Buying kitchen units-Howdens versus Ikea, Wickes and B&Q?

[ArcticRoll]

Have been waiting to update my hideous country kitchen for ten years and now want to make sure don't muck it all up. Am planning to buy simple white units and spend more on Corian work surface, taps and flooring . Just trying to weigh up the pros and cons of the above companies. Would be grateful for any tips, thanks.

fitter just been. Have lots of new ideas to process :)

he really is not keen on Ikea! I want 2 Ikea pull out larders

I seem to have snuck in a bench made from 3 or 4 600 units that will be my new craft storage area dh hasn't thought to ask what they will be storing.

hmm I need to wait and see what plans he sends (and what cost) and see what difference a free standing cooker would make. I am however reluctant to give up the lovely pan and cutlery draws that would go under the hob.

The chap from wickes is due tonight. Once I have something to compare I then have 3 different howdens to visit locally and negotiate with plus a local benchmarx and Ikea.

is it wrong to dream of giving up work and children for a month or two so I can plan my lovely new kitchen?

yorky - I have seen somewhere about homebase being dearer for a lower quality product. I haven't even looked at b&q or homebase as I have enough on my plate weighing up howdens, Ikea and wickes!

Wow thanks for all replies-sorry have just started new job so haven't been online for a while.
Think will go to investigate Ikea-just want plain white units -something not too trendy as don't want it to look dated within a couple of years.

cutitout my brother and SIL have white slab gloss cupboards and black laminate sparkly worktops...they also have the tiles that are in the disney stores in black on the floor it does look LOVELY though...

my DH kind of glazes over and nods when i start talking about kitchens...the grey cabinets are his idea as its the only set up in the ikea he actually stopped and said "wow" at

DH works for a builder whose brother runs our local howdens but looking at their range i still prefer ikea my most favourite shop ever

i might see if i can put a screen shot of our kitchen plan on if anyone wants to have a look im at work and i will do this later when i get home...

yorky - I have seen somewhere about homebase being dearer for a lower quality product. I haven't even looked at b&q or homebase as I have enough on my plate weighing up howdens, Ikea and wickes!

We used Howdens.
Very very good. A resonable price and they were local to us.

They did a really good design that maximised every bit of space. The shop manager came out a couple if times to make sure it was going ok and did a final inspection.

I would happily recomment them

I have no idea why that's reposted - I only refreshed the page! I am honestly not on a mission to run down homebase

I am up for looking at plans NoMoreMarbles :)

sorry artic for jumping on your thread. I had been meaning to start one and then came across this one. Hope you don't mind my kitchen related ramblings?

hmm sparkly floor, I want one. I may negotiate with dh to go with his worktops in trade for a sparkly floor. Could you sneak round and take a picture of their kitchen?

I needed some innards bits for cupboards in my kitchens and looked at ikea and homebase.

The ones in homebase seemed pretty sturdy and robust and well made albeit a bit more expensive than ikea. The ikea ones on the other hand looked like they had been made out of old coathangers - very flimsy and didn't look like they woul put up with much wear and tear. I'd definitely go and give them all a good test based on cupboard innards as well as front door looks - you don't want to have a beautiful kitchen and then discover you can't stuff in everything you need to as it's too heavy for the fittings!

I have got my kitchen from DIY-kitchens, they came out about evens on price with Ikea and are I suspect a bit better made. It's pretty much self service but you could work with a designer or fitter to make sure you got all the parts. I think they sell everything you could possibly buy for a kitchen. They sell the Second Nature range that you can also get from/see in independent showrooms.

Also to say that someone like DIY kitchens basically supply to/use the same components as Wickes, etc. Most kitchen stuff comes from a small number of manufacturers.

diy-kitchens? might have a look for them are they online?

oooo they have the grey gloss units thats the only other place i have seen them other than ikea!! pricing looks good too! im goin to do a screenshot of my plan in a sec ...

