Where did you get your kitchen from?

[MerryMarigold]

Getting new kitchen (at last. We have lived with ours since moving in 5 years ago). Want to get an idea of what companies others have used, whether everything is 'much of muchness', or whether you get what you pay for. Also want to get a rough idea of how much it costs...preferably including the installation, whether that was by builders or others. Got to break the news to dh. He thinks it's about 5K max.

How did you find the experience?

What should I look out for?

apparently in the latest which report - ikea came out as one of the best all round kitchens.

i have soem run of the mill shaker look a like kitchen from howdens or such like

Thanks ivykaty. I was just wondering as our neighbours recently moved in and ripped out an ikea kitchen that was only about 5 years old. I was wondering if they wear badly. I need something veeeeeeeeery hardy!

I only know as a friend told me he was looking for a kitchen and ikea had come out an all rounder.

Ask your neighbours why they didn't like it? Possibly they objected to the style?

my howden kitchen was put in about 9 years ago - have been as happy as larry with it as a bog standard finish and kitchen - only got a few base units and no wall cuboards - as I have ikea steel shelving which leaves the crockery and saucepands open, which is soemthing I like that makes it easy to ptu everything away (i can stand on the spot and put all the sihes away in one place)

they don't make mine anymore - it was shaker style I had it as the builder told me he could get a good discount for me and it would last me a good 15 years before needing to be replaced. If I wanted soemthing fancy then he could do that for me but I would need to add £££. Builders brother was carpenter and he put in the worktops beautifully slotted together without any of those things used normally to hold cut worktops. As I wanted wood worktops and bossy builder told me they would look shiet in three years so he got me fake stuff.

i must admitt he was probably right and I have been happy with his work and finish and price was good

Friend of mine used to work for B&Q and didn't rate their kitchens much; the Cooke and Lewis range better, but can get more for your money elsewhere.

Friends very happy with their Howden's one, put in by local builder.

We got our from a local manufacturer in S Yorkshire and are very pleased with it still 3 years down the line - we looked at a few places including Ikea, and this seemed to be the most "kitchen for cash" for what we wanted, but we needed new oven, sink, wall tiles, floor tiles and fitting. None of it is actual wood, but v good quality laminated composiet stuff. That lot, plus worktop, 13 units,4 drawers and breakfast bar cost £7.5K inc fitting. They are based near Barnsley, but I am pretty sure they work all round the country.

I have an ikea kitchen which has been in for 3 years and gets VERY heavy family use-it still looks like new-I love it

Thanks all for your help. What worktops do you have? Is wood a no-no? Hear it's quite high maintenance...

We have a Howdens one, put in by our builder as part of major internal alterations to our house.
Our kitchen has been 'in situ' since October and I love it.

Make sure you buy through your builder though - ours passed on his 50 - 75% discount so a big kitchen and all appliances cost just under £6K but should have cost at least twice that (apparently).

We are planning on staying in this house 10 odd years and then selling up so wanted a kitchen that would last and still look good when we come to sell,without breaking the bank in the interim.

Sorry to jump in, but I'm also looking at new kitchens, and on quite a tight budget (new home, everything needs doing!)

Was looking at Howdens and Ikea too. Which Howdens kitchens do people have?

DP is a builder so we'll be able to get a good price, but if Ikea is a bit better I'd like to drag him there :o

Ikea - have had four of them and they are brilliant having said that i fancied a change and have just bought a Wickes one which is lovely. I had Diapol fit me a granite worktop and they were brilliant and really cheap.

Had an IKEA kitchen in the last house and loved it - managed to look good despite lots of sticky hands and knocks from toys. The only thing I would say is that they do tend to change the ranges quite often so buy a couple of spare door / drawer fronts etc in case of damage. Had a local carpenter fit it and he said the quality was very good - certainly better than the old style B&Q, MFI etc.

We also had their solid wood worktops - looked fab for the most part but it did mark around the sink where there was lots of water. It was also quite high maintenance, needed to oil it every couple of months and be very diligent to mop up spills etc quickly. I don't think I'd have it again, but I'd have another IKEA kitchen.

Ours was a mfI one from when they were still going, I think howdens were their supplier. It's cream gloss cupboards with cherry wood plInths.

We've had it now for 6 years and it still looks good

Had a magnet kitchen. Was great. My Mum just had a very very expensive Harvey Jones kitchen - it is a disaster!
DON'T EVER BUY A HARVEY JONES KITCHEN!

Mine is from Wickes. Cupboards are similar to this but bought mine 5 years ago. Have laminate worktops and splashbacks, prob a bit passe now but it all still looks good and has worn well. I think we paid about £5k plus fitting (didn't use their fitters as got a cheaper deal elsewhere).

The only thing I would really change is to have granite worktops (which were out of our price range at the time).

We had IKEA fitted about 3 years ago. Love it still, and looks as good as the day it was fitted. Not sure about their fitting service though. We had to sign up on the day we bought the units, before any survey of our kitchen, so they couldn't do a full quote, thought this a bit odd. Bought units in Wembley, live in Berkshire and local fitter came from Portsmouth every day! Fitting was fine, but seemed to take ages and maybe we could have had cheaper locally?
Cost about 5K in all, with some major re-wiring that wasn't quoted for originally as they hadn't seen the kitchen...

ooh what's wrong with harvey jones? thought they certainly looked lovely!

Mines from Howdens but buy via the trade or else open an account to get bigger discounts. And dont order rights away - they will offer further discounts if you dither a bit

Just had a Cooke and Lewis kitchen fitted by B&Q. With all appliances, loads of units and quartz worktops the list price was £13k we paid £8k. Then we had a recommended kitchen fitter fit it, this was £4k (this included knocking walls down and replastering etc).We are over the moon with it and couldn't fault either B&Q or the kitchen fitters.

MerryMarigold are you me?? - We've gone for Howdens in the end. I compared the prices for IKEA, Magnet, Homebase and B&Q and howdens were nearly the cheapest. Ikea were a bit cheaper by about £500 but Howdens provide ready made carcasses which makes it easier, quicker and cheaper for the builder to install.

I think we're going to go with Howdens, IKEA is hundreds of miles away which is a long way if you forget something vital :o

I got mine from Benchmarx, which is the trade arm of Wickes, and it's fabulous (Heritage Grey - painted oak in Farrow & Ball's French grey). It came out as 40% cheaper than the Wickes sale prices.#

We also have an oak worktop which I love, and provided you give it plenty of coats of oil when it's installed it will love you back. Someone kind on here (noddyholder?) recommended Barncrest and I'm v. grateful.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

DH made ours! But we've got IKEA in the utility room and we're really impressed. Gets lots of serious use, has withstood all sorts of usage and still looks brilliant. Carcasses are not easy to install as you need a really level wall but they're good. sturdy stuff. Plus, from an aesthetic point of view - the surfaces on all the units still look pristine.

We're fitting pineland solid wood units in kitchen and ikea in the utility room.