New kitchen: what to scrimp on?

[MrsJamin]

Planning a totally new kitchen, we have most of the appliances apart from oven and hob, but everything else needs to be bought. Where would you scrimp and where would you spend your money? We don't have to just spend the minimum as we should be in this house for some time, but we don't have a huge budget as we are extending too. So posh worktop and cheap cabinets? Or the other way around? Or cheap both and splurge on the flooring?

I would say cheapish cabinets but nice work top and taps.

What kind of flooring are you having?

I would go for the best quality you can afford. Buy a good kitchen and have cheaper saucepans, knives and tableware. You can replace these as you can afford it. Have you thought about buying an ex show kitchen?

Agree with Rosie.

We've just done our kitchen and whilst the cabinets are basic, the doors and work surface cost more.

Have you looked at howdens? We got the same kitchen as the one I liked at wickes and b&q for a lot lot less, though they give the quote to your builder not you

I don't know what your budget is but I was pleasantly surprised by a quote from handmadekitchens www.handmadekitchens.com/ - it didn't come with worktops but it was the same price as a Magnet one, and I can definitely vouch for it's quality (better than Magnet!). Builders who have painted it were very impressed too, so it may be worth checking out. It's going to sound like I work for them if I keep telling people about them on here soon! Cupboards arrive fully made as is all dovetail joints but will need painting.

Cheaper cabinets, expensive worktop, taps and sink.

What size is kitchen, and what is your approx budget?

My friend did an amazing job with a b&q shaker kitchen, granite from builders merchant and ceramic doorknobs from some expensive kitchen place. Looks fab!

Glad you posted as watching with interest! We're just planning our kitchen now and we've decided on the more basic shaker style units and doors (in the sale) but more expensive Neff appliances, pricier taps and worktops. I figure we could afford to update the cupboard doors at some stage if we needed to. We have a local firm doing all the installation/plastering etc so may not be the cheapest option but I hope they'll care more about doing a good job!

Are you putting it in yourselves?

We already have saucepans, crockery, etc. We are getting a main contractor to handle everything as we are both really busy and need someone to manage all the people coming in and out.

At the moment I am thinking of white gloss cupboard doors, walnut laminate worktops, would love karndean floor as it will be a kitchen diner which I think might work for the whole space well. We like this one from Moores which our contractor is using more often than Howdens now. I am tempted by the more expensive laminates / bamboo too though so it might be a worktop vs Neff oven vs karndean floor decision! We don't really have a budget for the kitchen as it's in the context of a side-return extension.

If you can get a cabinet that's paintable you can update/change the colour when you feel like a change ! - the ikea Ramsjo was good for that - I'm hoping that they have something similar in their new range being launched on Monday ! Invest in good oven - pyro clean if you can ! ( unless of course you don't cook much ! ) as it makes the chore of oven cleaning disappear ! Induction hobs are really good and again so easy to clean ! Spend time getting the layout right - as you will live with any errors for a long time !!! :-)

If looking at white gloss look for lacquer not foil or vinyl

Oh - cross posted ! Gloss is good too !!!

Ha ha, I clicked onto the link that lion in the sun gave and it's my kitchen that was on the home page!!! Our kitchen has been in for 6 years now and I'm still delighted with it.

I don't know your budget. Our units were £4k. Appliance wise we only bought a dishwasher and microwave. Got cheaper sinks and taps on eBay. Granite work tops from Diapol. Wood worktop from local sawmill.

We spent £1k on reclaimed wood for the floor, but it's quite a big room and the floor is still beautiful after 3 kids and their toys etc for 6 years

Wow Kristina your lovely kitchen is one of the ones leading me to choose them, so I am glad you are still happy years later

< waves to lion >

I see we are gallery 28 ( the one with the cream aga ) . I just showed the kids and they are really exited to see the kitchen on the internet < easily amused>

Yes we are still very pleased with it. It looks pretty much the same. Except of course it's never been so clean and tidy since the day the photos were taken .

The painted units still look brand new. The stained ones ( dark brown ) have not worn so well and we need to restain the plinth in front of the sink and dishwashers where we have let water run done. But of course that's our fault and not a problem with the units . When we redo it we need to put an extra layer of varnish.

I guess that's not much maintenance after 6 years. We have 3 kids and pretty much live in the kitchen, so it's had a great deal of wear and tear.

How funny - I was told to look at 26 and 28 as a guide to how mine would look! I have the same style and handles, but all will be painted white and with a quartz (in cararra marble) worktop. It's a small forum world!

I think the most important thing is to shop around and understand what your options are, and what your money is buying.
I think it's definitely worth playing with the Ikea planner (changes to the new range next week, so maybe wait a few days!). This will help you to understand what might be possible in your space, and also to get a grasp of all the different components of the kitchen and how they stack up. You'll also end up with a good idea of the lowest cabinet price possible for reasonably sturdy quality (but you have to build flat packs).
Then have a look around and gather a couple of other quotes too, investigate similarities and differences. Our Howdens quote was double the Ikea total, but it didn't seem worth the extra cost based on our priorities. In the end we are buying from DIY Kitchens, which is somewhere in between in terms of price.

Oh, and PigletJohn speaks wisely re worktops. Laminate is reliable and some of it is pretty good looking. We're hoping to splurge on the worktop, but I know that if other costs go over we could get something perfectly good for not much money.

Buy the best quallity cabinets you can. NO point in expensive worktops on cheap cabinets that start falling apart in 4-5 years time. Cabinets are hardest to replace. Worktops are relatively easy so a kitchen with quality cabinets, well planned and future proofed to meet future needs is a good idea. You may want to use inexpensive worktops with it and install solid worktops in a few years time.

Sorry to hijack, but it can't be helped! Kristina, I love your kitchen. Mine is similar but oak/ laminate in places and I am going to get it painted. What colour are the units and the walls?

Greyvix - the walls are a dupe of farrow and balls Light Blue ( in acrylic so washable ) mixed to order from johnstones . Or undercoat as DH helpfully calls it

The cabinets are the same colour but look a little different due to the varnish on top. The long run of units is stained dark brown as are the insides of the top and bottom cabinets. I have a photo on my profiles which shows in insides of the wall cabinets better

The larder unit is all painted the light blue ( if it's on the website, I'm not sure) . We have a lot of woodwork in the room as we have 3 single doors and a set of double doors plus facings and architraves and they are all white.
HTH

Karndean flooring -we have had this in two bathrooms, one for 13 years and one for 10years ( in different houses) and they pretty much looked good as new. Though I guess they get less wear and tear than in a kitchen and you are less ikely to be wearing your outdoor shoes ( assuming that it's grit that damages it and not spills ) . It's so easy to clean too.

Mrsjamin -we got our granite worktop from Diapol

www.diapol.co.uk/granite.php

They were the cheapest quote by far and the service was excellent . Our granite is called tan brown , which confusingly is black with dark brown bits in it, which I think works with our dark brown floor and units. Plus it's easy to keep clean as it's not like a mirror, like the plain black ones . Which are beautiful but need polished with every drop of water or tiny mark

I would not scrimp on cabinets, interiors etc. Make sure you get all the pullout drawers you need. Once the cabinets are fitted you probably won't be able to get new parts for them. Hobs are much of a muchness but a good oven is a good investment. A good kitchen table is essential and can cost £1000 so save a bit of money for that.

We scrimped on worktop (laminate, looks great) and doors, but splurged on Karndean floor, pull out drawers etc and glass splashback. I don't regret any of it.

Thanks for the paint advice. I have light blue in one room- it's a lovely colour!