howdens kitchens - opinions?

[teta]

Our extension/kitchen refurbishment is starting tomorrow and i havn't yet decided on a kitchen.My builder is recommending howdens.I would prefer solid wood ie.Pineland,that i can paint.Plus i also need a custom-made high and wide larder/china cupboard.Is it possible to mix two different kitchens together?.Will it look ok?.Also do Howdens kitchens look good?

Lovely! really weel made and lovely styling!
Very glad i went to to Howdens.
Mine was installed in 2006.

I've had 3 Howdens kitchens installed in 3 different houses, and wouldn't bother going elsewhere now TBH. They are durable, look fine, and come ready made rather than flatpacked. Have had no issues at all with the kitchen. Can you go and have a look at their (small) showrooms to help clarify your thoughts?

Oh, and twice I've had the kitchen fitters make a custom made cupboard for me using the same stuff as the rest of the kitchen cabinets. The designer will come out to you, and you and they will design a kitchen that suits you and that is the time to discuss added bits you need.

also interested in their kitchens - how do you get an idea of pricing?

We had one installed last November and very happy with it, including a range cooker, hood, wine cooler, belfast sink and units we spent £4.5k

Interested in the wooden shaker one (Haworth?) anyone got it? Is it nice/ could you repaint it easily if you needed to and what's the rough cost?

Howdens mainly sell through builders and contractors. We had one in a rental property. It worked fine and looked fine.

I suggest you go for a fairly neutral design that will not look dated too soon.

Is Haworth the white one? If so, my dad had a small kitchen fitted with this, hob, oven and extractor hood for about £1,500 inc fitting but excluding tiles and tiling and fridge.

I had a similar but larger one fitted, including hob, oven and integral fridge and fancy corner cupboards plus a lot of carpentry, replastering and electrics for about £3,500 again exc tiles and tiling.

I haven't repainted the units and probably wouldn't try as they have a very paint-repellant surface.

We havethe Howarth in white. v nice. V pleased. Went for more modern looking handles which stops it looking too trad.
Wouldn't know about painting it though - why would you. V nice as it is.

If you are buying the kitchen from the builder then the builder may well be adding a significant margin on top of the wholesale price (s)he is paying Howdens as well as his/her fitting costs.

Our builder only charged labour - didn't add anything to actual cost of kitchen.

Our builder has said he will give it to us at cost price. Ask if you can do that too, apparently also in October they have a really big sale.

we have the howarth, tis lovely and like katisha we went with modern handles too. soft close drawers and doors make it feel very nice too

Haven't seen howarth in the flesh and would only want to have the option to repaint in a few years if we needed to. Also, I like the genuinely painted type finish rather than the sort of plastic coating most kitchens seem to have. I read somewhere that Howarth is one of their most expensive ranges - typical!

Thank-you everyone.Preta i am thinking along similar lines like you.I would like the option of painting it in future.This is why i'm thinking a mixture,so i can paint certain pieces [to change the look] might work.I like the traditional looking white one but i have just seen it online so i don't know how it would be in r.l.I would love a cream version of the Wickes 'French grey' as i have a very dark edwardian kitchen but the Wickes cream kitchen looks very 'plastic' to me.Its good to know that everyone seems to rate Howdens and the costs sound really good.

teta we have the howarth white kitchen, with tongue and groove rather than tiles, painted in french grey from F&B. It looks great. Plus stainless steel splashbacks. V pleased with the modern yet traditional feel.

Oh and oak worktops

My mum has just had a Howdens kitchen installed, it is lovely .

The builder has just bought me the latest brochure and yes the Howarth White is my favourite[with the traditional handles].Do the cupboards look like real wood in r.l.?.Also i wonder how granite would look with it.I like the look of wood but with 4 dcs i don't think it would wear that well.Katisha your kitchen sounds lovely, especially the tongue and groove.I love french grey but i think it would be too dark with the original terracota tiles i have on my floor.

ours is superb, oak, 2nd most expensive one for our big kitchen and 3 years on its still great. Highly recommended.

The oaks worktops are bearing up fine here, have had them about 18 months and never actually reoiled...I am fairly OK about wiping up water but there is no horrible staining or blackness around the sink or anything. I don't put hot pans straight down on it either. But am nowhere near as neurotic as I was when it was first done.

No French Grey wouldn't go with terracotta tiles I don't think. we have slate on the floor which works quite well with it.

we've just got one from Howdens.
I initially wanted the Howarth white but wasn't 'in love' when I saw it in the shop. We went for the Tewkesbury medium oak with granite worktops. It's lovely.

I have just got one too and love it.

Katisha we have a lot of curries and highly coloured spicy food and i just know it would stain wood [and i am a slob!].We might have to do wood on the island as i am thinking a small mobile one that we can tuck away might be more useful [with a fold-out lip for dcs etc.].Any one know if 230 pounds per square metre is a good price for granite [includes the cost of cutting/honing].Maybe this deserves another thread!.Thank-you for all the positive feedback everyone

Our builders were most put out we had an Ikea kitchen rather than Howden's. They def are on a kickback and also like Howden's as they come prebuilt so less work for them, although we ended up doing the kitchen ourselves with a chippy mate's help.

Had a Howden's kitchen in the rental we had whilst we had the work done and it wasn't bad at all.

However, their range is very limited, and we wanted different doors in some places etc so Ikea units/carcasses worked better for us.