Howdens kitchen design- yay/nay

[Candl3Mak3r]

I mean the person who comes out does measurements then sends pics.

Is it reliable and do you get a good design?

We were very happy

My close friend had one done and it's beautiful.

Mine is a Howdens kitchen. At every step they asked for my input - work surface materials, make of appliance, what size appliance etc. Also which cupboards, (the swing out ones, ones with a spice rack on the door, ones that make use of corner space etc). Also asked if I knew where I wanted the sink and cooker or should they suggest. They were thorough, even down to light positioning to suit my poor eyesight. The fitters were good but I was in the middle of a full house renovation and had a very good builder overseeing all the work done, and before he let me pay he called the fitter back in to re-align a work surface he wasn't happy with. They turned up next morning and did the work happily.

I'd have another Howdens kitchen for sure.

Really good

They are good. My parents used Howdens for their recent kitchen and it's excellent. Their planner came up with a good breakfast bar design for an awkward space and it works really well.

We also stayed in a holiday flat this year with a great kitchen and the layout and design impressed me a lot so mum and I looked inside the cupboards to find the manufacturer, thinking it was IKEA and it turned out to be another Howdens kitchen.

Not bad! I found them good but wasn't impressed with the quality of the units themselves unless we parted with a lot of money and went for the solid wood range. Have a look at local bespoke kitchen companies - you may be surprised how affordable they are and personal found the quality to be far superior and design tailored to our family.

Howdens are excellent - best design we had came from them

It's obviously designer dependent as the one I had was dreadful. I walked out after 90 minutes of getting nowhere with a young male designer who I'd confidently say had never used a kitchen in his life.

He wouldn't listen to any of the things I wanted and just spent ages lining cupboards up so the joints at opposite sides of the room were in line. When he realised they couldn't supply a piece of worktop big enough for the island I wanted he just lost all interest.

So I went to Ikea and they were very helpful and just better in every way - transparent pricing, really good features etc. I only took the design appointment from Howdens because they wouldn't give any information or pricing without it, or the fitter's name, because obviously how much you pay depends on what discount they get and how they split it with you.

@Bjorkdidit did they not come to your home.

I've got a Howdens planner coming out on Thursday. Interested to see what they come up with compared to the Wren plan we have just had done.

Our Howdens design was okay, but I found the designer didn't listen to us. I knew what I wanted from my kitchen so pretty much planned it myself, and she kept trying to change things to her way of doing them, but not how I wanted my kitchen to flow.

Mine was great. Went through multiple permutations with photo mock up of each with how it would work in my room. Builder recommendations excellent and very good on price. I took some time to think about it and received an upgrade to timber for the same price as the cheaper range to lock me in. Couldn't find a cheaper worktop option - quartz. Need some work in the kitchen but fitting in the next 2 weeks. Fingers crossed. Haven't got their appliances as wanted better quality.

Awful, we went into the showroom to work on a design, the designer was going through the motions, didn't listen or offer any suggestions, had one eye on the TV in the waiting area. We went with Wren whose designer was excellent, the complete opposite.

Just have to chime in to say nine years on my Howdens kitchen is falling apart. My previous, an Ikea kitchen still looked brand new after ten years. Next time I'm definitely not getting Howdens. Quality was terrible.

Yes in terms of measuring (it's then their responsibility) but the guy who did our layout had about a days training as far as I could tell. No experience. Plus they aren't the ones using your kitchen. So take the catalog and go through it yourself and then talk through exactly what you want, and have them do it again if it's not up to your liking. It's good then to see the 3D rendering. I've used Howdens about five times and I've always done 80% of the design.

We ended up 2k over budget. They advised us on how to cut back but still get the kitchen we want. Professional and not pushy