We're having the grey gloss from Ikea, it's just a pity they don't do handleless. Yet. But they will, as soon as I've had mine fitted, it's the law of sod. Only handleless in White at the mo if anyone's interested.
But I've been planning the damn thing for nigh on two years, and options will always get better.
I love a kitchen thread, I've not been on one for ages

i have uploaded the pic of my kitchen plan :)

have a look on the diy-kitchens.com website i have just looked and these are very similar to thwe ikea and really good price too thanks for the recommendation fossil :)

looks fine, wow you are tight for space I don't feel my room is so small now!

its just such a strange shaped space! our bathroom is in the cut out space on the 'L' and i want to make it smaller but we just couldnt afford the construction costs to re-jig the whole area! our kitchen really is approaching its last legs so it needs redoing in the next 12 months or so! its a cheap fitted kitchen that was in when we bought the house 7 years ago and it has held up to a lot but it needs replacing

homebase units come with 10 year guarantee???

(not that I've got one or anything......)

I couldn't get a Ikea kitchen Victorian house with not perfectly straight walls and no service gap to compensate leads to a very wonky kitchen!

How is everyone getting on? I now have some plans and some prices and they vary hugely the fitting quotes we have had have been quite different aswell. The ikea kitchen is coming out the cheapest but I think their fitting cost is the dearest!

I will see if I can stick a plan up on my profile, any feedback welcome :)

Am interested to get all views. We are in process of getting plans drawn up for extending our miniscule Kitchen.

No idea what we want so tips on what is worth including would be fab.

Re suppliers - are Homebase any good (my daughter currently works for them therefore we can get a discount - but not worth it if no good)

Have looked at Wickes. Not sure if I can face Ikea (the actual shop!)

oo cutitout of your big kitchen space it looks good to me!

we have adjusted our plans a little and i have decided i dont want wall cabinets to try and open the space out a bit...would that be a ridiculous idea? any thoughts?

im excited to start but the bathroom is more urgent so thats getting done in 6 weeks hopefully

stoatie i have a small, oddly shaped kitchen (pic on profile) and i have been trying to get the cooker-sink-fridge triangle as a priority, whilst also maximising the worktop space but other than that, im winging it what style are you going for? modern/traditional etc we are going for either grey or black gloss and white or walnut worktops...hardly specific i know...

stoatie I love Ikea it is one of the best places to go showroom wise imo. If you are able to get a discount with homebase then I would get them to do a quote for you. Reading online, their installation charges will be high!

personally, if you are working on a tight budget I would get as many free quotes as possible and then haggle with them until you get what you want for the price you want to pay.

nomore bathroom and a kitchen is a lot to be contending with! Does anywhere do buy one get one free?! I know it seems a spacious kitchen but it is half the house downstairs so we have to have a dining area and the majority of the kitchen cupboards are full of kids craft items

I think having no wall cabinets will open the space up but it is weighing up the practicalities of losing storage space. Would some nice shelving be a workable compromise?

in terms of colour schemes I have fallen in love with black gloss cabinets and lighter worktops. Dh says no on the basis of the howdens chap saying any scratches etc will show more on the black than white due to the scratches being white.

worktop wise I have gone off the black sparkly gloss due to online reviews suggesting it will be high maintenance to keep clean and sparkly and it will scratch.

so we are set on white gloss doors from somewhere and a black matt worktop ( I think!) flooring, paintwork and splashbacks - no idea.

if anyone has any suggestions on good priced worktops please shout. The longer this process continues the smaller the budget gets in dh's mind

Hi cutitout

Are you looking for Laminate worktops?
As different companies offer these in different lengths eg, 3mtr, 3.6mtr or
4.1 mtr.
I would look at your plan to see how much you need (allowing for but n scribe joints) and then look at the company that you will use the least lengths in, or you could end up buying a 3mtr length for the sake of 30/40cms and that will work out alot more.

We had a Black gloss kitchen (pics on profile) have to disagree with the Howdens chap, the doors are hard to scratch in everyday use of a kitchen door if a good quality one. our cats use to always have there paws on the doors and nothing. if you knock a door and chip it then it will look as bad regardless of colour
The thing I would say about the black is the finger prints will be more visible as the door has a deep base colour. Anthracite is very in at the min in the kitchen design world.
if you need to know the name of companies that supply the different lengths please let me know and i will inbox you

cutitout we are doing the bathroom purely as i hate it it was fitted rather cheaply by the man we bought the house off and hasnt weathered well! the suite is ok so its mainly tiles and flooring that need to be done and the layout needs to be changed too as it is entirely impractical ATM (much the same as the kitchen)

im looking forward to getting the bathroom done and we are going for a sandstone coloured tiles look and i will be able to go in the bathroom without grimacing fior the first time in about 4 years! exciting stuff!!