Painted kitchens any thoughts on Neptune/Handmade Kichens Direct/DIY kichens

[Lozza50]

We are in the middle of an extension and I am going around in circles with kitchens. Really would like a painted wooden kitchen but has anyone used any of these companies or got any recommends. Shorten my list down to Neptune Kitchens, Handmade Kitchens Direct in Christchurch and DIY-kitchens. Any thoughts or helpful advice....thanks :)

Hi MrsFlorrick
Went to see Highams and I agree with what you said, I was not disappointed at all. Lovely guys there that were so helpful and were happy to show us around the 3 barns. The next step is to send them our designs and get a quote but I think they are the front runners now as we were very impressed.
Can't thank you enough as without you we would never have known about them so thank you. Will explore the honed marble for the worktops but definitely going for a wooden top on the island

Lozza. Glad you found something you like.

Did you see some of their kitchens in production?? I loved seeing how they were made.

You can get a pale honed granite as well. It's harder wearing than marble and often cheaper too.

Paler ones too look for are River White (sometimes called valley white or andromeda) beautiful when honed. Has grey veining to it so it depends on your choice of colour scheme.

Kashmir white. Not as pale as above but can be nice. One of the cheaper ones.

Ivory silk. Quite a warm tone generally towards beige yellowish

Ivory spice. Very cheap and beautiful. Contact the importer Pisani to ask about stock. It's worth it if they have it.

River white is closest to Carrara marble. However you will always be able to see its not marble. But when honed you don't have the same etching issues as with marble.

Lots of stone masons say its impossible to get honed stone. They are full of sh&@. It's just that they want to sell you whatever is laying around in their yard!! Do not fall for this!

Pisani is a stone importer based in Hounslow (heathrow). Phone them. They can talk to you about stock and they can hone any stone for you for a small fee. They can also direct you towards a decent stone mason they can supply to.

You can visit Pisani and literally choose your sheet of stone so you get exactly what you want.

I recommend doing that. I chose specific slabs for my kitchen. I actually rejected 5 slabs before I found these ones.

For anyone who like me thought that a Plain English kitchen was out of their price range plesae be advised that they sell the same cupboards at a fraction of the price but without the bespoke design service. They come ready assembled, primed ready to paint. These kitchens are badged under their sister company British Standard Cupboards but actualy advertise as British Standaer by Plain English.They really are a fraction of the price. I actually visited the Plain English showroom in Marylebone expressed to staff how amazing the kitchens were but unfortunately out of my price range. It was only by chance I stumbled on the British Stabdard. I found it quite staggering that the staff do not then refer me to their more modestly priced option. It may not be for you if you want a truely bespoke option but for me you get an amazing looking and superior quality kitchen at a very reasonable price.

I have just spent a fortune on a Neptune Kitchen and it was a waste of money. Their customers service is the worst I have ever come across and the quality and maintenance of the kitchen is not good at all. If you are thinking of Neptune then DON'T

I was passing through a garden centre today that sell Neptune Kitchens. The quality was just plain shocking. The hand painted finish on the units was terrible. Even the handles didnt line up. Even Ikea do a better product.

I've just treated myself to a kitchen from Neptune and I looove it! I went thorugh one of their own stores and they were so lovely and helpful from the start I've become a bit obsessed. The quality is fantastic and makes it actually pretty good value, and they were telling me how they don't use MDF in any of their furniture so I would say go for Neptune given my experience

Sorry Daisy I don't agree. I bought the Henley kitchen. Have you dripped water down the cupboards ? continually cleaning all the nooks & crannies of which there are many the whole process is tedious. My previous kitchens have been the German Rationale & also Smallbone & I'm sorry Neptune doesn't come anywhere near either of these

gm30345 - You are absolutely right. Generally speaking, German kitchens are heads and shoulders above anything British you can buy unless you go to the bespoke Smallbone, Mark Wilkinson, Stoneham end of the market in which case the product is simply superb.

Neptune IMHO is grossly overrated, overpriced and substandard kitchen out there.

Just found this thread and these are the very kitchens I am thinking about. What I'd especially like to know -and hope Mrs florrick, as the owner of a beautiful one, is still around - is how hard-wearing are these kitchens (Higham, devol and the like)? Are they just a thing of beauty (which of course I also want) or are they also able to withstand the strain of a lot of cooking and cleaning? Would I be better going for a laminated German kitchen that is wipe-down everything, rather than Farrow and Ball painted? We are a family of six, and I cook all meals from scratch and do a lot of baking (not to mention the permanent grazing of teenage ds) and like most london terraces my kitchen is the thoroughfare out to the garden. The kitchen I have (wentworth trade) has done pretty well - carcasses still very good -but after 13 yrs the doors are warped, and it was a v poor design (by me with a tape measure and paper, tripping over builders and four v young dcs at the time). Given the non-standard spaces and gaps (87cm alcove, 148cm chimney breast etc) Highams would give me most useable units I'm guessing, but don't want to splash out on something that looks beautiful but falls apart under the strain! What are people's experiences?

