Shopping for kitchens is NOT as much fun as I thought it would be!

[summerpuddingandclottedcream]

Which of these kitchens would you prefer for a 130-year-old house with period features? We're kitchen shopping and finding it hard work.

We went to Wren to price up a range I fancied, and after three hours and a bit of negotiating we signed up to a £17,500 kitchen right at the top of our budget. It was lovely, with solid oak units and drawer inserts, quartz and wooden worktops, and lifetime guarantees. The staff were very nice and said we could change anything we fancied, and we were relieved we'd found a kitchen we liked. [http://www.wrenkitchens.com/kitchens/shaker-kitchen-in-baltic-and-winter-white/1906]

But on reflection, we decided we were completely mad to spend so much. We've been renovating our house for a year and our savings are spent. Paying for this means taking out a loan and using up my entire salary (part time, have only just returned after SAHMing).

So we went back to ask them to price our kitchen up in two other ranges. (We've paid a £1,500 deposit so we have to go with Wren). After another 2 and a half hours we've got one other quote. It's a complete contrast: handleless gloss [http://www.wrenkitchens.com/kitchens/handleless-white-gloss-kitchen/140].

We've got three little children and can't face spending much more time in a kitchen shop talking about pelmets and decor panels.

So can you wise ladies help me? Do I go for a handleless gloss kitchen which is sleek but susceptible to grubby fingermarks and totally out of keeping with the rest of the house?

Or do we keep shopping for a cheaper shaker-style kitchen with laminate but looks possibly a bit old fashioned?

I realise this isn't the biggest dilemma in the world, but I'm really stuck! Grateful for any tips.

Hello Marmitelover! I drew inspiration from our lovely kitchen for mine, we had no handles and a light green sage finish from Chippendale, with acrylic Carrera effect worktops (they have been great). After months and months of indecision I decided the high gloss finishes would be hard work to maintain and were starting to look a little dated. The people at Wickes said they were continually being asked for matt finish (they don't do one without handles.) My budget was about 12£, all in all, including Karndean flooring, appliances, extra plastering etc. it came in at £23k. I can't afford a lovely painting like yours, ML55 so I shall be attempting one myself.

Thank you for your lovely words ExConstance . Your new kitchen sounds really lovely - please can we see a picture? I am very pleased with our painting - it's called Tall Trees and is by a painter based in the Forest of Dean called Doug Eaton. Good luck with your painting!

Well, I've finally had a moment to look at Handmade Kitchens recommended by Samantha, and they really are beautiful! I love the solid wood, and those larders are exactly what I'd like. But I can't see that they're cheaper in any way . I've been comparing prices on units and so far Handmade Kitchen's come up more expensive. And Wren's installation price is absorbed in each item price.

However, looking at the small-print we can still get our deposit back (phew!) so our search has started afresh.

To the MNer who kindly posted pictures of her new Wren Shaker kitchen - it looks gorgeous! But I'm a bit unnerved by your comment about how their service.

Bambooshoots (if you're still reading) how much cheaper were your oak worktops, if you don't mind me asking?

That's a shame summer. I can only assume that the prices have gone up a lot since we had our kitchen installed , it was a few years ago .

summer, when we have the extension costs sorted, I am going to speak to Karen (oneplan on here) and get a kitchen design done then get the units from DIY kitchens or Ikea.

Two of my work colleagues have had kitchens by Wren recently and said they were good but I've been too scared off by the reviews on the net.... and also the cost!

Just a quick comment about high gloss. It is a doddle to keep clean as it is a task even tiny kids can do really easily and well. Sponge, car wax, job done in a few minutes. It has always been the first 'household chore' i gave the kids. Small ones do bottom cupboards, taller ones do bottom half of top cupboards
They do a much worse job on the wooden doors

otto - excellent tip!

suffolkpunch85 The reviews of Wren are pretty varied and it's not hard to find some really awful stories. However, if you look there are similarly bad reviews about almost any kitchen place - my builder had an long-standing account with Wickes and had really bad service from them when doing his kitchen, so returned it mid-installation and went to Benchmark. I guess lots can go wrong with ordering such a complicated and it's extremely stressful if there's a missing or damaged part, hence the online diatribes from furious customers.

I'm going to keep my expectations realistic. Off to try Benchmark today...

This Benchmark one is solid wood. No idea about costs though. At least now I've got something to compare it to...

Hi - if you take one drawing to several different places or even email them - it can make shopping around much easier and of course it's then easier to compare pricing too - ask them all to price the same layout . Sorry haven't had time to read the rest of the thread - so apologies if someone has already suggested this ! Im just zooming in and zooming off again !! Byeeee !

All tips welcome!

Wickes was actually great. No hard sell and a Shaker kitchen which seems solid and made of actual timber (in parts - not quite Wren/Linda Barker, but not foil-wrapped plasticky pretend wood), with real wood/ bespoke resin quartz-lookalike (all of which looks more like ideal kitchen in my OP) for £11,000. And a nice larder :) I'll try to attach a pic.

Will look at Benchmark this week for comparison.

Thanks so much for all your help, everyone - we're SO grateful. I'm going to cancel the Wren order and we feel so less stressed now.

.

Glad you are able to cancel Wren - sure you will find something better/cheaper/less hassle

I've just ordered from Benchmarx and using one of their fitters . Units £6k painted timber . Incl huge larder unit but sadly not most coveted corner unit which won't fit in my kitchen . They were about £1k cheaper than Wickes . Sinks, taps, worktops, appliances, flooring from eBay . £11k in total incl fitting , electrics and lighting .

2m worktop was £100 and 3m £130. Can't remember how much cheaper but it was a lot. Seller is called the.chippy.shop on eBay

Used them for our old house too and got the solid oak but this time we've gone with the staves which I actually prefer. Both 4cm
Thick not the thin 2.5cm ones

Love that kitchen op. If you are really trying to squeeze the budget ikea do a very similar one (however it isn't real wood). Had an ikea kitchen in old house and loved it and it's say quality isn't too different to wren designer range now installed

Thanks Bamboo. I did start at Ikea as I was initially determined to be practical and was impressed by the praise being showered on the Metod range. But I was defeated using the kitchen planner tool because our kitchen is so wiggly - in retrospect should have just done three different ones instead of attempting to replicate our actual room - and they were utterly disinterested in helping when I went to the store.

DH went to Wickes before it shut today and was really impressed (this is rare) so YAY! We have just emailed our order cancellation to Wren so fingers crossed they don't make it too hard for us to retrieve our deposit.

Am just so pleased we aren't tied into a £££ kitchen we can't really afford. Thanks for the hand-holding :)

Generally shaker style kitchens work better in old houses, but PLEASE use your local kitchen retailer - they need you more than the big chains and they will give you a better personal service!!

Re your contract with Wren, just thought it worth pointing out that we faced exactly the same situation with Wickes this time last year. We had paid a large deposit (over 1K) for a kitchen but we then changed our minds. After speaking with the Citizens Advice Bureau, we contacted Wickes and to their credit they gave us entire deposit back.

Miaow- mine too! Whilst looking the toher in Homebase they were loving all the cupboards and choosing which ones they liked. We had to drag them out!.

Im also in a similar predicament. Love the look of the shiny modern gloss ones but worry about it looking too modern in comparison to the rest of the house. DH doesnt like the shaker style units either.