Would you spend 30-40k plus on a kitchen?

[crystalgall]

We are in the process of buying a house. The needs to be completely rnovated which I am excited about including a new kitchen.

I really love the grey/blue shaker kitchen look but my god some companies are so expensive. However it doesn't seem like you can get the same look with IKEA/howdens etc. Also we are utterly inexperienced in building works/DIY so want someone to come and do all the measurements/design etc and just have it fitted. Minimal faff on our part.

I want to know if it's worth it? It's our forever house pretty much and I cook everyday. The kitchen will be part of a big open plan space too. These are some of the companies I've looked at. Bloody gorgeous kitchens.

Sola
Devol
Tom howley
Harvey jones
John Lewis of Hungerford
Second nature kitchens

So would you spend that much on a kitchen? Have you?

Ooh thanks for doing a recce in Molesey, we will have to check them out for our appliances.

Go to Hansens in the sale. Buy door knobs ect. separate - also appliances! Saves a lot.

Hey Dark what do you mean by 'blowing out'?

Someone else's Tom Howley catalogue was sent to us the other day. Obviously we didn't hesitate to open it. My favorite bit of puff was this:

Nothing feels as wonderful as when black-tie guests gather appreciatively around a majestic, bespoke island; architect friends applaud you for the sympathetic period design; and relatives come to visit and ask, "When can we stay again?"

Kind of fluffing out. So instead of a crisp end, it's expanded and fanned out through water getting in.

I have the tom howley catalogue though I've only looked at the pictures! That's hilarious....

Oh my god that is indeed poncey beyond belief. I just ogle the pictures too.

Thanks Dark. And that's due to the MDF frame?

If you have the money and it isn't going to leave you short for other things that it is necessary for you to pay for then I don't see why not.

My house cost £17,000. I would struggle to get my head round paying 40 grand for a kitchen

Afaik yes. MDF and water do not mix well.

Where do you live fairy? Wow that's amazing!

Conscious this might get deleted after 90 days and I for one would like to be able to refer back to it for recommendations etc (in spite of having possibly been called a troll...). Should we ask MNHQ to move to property section?

Great idea Ktay. Do I just report your message to MN to do that?

Could I add, late I acknowledge, a good kitchen is worth its weight in gold. But it needs a well designed room and house to sit in.
I have stood in €100k kitchens and could see where it was, design, use, materials. Those kitchens will last far longer than the 5k ones, which is meant to happen, to be fair.
If I had my choice; Poggenpohl, Siematic, Hacker.
A significant design service is usually provided with each name at that level and is well worth it.

15k max for me.

That's worrying about MDF when nearly every mid-range to cheap kitchen place uses it!

Even on some of the high end websites they talk about using non wood products. Melamine? MFC etc.

Our kitchen looks nearly exactly the same as the one I saw and coveted in the Poggenpohl brochure. It cost less than £5k instead of £100k. The unit innards are MDF, six years on they look the same as when we got them. Not damaged or degraded in any way, and I use the kitchen a lot and am not careful.

I think unless you have money to burn or are happy with a dated kitchen, it's madness to spend tens of thousands.

Not sure re reporting but sounds like a plan!

Another vote for handmade kitchens direct . We got our kitchen from there 8 years ago and I'm still very pleased with it . Everything was bespoke - we have a Victorian house with high ceilings so got extra tall wall units and extra deep base units .

It came fully assembled like furniture - oak frames and carcasses and engineered wood panel doors ( as they are more stable ) . We stained some furniture and painted some . Cost £4K for largish kitchen 8x6 m . Looks like smallbone / Chalon or similar £80k kitchen .

Work tops are granite from Diapol and ash from a local sawmill. Cost £1.8k

Floor is reclaimed mahogany . Cost £1k materials and £1k labour

Sinks and taps were inexpensive . Ditto dishwashers and built in microwave .

The only gadget is a boiling water tap .

Painter was £1k, hand painted/ stained units take a lot of time

So total cost was modest for a large kitchen in traditional style , about £12k for everything - material and labour .

HOWEVER this was part of a larger building project which we managed ourselves , so we ( kind of ) know what we are doing . AND I spend months going round all the expensive kitchen showrooms and working out what I liked / disliked . I spend weeks getting all the layout right for how I cook and how we use the kitchen as a family .

So if you don't enjoy doing this, don't know what you are doing and don't have the time / energy to learn , then you may prefer a ' one stop shop ' company who come in and do it all for you .

It will depend a lot IMO on how easily you can afford £30-40k. And whether you are going for a colour/style that is currently fashionable, will be out of fashion in 5 years, and whether you are the sort of person who will be bothered about that.

ooh I've just seen the 1909 kitchens. They're nice but I can't get any idea on the price point. Anyone have one of these?

Also anyone have the Second Nature kitchen?

I see they are sister companies but the 1909 looks more exepnsive. Wondering how much of a difference there is in materials

Hang on, let me get my rusty maths out...

30k kitchen

Cook fifteen meals in there a week

Plan on living there 20 years.

15x52x20 / 30,000 = 52p, I think.

52p a meal. The price of what, your veg?

If you can afford it do it. I did it and every day I'm happy I did.

I love the per meal costing! I've also met the Tom Howley (when he was involved with the company) and am surprised at just how poncey that brochure text is. I did wonder what all the fuss was about as I stood in the showroom........ Obviously, I'm not their target customer.

Wrong way round with the division I think - £1.92 per meal...

£30k/20 years - £1500 per year
£1500/52 weeks - £28.84 per week
£28.85/15 meals - £1.92 per meal

Love how you've worked it out to per meal price !!!

Spend what you feel comfortable with !! Shop around with one plan and compare like for like to get a fair comparison. ..

Trawl the web for pics of what you like - and remember - all the best freelance concept planners don't advertise with Google as they get too busy ! recommendation is the best way to find one !

thanks for the shout RedHat !