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?

Not sure if it's been recommended but have you looked at The Shaker Kitchen Company a friend has recently used them and her kitchen is amazing like DeVol but a fraction of the price. They have a showroom in Clapham I think so maybe worth a look.

Btw her kitchen was less than 10k with Quartz worktops.

We are getting a Tom Howley kitchen and it isn't costing £40k. £17k for the units only then it is up to you what appliances you go for. Our designer was great at the Beaconsfield showroom.

We also approached another company out near Maidenhead who do bespoke who I really liked. The designer there was great too. That one came in at £20k including all appliances and worktop.

And finally another good company was Dorset Kitchens. We went to see them and their workshop and they were lovely people and great quality kitchens. We didn't use them as we decided on something a bit more modern.

Does the 30k including tiling, electrics flooring and plumbing or do you just get units and appliances?

I remember getting someone in to quote for a bathroom and when I studied it line by line there was some insane stuff like £350 for certain London postcodes and £500 to remove tiles!! (It took me a couple of hours in the end)

I've had 2 IKEA kitchens and a b&q and can't help wonder how pricier kitchens differ.

Perhaps you should take inspiration from Julie and Martin Bishop of Peterborough

Bwah.

yes, we did and I'm certainly not planning to replace it in 5 years, as someone said earlier. I hate renovating. It's bespoke, has everything we wanted and I totally love it.

I have a lovely big kitchen, from Howdens. It really is lovely, everything opens easily and closes softly. There is no need to pay 50k!

We had our kitchen in our old house for 10yrs and most people who looked round thought it was new and we'd put it in to sell the place, so if you choose carefully then it won't necessarily date badly.
I think it helps that I tend to choose things for the house that I really like rather than are trendy, our current kitchen was chosen because it suited the space, house and things I like and I suspect will look good for a long time to come. The joiner did a beautiful job and the wood is gorgeous, it makes the best of a large but awkward space ( lots of Windows, door, intrusions, different ceiling heights and a fireplace) something that would have been tricky with an off the shelf kitchen (as demonstrated by the awful one that was in here when we moved in) , we also did the work as part of a major renovation so it made sense.

I feel like the 'modern' painted Shaker kitchens are getting a bit dated. This might be solely because I am fed up with my 'modern', painted Shaker kitchen

I know Howdens are meant to be very good quality but I really hate the colours they have. It's all so wishy washy.

I don't really want to spend so much but when I look at what's out there: howdens/IKEA/wren/wickes etc I just don't like it.

What can I do?

Some of the responses have really made me think but this is a space we will be in every day and a kitchen I will be in and cook in everyday. The dailymash thing linked above was very funny but I'm afraid I do give a fuck.

Agh. No sure what to do.

Again, we really have no skills (or huge imagination really!). I don't see us doing an IKEA hack or planning it all ourselves. For one thing I've got a 4 year old and a 4 month old and I just don't have the time or energy for it right now. I want to do this as easily and smoothly as possible.

Any other recommendations?

I keep looking up kitchen designer/kitchen carpenter and Google brings me back to all these expensive bespoke kitchen places!

Easy to spend that, and some, if you are putting in a multitude of high end appliances,

Dailymash was hilarious.

If you have a joiner you trust, have a go on your own. Show him what you want and see what he says. I am very sure that this is the cheapest way of getting a high-end kitchen.

Where are you, by the way? I just happen to have a house being renovated next door and the kitchen fitter was a delightfully nice guy (he brought me flowers for using my electricity!) did a great job on the kitchen. He dropped his card by before he left.

Why not book an appointment with one or two of the high-end ones you are seriously considering and that could help focus your mind - you might find a kitchen so lovely you decide it's the right thing to spend all that money on it. And if not, you can use the resulting plan they come up with as a basis for a more DIY approach.

I really like devol, but I was under the impression it was the less expensive arm of plain English? I would expect it to be less than £30k, tbh. But it depends how big your kitchen space is.
You have to look at the cost of the house overall. A £30k kitchen in a £125k house is a little ott, but in a £2m Georgian gentleman's residence, is probably in keeping.

As long as the kitchen is in keeping with the feel of the house it won't matter if it's not your forever home, it will help sell the house.

Oh and thank you to Honeyandfizz - another one for my Pinterest board!

Whatever you choose, you MUST do it before you move in!

British Standard cupboards are a less expensive arm of plain English. Don't know if devol are linked to them?

No. Mine came from mfi and was paid for by trading in 2yrs worth of Tesco vouchers traded up for x4 face value.

10yrs in now it looks a bit worn but I'm not complaining-it didn't cost me anything.

If you decide to go for Harvey Jones. Commit on the last day of their regular sales and you can negotiate an extra discount. They will be gagging to make their target.

Then you have one year afte putting down deposit to actually get kitchen fitted.

Kitchen furniture was around 1/3 of total price of kitchen. As you have to add in appliances / flooring / worktop etc

I'm in East London Apple

We put a 3k IKEA kitchen in when we extended a few years ago. Just plain gloss white, but I love it. Dh and the builder fitted it together.

We couldn't justify the cost of anything more expensive, but did spend on good quality hard-wearing flooring.

Whatever you get is going to date and look worn, so get something you love.

Luckily for me my tastes match my budget.

Has anyone tried this company pineland.co.uk/hand-made-kitchens/

I'd only spend £30k on a kitchen if I had no mortgage. I'd rather live to my means, not beyond!

Have you tried Wickes? The quality is good, mine has lasted for over 10 years now. Don't like the handles on this one but is shaker and grey.

www.wickes.co.uk/kitchen/classic-traditional-kitchens/milton-range/milton-grey