Thank you MN Property/DIY board!

[mabelbabel]

Just a quick thank you thank you thank you to multiple people who post on these threads. We have been working on our house since last November, and now have a beautiful, practical family home. Still some decorating to do, but the kitchen, bathroom and most of the living areas are done. The best recommendations that I've stolen from here that I wouldn't have otherwise considered or known about are kitchen units from DIY kitchens (following use of Ikea planner, and serious consideration of Ikea units), Silestone worktops, and Amtico (kitchen)/Karndean (bathroom) flooring (wall to wall under the units!). Here, have some .

Oh, and Dulux Natural Hessian. And buying roman blinds on-line. Etc etc

We have our diy kitchen coming next week. Are you happy with the quality. I'm a little bit excited, currently cooking on a camping stove and sliw cooker.

Yes, very happy with the quality. I think a lot of it is down to the fitting as well, but the cabinets seem very sturdy and all the mechanisms work well. Plus it all arrived on time and in one piece. I can sympathise with the camping stove/slow cooker situation!

Thanks that's good to hear.

Can I be really cheeky? Did you get as far as getting a quote from IKEA? Would be useful to know how the price compares if you did?

What is a DIY kitchen? We need to replace the kitchen when we move.

Mandy, we didn't compare exactly like for like, since the shopping list for each was slightly different. However I would estimate DIY kitchens was around 20% more expensive....but this is including delivery and having the cabinet doors predrilled. Plus DIY kitchens deliver units assembled so there was no time/stress building the cabinets.
CB, Google DIY kitchens, it's just an online shop for kitchen cabinets. But you need a fairly good idea of what you need before you dive in.

Can I ask another question then? What finish did you get (am liking the range of matt finishes which IKEA don't have, but then IKEA always come out better on a quality front).... decisions, decisions...

We have shaker style doors (broadoak). At Ikea we were looking at the high gloss doors, or Adel or Norje.

The DIY-kitchens carcases are rock solid (from experience) and come in more choice of colours and sizes than Ikea. The interior fittings/hinges etc are I reckon similar to Ikea - metal drawers etc. Ikea kitchens are quite nice but the cabinets are only sturdy once screwed to the wall and each other. I found both companies were fairly close in price (oak doors) when I priced it up a couple of years ago.