Tell me about your Magnet kitchen...

[marshmallowpies]

We just spent the afternoon looking round a Magnet showroom, having an extension built starting in July so the kitchen probably won't be going in for quite a while, not till the end of the build.

We have a pretty good idea of the kitchen styles we like and don't like, but...any horror stories I should be aware of? Any magic cupboards or storage ideas which turned out to be rubbish?

And what about ovens - my old kitchen (which was Howdens) was eye level and whilst I liked it at first it got on my nerves in the end because at eye level you see every dirty mark it picks up! My dream kitchen would have a range cooker but not sure we'll have space for that, realistically.

So, any ideas of what is good and what's not, would be great! TIA

Get lots of big pan drawers and lots of tall wall cabinets right up to the ceiling. Some ranges have 720mm wall cabs but some also have 900mm.

I love my magnet kitchen. Designer lady spent hours with me getting things perfect, this was before I'd even signed for it, she was so patient.

I now have the kitchen of dreams.

I had a Magnet kitchen in my old house and it was fabulous. Design, quality and fit all faultless. I'd heard that they could be a bit arsey about coming out to fix things post-fitting but I had a couple of snags which they sorted out with no problems at all. It looked great and 2 years after it was fitted it still looked like new.

However, I'm currently getting a new kitchen fitted in our new house and I won't be going to Magnet. Lovely as it was, I've done a lot more research this time round and found that you can get equally good quality and fit elsewhere at a fraction of the cost. You really do pay a premium for the name with Magnet. Our new kitchen, which we're getting from Benchmarx, is about 40% cheaper than Magnet but looks just as good (hoping it lasts as well as Magnet too).

My Magnet kitchen is 17 years old. It's looking a bit tired now, but it was great value for money. It still looks contemporary.

We should be able to just replace the workshops and cupboard fronts as the carcasses are still sound.

Thanks for all the feedback!
Definitely going to have deep drawers, never have enough space for pans and tupperware and stuff.

Thanks for the Benchmarx recommendation - will see if we can get an appointment with them too.

Had ours for 7 years. High gloss cream with a black sparkly granet work top. I have four of the deep drawers, which are wonderful. The units are beautifully made, nothing sticks, and 7 years on after really heavy use (fostering family so lots of peopled here) its good as new.

We had a magnet kitchen 3.5 year ago. on the plus side, it does look nice.

On the minus side, the carcasses do not seem to be strong enough, so doors and drawers have dropped just enough to make them crash against the neighbouring one.

We also chose a wood design with a slightly proud central panel. The top edge of this panel is not properly sealed, so on several units it has stained with stuff getting dropped onto it.

You can generally do much better than Magnet on quality for similar money. Better design, quality, detail.

Try good local independents.