I am not familiar with Higham but here is a useful guideline. The quality and durability of a kitchen does not come only from its doors. It comes from the bits that are not visible-
Carcase material, construction method, edging quality etc.
Fittings, runenrs, hinges etc.
Manufacturing tolerances etc
Quality of fitting.

If you are looking for a modern finish or handleless, Germans are hard to beat. Depending on the make, very competitively priced, well engineered, versatile.

Germans however dont do traditional very well and this is where British suppliers come in. However, I dont know of any British suppliers who make carcases to the same quality standard as the Germans. Depending on the supplier, you will get well made product, but there are some awful products out there that sell in clever marketing and nothing else. In particular, I can point out Second Nature, 1909 and Metris. These are door suppliers and the retailer is left to source their own carcases. So you could end up buying anything from rubbish to decent units for anywhere for cheap to ripoff prices.

Hope this helps.

Hi Coffee. Always lurking around

My Higham kitchen has been in nearly two years.

Its still immaculate.
Our kitchen diner takes daily abuse from my cooking and the DC (2.9 and 4.9 yo).

The interior of my particular Higham Kitchen is marine lacquered birch. Beautiful and ultra durable.

This type of kitchen isn't made with a "carcass" as other poster suggest.

Each cupboard and drawer are a fully built piece of furniture! Dove tail joints etc.

not some melamine chipboard screwed together with a door slapped on it.

These are fully bespoke kitchen furniture. Completely different.

The beauty is in having solid pieces of painted furniture means that you can repaint when your taste changes a few years down the line.

You don't have to have Farrow and Ball paint either. Higham will happily use others like Little Greene and Dulux.

Can't recommend them enough.

If you PM me with an email address I can email you some photos I took today so you can see how well its stood up so far.

There are obviously lots of ways to design a kitchen and good quality carcass type kitchens too. I didn't find it any cheaper to have those than the Higham Kitchen. I had about 8 different quotes.

Mrs F and km - thanks very much. So much incredibly useful information in your posts. Really like the idea of the solid pieces of furniture and the longevity. So depressing to open kitchen units in showrooms and they are all badly veneered chipboard! I do like the idea of repainting (as frequently done elsewhere in the house!) as the laminate in ours cracked within a year (along the joins of the shaker frame on the doors) and of course builder and supplier washed their hands.

Went to look at Neptune yesterday just to get an idea what this sort of kitchen looks like in the flesh and was not terribly impressed (though their provenance and limited range would make them an unlikely contender anyway). Doors shut quite clunkily and paint finish (you'd think for the showroom they'd have aimed at a superb job, wouldn't you?) looked like I'd done it myself in a hurry! Mrs F thank you - may take up your offer later in the day - the pics on their website are gorgeous. Did you go to look at their showroom (if they have one?). I'm looking at 12 units in a wide galley style (including high oven housing). Attracted to idea of bespoke as they could presumably do me some very shallow units to go in front of chimney breast sides (as opposed to cutting great bits out of the back like my current one). Its frustrating how uniform and limited most ranges are, when the majority of the population lives in pre-war houses with irregular sized rooms!

Coffee.
I looked at Neptune too. Quality wasn't great. The other thing is that the solid wood the make their units from is Basswood (their words) which is Linden (in UK speak Basswood is the American word so a bit misleading).

Linden is what sculpturers use for wood carving because its quite soft. This means you'll dink your kitchen units in no time.

Looked at Devol. Very nice and excellent quality. Not fully bespoke and couldn't build entirely what I wanted. Although they could do shallow or deeper units.

Higham can do any size and type of unit. And it extends beyond units to any other part of the furniture.

On my island is a down draft extractor. To install you need the kitchen to be in and worktops too. However you also need access in behind the downdraft to connect the ducting and electrical supplies.
Almost impossible?
No. Tim Higham designed the back of my island to have a bookshelf on it. The shelves and rear panels are fully removable so I always have access to that downdraft and the connections.

Sounds so simple but none of the other kitchen cabinet makers I had quotes from, were able to do this and just kept telling me I couldn't have the extractor ducted and i would have to drop a recirculating extractor in (which defeats the whole point of having it ).

Here is my island blog.higham.co.uk/2013/10/waste-not-want-not.html?m=1

I went to the workshop in Hampshire.
I recommend it. You see the kitchens at various stages of the build process and it can help you narrow down design and layout. Plus it's fun or at least I think it is.

Again PM me and I can send you some more info. Not just on Higham but other kitchen elements and ideas. If you want obv.

And coffee you have 6 DC wow. You're super woman!! Hats off. I have two DC and I'm barely managing.

You most def need solidly built kitchen furniture to take the strain.

You also need a very robust worktop! If you have teenagers munching and leaving stuff all over the place.

I'd look at granite or a top end quartz such as Silestone or Cesaerstone.
Avoid wood (lovely as it is), marble or acrylic composites such as Corian. Not sure it would stand up to the teenagers.

Corian is fully repairable. However you don't want to be repairing it after the teenagers have left a hot pan on it (and melted it) or left beetroot or tomato on it and stained it.

Cheaper quartz products can stain as well.

That said Bushboard are now doing a quartz composite which is supposed to be very stain resistant and its about the same price as quality laminate worktops.

