a big side by side fridge freezer for example). My design was a world better than anything a kitchen designer came up with. We have ended up with just 2x5cm 'fillers' to pull the sink and dishwasher central to a window, whereas the proper designs seemed to have dead space all over the place.

I had a good idea of what I wanted, then went through Howdens. They came round and measured and created online plans and images. We went back and forth tweaking things a few times, and am pleased with the overall result and price.

Most places do some units in sizes other than 60cm, so it might be possible to have a wider unit or slim pull out door to miniseries dead space.

I'd recommend an independent kitchen designer - @OnePlanOnHouzz on here is a whizz at configuring layouts, and isn't tied to any particular supplier so can give completely impartial advice.

And yes, agree that you need to have some experience of cooking to understand what's needed in a kitchen!