I have fallen in love with this kitchen

[middleagedspread]

www.tomhowley.co.uk/kitchens/contemporary-shaker-kitchen/

I suspect it might be beyond my budget though.
Any comments?

[Tillytina1234]

Have you got the name of your work top

[Tillytina1234]

You will ove your utility room

[Tillytina1234]

Have you got the name of the company

[jillybean2008]

Stance, good luck on negotiating, you may get a little or they will work with you to modify the price but they don't break down the pricing so pricing isn't so transparent. I knocked them down on some appliances and others I got myself as they couldn't meet internet prices.

Overall I am pleased with my Tom Howley kitchen although it was not without it's fair share of issues, but they sorted all but the design of my island which their "design expert" (sales rep) cocked up on and it wasn't until the fitter noticed I would not be able to open pantry doors or walk past it if I had a breakfast bar. I was very upset at the time and they refunded me the amount I had spent for the overhang I was not able to have and a little bit more.

They do seem to work their installation people very hard. I had a fantastic guy who worked very long hours and was so helpful throughout the whole process.

Everyone who has seen my kitchen since has loved it. And if/when I am doing this again I will likely give them a call.

[stanye]

Hello - i'm new to the thread and was interested to hear the good and bad reports about Tom Howley experiences. We are about to go with them for our kitchen (I think - keep having second thoughts!!) and was wondering if anyone had managed to negotiate with them on price? My OH has raised the option of a discount but it would be good to know if anyone has had any luck with this in the past?
Thanks!

[unlucky83]

After living in lots of rented houses I agree with tb and another poster up thread...shaker style doors with the cut out look lovely but are a nightmare to clean - unless you are the type of person who wipes the door fronts daily avoid like the plague!
(Bit out of fashion now but my other avoid are bar handles that stick out at the sides -found this image on Ikea - I have had similar and the number of times I caught clothing/clothes on them )
And I agree design is key ...eg I have the dishwasher under the crockery cupboard, next to the pan/cutlery drawers and the sink - I can put 90% of the stuff away with out moving my feet. My parents have a galley kitchen - the dishwasher on one side, the cupboards/cutlery drawers on the other - and the sink is further along the same side - both are over a metre away ...emptying/filling it drives me insane -mainly because I know it could be so much easier!
Also for big kitchens really think about how you use them ...triangle idea is great ...but not if the oven, sink & fridge are all a couple of metres apart! (although i guess it is good exercise) -I prefer a smaller working kitchen area ...
Also islands - never had one but did have a kitchen table in the middle of the kitchen once - same as another poster said - very frustrating to have to keep walking round something...

[zgaze]

We used DIY Kitchens earlier this year, were very pleased with the actual product but my god the customer service is absolutely appalling. They made the whole process a million times more stressful than it needed to be, they still owe us money months down the line and just point blank ignore emails. The only way I ever got any sort of contact with them was after publicly posting things on their Twitter and facebook pages. Terrible company. Shame because as I say the actual kitchen is lovely!

[SASASI]

Beautiful kitchen!

Were building an extension to include a new kitchen & I'm going for a cream shaker style with grey sparkly quartz. I love it but unfortunately had to forgo an island to maje way for a utility room...which hurts but I know a utility room is an essential considering I don't have one at the min & it does my head in! I'm secretly hoping they go out of fashion v soon lol

[seatleon100]

We are about to start on our kitchen extension and i have done a lot of research. Unless you want to go high end with dove tail joints and wooden drawers DIY Kitchens offer suberb value. They are on a par with the top kitchen showrooms and the quality is excellent. Great choice of cabinet szes and colours. Also they can bespoke shaker doors to any colour you want for just an additional 10%. They use Farrow and ball as their standard bespoke paint which comes in about 10 options. More work is needed on your part to do the design but you will save a fortune.

[jillybean2008]

I am currently having a Tom Howley kitchen fitted, started yesterday. Bit alarmed to hear of people's awful experience but encouraged by the one good! What have I done!?
My fridge/freezer wouldn't fit - installation manager didn't measure for this and it now has a dent in the front of it - a cupboard door has arrived with a split in it but a Manager turned up today, at the request of the fitter, to inspect and arrange replacement.
It is a three week fitting apparently - with only one installer I am surprised that they are dragging this out. He is a lovely man and works non-stop but appears exhausted.
I went to Wigmore St, the first person I dealt with was awful - they then drafted in someone else to speed it up.
One thing I was shocked about is when calling for the Installation Manager the day before it started his phone message stated he had left Tom Howley.
I am will let people know my overall experience but one thing I would say, next time, is that I would go with someone who does the whole job as the preparation work was such hard work - would rather one firm fits all and apparently they used do this before but now just make/FIT kitchens unlike some of their competitors.
Maybe things have changed being part of Neville Johnson which is mainly made up of shareholders??????

[tb]

Only problem with those Shaker-style doors are that the cutout part of the door is a horrible dust-trap.

[floppyflapjack]

What about a seamless worktop/sink type thing like this one? www.simpleworktops.co.uk/ We had a ceramic sink with intergrated draining board/ grooves. It looks traditional but is easy to keep clean

[LostBoysMammy]

On the subject of kitchens, we need a new one, has anyone got one with an old fashioned draining board beside the sink ? I can't seem to find an integrated one. Lakeland sell one that looks like it would catch germs, I've looked at John Lewis, Ikea, Martin Moore etc

Thank you

[samsam123]

I changed the doors to white slab ones for B and Q and got a granite worktop no need whatsoever to get rid of carcasses really pleased all for 4K bargain

[Kazzabob]

Would you mind sharing how much your Harvey Jones kitchen was? Looking at the linear range. Thinking of booking an appt - have been in a couple of times, got the same sales spiel twice about paying the down payment to get the current sales discount etc. When you haggled was that from the already discounted price?

[Julie1962]

Just like to say, we had a lovely Tom Howley kitchen fitted and it still remains the kitchen of our dreams, the design is spot on. From build start to finish it took 2 weeks and personally i would not hesitate to recommend them, i would certainly have them again

[onceipopicantstop]

Hi we have a planning appointment with Harvey Jones later this week. They have 30% off everything at the moment - is it worth haggling for even more off??

[inthisdayandage]

Also please haggle over prices in the stores ideally playing two firms off against each other. We saved around 50% off listed prices by doing this. There is definitely room to negotiate. John Lewis of hungerford, harvey jones and kit stone all revise their prices to get business. We have just had a harvey jones kitchen and it is lovely with great customer service.

[emily6]

I just wanted to add to this link about Tom Howley kitchens. Having the same problems as other people. 6 weeks in and still the kitchen isn't finished. Horrendous customer service, very disappointing. This isn't a bespoke service you are receiving. Go somewhere else. I know they look lovely but it's not worth the stress.

[ShoeWhore]

Gosh you are busy reviving zombie kitchen threads this afternoon Lizzie

[lambbone]

All this is so useful as I am about to embark on a big refit - but my problem is that I am enlarging the kitchen by knocking through into a downstairs loo (and moving the loo elsewhere - we are not going in for a free standing loo in the middle of the kitchen) so I'll need a company that does building works and kitchen fitting.

Has anyone used a London/Surrey company that does this?

[mandy214]

Handleshop I've seen several recommendations to get IKEA units and then high end doors - but can't seem to find companies supplying high end doors (or even where to start looking). Any suggestions?

Thank you.