I'm currently working with a client (I'm in interior design) with a smaller budget who was dreaming of quartz and this fits the bill.

Just some additional thoughts.

Mrs F, can I please ask a (probably daft!) question, given I am a complete beginner in the world of kitchen planning / buying. What are Magnet like, quality-wise ?

We are planning an extension which will involve a new kitchen and they have done a beautiful looking design for us (in their astral blue design with white granite surface) but are magnet known for good /bad quality? I don't want to make an expensive mistake if I can avoid it!

Many thanks!

MrsF - No - its 'only' 4 dcs - the six includes myself and DH , though as you correctly guess, they're pretty hard on all surfaces! Thanks so much for the fab info - its worth its weight in gold.Especially the work tops which seem a minefield, but so much more choice than 13 yrs ago - I love yours in that Higham blog -really love the light, creamy colour (got 'granite effect' laminate here and water has got in through the joins, causing the evil chipboard inside to swell. Lovely).

Coffee. Oh "only" 4 DC! Still wow.

My worktops are honed Bianco Carrara marble. Beautiful and nowhere near as difficult to keep as people let on. Very hardy and despite light colour no staining with a decent sealant and having them honed means you don't have to worry about etching because you can't see it.

Imust. Magnet isn't too bad quality wise. I'm not sure it's amazing value for money though. Not unless you have a trade contact and can go through Magnet Trade.

Don't get worktops from them!! They charge 3 to 4 times what a stone mason would. If you're in London/Kent or Surrey I can recommend an amazing stone mason to you.

Ooo would very much welcome a recommendation thank you Mrs F! I'm in Surrey

I wanted a Neptune kitchen. My architect calls them 'Chinese Kitchens'. In the end I've gone for a local, bespoke chap who comes recommended. For about the same price as Neptune.

This is a great, and very useful thread! Am also in the throes of choosing a kitchen and am utterly bewildered by the choice out there. I run a cooking business (incl classes at home) and so need something that can withstand a lot of wear and tear, and look professional (toying with the idea of a stainless steel island) but at the same time function as as an open plan family kitchen for me, DH and our 3 DC. Can't decide between something along the lines of a Harvey Jones 'Linear' style - inframe doors, flat fronted, matt laquer or something German, modern and laminate. A few of you have mentioned using a local carpenter / kitchen company to build or copy something you've seen elsewhere....how do you find these people? Or can anyone recommend someone in the Surrey area? Many thanks in advance!

Dairy. I know someone in Norfolk who does this and he would
Travel to Surrey I think although it would make sense to find a local
Person first.

What's your budget and how many units are you after?

At the end of the day, the type of kitchen you buy may slightly be dictated by budget.

Harvey Jones can usually be negotiated down to 55% of their list price. However not overly impressed with their quality. I think their stuff used to be so much better.

In frame kitchen come in so many variations. But have a look at these guys:
www.yewtreedesigns.co.uk/

Very reasonable prices and in Haywards Heath so not far from Surrey.

Higham will do a budget kitchen if you ask. Phone and speak to them about your budget and what they can offer. There are ways of paring things back. You've nothing to lose by asking. They also do a sale a couple of times a year with 20% off so ask
When its sale time

For the sleek German kitchens, again there are lots of varieties but if you post with some of the main things you're after perhaps I can point you in the right direction? Or
Perhaps KMdesign poster will come back and help??

PM if you like.

Btw I like the idea of stainless steel
Island.

To keep costs down, why don't you get stainless steel worktops? And not the ss doors because they workout fairly expensive.

I've had steel worktops in our previous kitchen. Loved them. Exceptionally hard wearing and so so easy to keep clean. All you need is a micro fibre cloth. I abused mine. Put searing hot pans on them, cut stuff
On them without chopping boards and sat on them. No problem. They stood up to it all.

If you're really looking to be cost effective, an Ikea (or similar) carcass and get a local carpenter to cut flat plant on doors (painted, spray painted if you like) and stainless steel worktops?

It depends on where your budget is really.

If you wanted to avoid a melamine carcass but still needed something cost effective there are these:
www.solidwoodkitchencabinets.co.uk/?gclid=CPu22eTcmr4CFScGwwod1TkABg

They do painted door but shaker style not flat.

A friend of mine has had one and loves it. She had a very small budget but wanted something a bit different. And she couldn't afford a full in frame kitchen.

Sorry adding to your options and therefore not helping.

Budget wise it's hard to say as we're waiting for our builder's quote but in all likelihood we're looking between 15 - 25 (which I know is a HUGE range). Without knowing our others costs it's hard to say at the moment. I am really after a kitchen just like the Roundhouse 'Bryans' one here but with single ovens flanking the sink & built into taller cupbards, and then a US style fridge on the right hand stretch of wall, flanked by larder type cupboards. Massive island (1.5m x 3m probably) with integrated hob and stools along one side. Shelving for cookbooks, crockery at either end. Not sure yet how many units as I haven't totted it up . And yes SS worktop is what I was thinking. SS cupboard doors too clinical & sterile but like the hard wearing nature of a SS worktop.

So yes, in short, I'd like to find someone local that could recreate the Roundhouse kitchen for about half (or less!) the price!