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Original poster

Kitchen advice please.

79 replies

nunnie · 30/05/2012 11:22

We are just getting to the point in our new extension where we need to decide which company we go with for our kitchen.

So far have had a local firm do us a plan and a quote and knowing our budget crept over it by a whopping 3k.

Paid Ikea £100 for their so called design service expecting something good considering most companies do not charge for this. Anyway plan arrives in my email 7 days later in a 2d format with one view, showing an extractor hood too close to window preventing the window from being opened, no side image of all the appliances no tap on sink and interior doors in the incorrect location. Price was ok but for the above reason we will not be using them and are in the process of trying to get the £100 back.

Howdens have been they so far have been the most impressive by way of gauging what we want out of a kitchen, were here for 2 hours haven't had plan or quote yet.

Has anyone any experience with Howdens or can recommed an alternative company please.

Don't have a John Lewis budget sadly.

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Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 20:36

Ohh that is very nice thank you for the picture link.

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SwedishEdith · 30/05/2012 20:42

Can't you just copy the beautiful plan onto the Ikea Kitchen planner and do it yourself?

My experience with Howdens was that they throw everything in to maximise the price. Our plan had a breakfast bar about a foot away from the dining table. Why? I bet you'll get a 71% "discount"

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 20:48

Not touching Ikea till they give me back my £100. Why should I do my own plan when they have taken £100 to do it for me.

I haven't had my quote or plan from Howdens yet so can't say what the discount is or how they have planned it. I can always get them to remove and add, whereas with Ikea I can't remove or add as I can't see what is in there it really is poor, my 5 year can draw better pictures. It is pretty much a sketch but they have had the cheek to refer to it as a plan, she measured and yet has managed to ge the plan offscale. As it stands I am unimpressed and have no intention of finding out what their aftersales is like as for me their before sales has been pretty shocking.

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fossil97 · 30/05/2012 21:05

Could you explore other local suppliers a bit further, maybe visit another 2 or 3? Kitchen showrooms vary hugely in what ranges they supply, some are very high end, some don't have such high overheads. You need to find someone who understands the concept of budget and can be creative with it.

Also do ask them what is bumping up the price, for example something integrated or a wide worktop that is special order? Too many fiddly little cupboards or "essential" interior fittings? A simple design can do a lot to reduce the price. Also the "upgrades" to soft closing hinges etc - until 5 years ago nobody had those and we were all fine. Ordinary metal sided drawers are cheap and sturdy.

SwedishEdith · 30/05/2012 21:21

The planner online is 3D, not sure why you'd pay IKEA in the first place really. Sorry.

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 21:31

Because we asked someone instore to help us go through our 3D plan and were told they charge for this service. Sorry I didn't know at the time the plan would be rubbish and sent a a 2d format and the designer would issue a plan that was unworkable and incorrect to what she measured. Like anyone I was of the understanding we would get a better service than doing it ourselves on their planner. I don't know call me mad but I wanted expert imput!

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Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 21:33

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150939634631726.448793.673486725&type=1#!/media/set/edit/a.10150939634631726.448793.673486725/

Hopefully this works. People can be confused as to why we paid, but at least this way no one will be stupid enough to make this mistake themselves. Excuse picture but due to the format it was sent in (PDF) I can't extract image to put in on my computer so I have had to take a picture.

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Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 21:36

Thank you fossil97. My current kitchen isn't soft close and I have managed so have to agree with on on that.
Will have a look around a couple more smaller local firms and see what's on offer. Most places offer a free design service so wew don't have anything to lose.

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kitcatcandy · 30/05/2012 21:36

Ikea stuff isn't that fab, and that's due to the backboards on the units. On ikea they are fixed, which means if your walls are a bit wonky, or you want to match units across two rooms of different depths, it's much harder to do. The best units the shells and backs have some flexibility in depth, so the backs can be put in as per the room requires and the fronts are all level.

I'm not sure I have explained that right as I have drunk wine.

kitcatcandy · 30/05/2012 21:39

Oh and if you go howdens, really squeeze them in price, ask for all your handles for free, they really can go down on price if you press them.

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 21:41

Ohh wish I had drunk wine. They also have no where to run service piping etc, and the sink waste has to be very very low down apparently in Ikea kitchens. Whilst they do rate highly it is quality for price which isn't much money. For example our kitchen where we can see all the design comes to just under 3k and fitting is 2.5k. Why would anyone pay that mcuh to fit a kitchen worth a similar amount?

Anyway this is all academic I have no intention of getting a kitchen from them now.

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SwedishEdith · 30/05/2012 21:42

I know what you mean kicatcandy but our builder managed to adapt them pretty easily for us when some change of depth was needed. I guess he had better tools than your average DIYer though

kitcatcandy · 30/05/2012 21:50

I'm glad the wine hasn't affected my typing too much! I'm gonna go on about soft close now. It's not just a case of the soft close mechanism being nice to use, nearly all modern drawer mechanisms are designed to be soft close, and the old designs are standard push shut. So goings soft close means you get the latest designs, and these last much longer. I have had both, the soft close ones work better, jam less and stand up to wear and tear better. They are not just a pretty face.

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 21:55

I intend to get them unless they send me over my budget but I doubt that really, there are other things on our list of wants that aren't needed that can come off if needs be.

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SwedishEdith · 30/05/2012 21:56

Oh, I agree that soft close is lovely (standard with Ikea of course, Wink) and actually, I did want all the interior fittings and pull-outs as they make the kicthen more useful. I never need to rummage in a cupboard ever again.

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 22:02

Standard with most places now. I am glad you are happy with your Ikea kitchen as I am sure I would have been with one of my 3d plans, but I have no intention of buying a kitchen from them now. When I have a kitchen designer free or otherwise I expect their expert opinion, this is the first kitchen we have furbished ourselves and it is a massive room and a complete blank canvas no gas or eletric so a complete start from scratch and for this reason we wanted to get advice on the best use of the space and the best layout to go for. If I ahve known then what I know now I wouldn't have paid, but I didn't and I have.

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workshy · 30/05/2012 22:04

have you looked at Wren?

there is one in Bolton and they do the pre-built kitchens similar to Howdens

quote from Wren and Howdens gives you plenty of bargaining power

nothernexposure · 30/05/2012 22:05

Depends where you are in Lancs but we used Pennine Kitchens (Bury based firm) last year. They were recommended to us by 2 people and we were happy with the results. Played around with design/prices until we got what we wanted. Would happily use them again or recommend them.

HTH

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 22:05

Thank you workshy will have a look tomorrow.

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Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 22:07

Thank you Northernexposure another one to look into tomorrow. The more the merrier, can never have too many plans and quotes in my opinion.

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Babylon1 · 30/05/2012 22:09

DH says MAGNET, they are the best apparently, in the same league as Howdens but better customer service and aftercare.

Whereabouts are you in Uk? DH is a kitchen fitter/plumber/joiner Wink

SmileItsSunny · 30/05/2012 22:09

I have had a great planning session with home base - can't comment on kitchen quality as our kitchen has yet to be built (!) but plan was awesome, really helped me visualise it. Also free, and it took over an hour. Good luck, I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Babylon1 · 30/05/2012 22:10

Sorry just seen your location Blush
Bit too far from us for him to quote for fitting Wink

Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 22:18

Will keep you informed. At the moment I love the first plan on my link but with a couple of tweaks here and there and obviously cheaper than that paticular model.

Thank you for the offer though Babylon1.

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Original poster
nunnie · 30/05/2012 22:23

Think you did it in the right order smile, the way we have done it is all rushed now. Hope your build and kitchen go well. Will put homebase on the list thank you.

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