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?

Ah I wondered if it might be them, am waiting to hear back from them with a quote. They're the ones who recommended Molesey Refrigeration Centre to me. Thanks for that other lead, will look them up.

Only if I had done the rest of my house and garden and felt like spunking a load of money which I could easily afford

I definitely wouldn't plan it during round one of refurb. There are so many moving parts which can increase budget and you need to work out how you use the house before putting a lot of money into something permanent

Yes.

Look up Bramble Tree on Facebook. They make solid wood kitchens which are beautiful but comparable in price to some of the mass-produced kitchens. Certainly way cheaper than British Standard.

Thread has been a font of information with lots of lovely posters PMing me with further info.

Still have no idea what I will do but it's been an interesting read

Ilove thank you so much for mentioning oneplanonhouzz I was in contact with her via pm before I namechanged and registered after Jeffreygate and had been wondering how track her down!

Ours cost £30k and is worth it.

Can I ask where from wandering?

Another question for anyone in the know:

What's the difference between MDF/MFC/Birch Ply/Laminated Birch ply?

I'm seeing this described a lot on some of the cheaper kitchen websites and im not really sure what it means.

If the carcasses are any of the above is that ok?

Should the doors definitely be real wood though?

I would say no. Ply is not your friend. Ply and water = mush/staining.

Carcasses are generally wood or melamine and actually melamine is better as if you put a damp glass away on a wood surface, it will mark, whereas melamine just wipes clean. Tom Howley offer solid oak carcasses and shelves but the designer recommended melamine - it reduces the price considerably and also is easier to maintain IMHO.

Er...aren't boats made of plywood? Are you confusing it with chipboard?

OP are you up for this,
Engineered sheet timber products are better for flat panels than solid timber as they are more stable. They are designed with coatings and edgings to keep the core dry. Wood doesn't mark if properly finished.

MFC is melamine faced chipboard. Used for 99% of carcases the better ones have a 2mm thick edge bead rather than just glued tape which can peel off.

MDF is medium density fibreboard, it's brown and smooth, stronger than chipboard, takes paint well or can be veneered with real wood or vinyl coated. Parts like cornice are often MDF. You could have mdf cabinets and most doors are MDF if not solid wood.

Plywood should be birch for furniture, is more durable than mdf. It can have an edge strip glued on if you want to hide the layers. If ppl really want to avoid MDF or MFC it's the next option.

If you want your whole kitchen to be solid wood the sheets are planed down from jointed strips, (as trees are round) like pine board or oak. But I don think it adds much function, except maybe hardworking parts like dovetailed drawers.

Sorry I have been itching to point this out!

Oh and good quality doors are commonly solid wood frames and matching veneered centre panels. What timber depends on desired grain and finish as discussed above - oak/ash have visible grain, maple/ pearwood/pine come up smooth.

RaisingSteam. I have read the whole thread (now losing the will to live, I'm not sure I can face it) but I've lost track of who said what...which companies do you recommend?

Has anyone heard of, or better still used, system six (Quantum).?

Firstly yes, if you have the money I see no reason why you shouldn't spend that amount on a kitchen. We're just about to put in a new kitchen in our place and spent ages last year talking to kitchen companies including Tom Howley, Smallbone and Mark Wilkinson. We ended up using a much smaller company called Detail kitchens (London shop is in Chiswick), who do completely bespoke designs, unlike some of the aforementioned companies who's 'bespoke' designs weren't very flexible!

Mike at Detail is absolutely fantastic and has spent ages getting the kitchen to be exactly what we want. We started with the grey and blue Tom Howley kitchen as the basis for our design (love this - excellent choice ), but have added lots of other features that we saw in other places. It is brilliant being able to send them a photo of something you like then see them incorporate it to the design. He also came up with lovely ideas like matching some of the details in the cabinetry to some of the period features already in our house.

Whilst it's not a cheap option, they are less than the big brand names and you get the same if not better quality. Honestly I can't recommend them enough, one of the best companies I've dealt with in a long time.

I can't really recommend but would say as earlier, try and find a designer who will work with your budget and get the layout storage and ergonomics right. No point having solid oak shelves if there's nowhere to put the toaster or you later think £10k would have been better spent knocking out a chimney breast.

Have you looked at www.handmadekitchens-direct.co.uk? We visited their shop in Christchurch and it was all very beautifully made, solid wood and completely custom. Despite the awful cheap sounding web address they are worth a look!

Thank you steam!

So after your detailed explanation of all the different things you're saying not to use any of those for carcasses or you think it's ok.

little
I've looked at them but you have to paint yourself and as I said I cannot be doing with that!

TBH They are all fine and functional but some are more luxury than others. It's like do you want leather seats in a car? Yes if you are paying for a top spec car. Doesn't mean cloth seats are no good they are just not as posh. . But personally I think solid wood is unnecessary for hidden parts of a kitchen, maybe different if freestanding.
Good luck with your renovations anyway!

I'm in the it's going to be updated in 10 years time so I'm not wasting loads of money on it.

Having said that, our kitchen is standout in our house, and all open plan so it needed to be special. Special to me doesn't equal units costing £££s. We spent our money where it counted - top of the range folding sliding doors, expensive flooring - the stuff that will stay. We then did the Ikea hack that's been mentioned here. I saw a Poggenpohl kitchen I wanted, so we based the design on that. We had some elm that we used to make a few unit fronts, shelves and tables from. We spent a bit of cash on good quality appliances, sink, hob and white Silestone worktop. So on the surface it looks expensive. We have a 2m Island made from Ikea back to back units, drawers with stainless steel fronts. We have floor to ceiling sections including larder type drawers, shelving units, pull out drawers. Sure, they aren't Porsche technology runners and dovetail joints but 6 years on they still look good and work well.

It takes more effort to plan it than getting a kitchen designer in, but IMO totally worth it - we saved thousands. Which means I won't feel guilty about ripping it out when the time comes.

Diy kitchens are the same as second nature ones. So you'd be paying about 20k extra for the sake of not getting a piece of graph paper out. That's a lot of money you could put to good use elsewhere!

We're renovating at present and had an entire kitchen plus appliances, fixtures and fittings put in for less than 5k. We went to a local independent kitchen shop which had been recommended highly by others.

If we'd went with marble worktops and an island it would've added just under 5k to the overall cost.

The independent drew up plans, did measurements, full fittings etc. and was very, very helpful (our first time buying a kitchen & we knew nothing).

One thing to consider is if you want solid wood doors or I think our independent called the other type "foils". Whereby it has a similar style but rather than four joins on the front of the shaker style it has none or two (depending on the style and who makes it). Also a lighter door.

People that have spent your range on their kitchen have seen ours and couldn't believe it cost a lot less than theirs as it's amazing quality and has been done to such a high standard.

Ask around friends, family and colleagues for recommendations of local independents. Also try googling for them (ours has been in business for over 25years).

You live near me post. Some locals have done lovely kitchen renovations and posted pics and contractor renovations on local FB pages. Have a look!

My parents spent a lot of money a few years ago on a custom-built kitchen. I have cooked in it a lot. TBH it's quite annoying: the painted cupboards are fragile, the Corian worktop is too hard and chips/breaks china and glass. The built in fridge, freezer, oven and hob are not large or powerful enough.

I much prefer my own kitchen with extremely powerful standalone machines and user-friendly Formica! Mine is a cook's kitchen, designed for heavy use...

Thank you to whoever it was who recommended Molesey Refrigeration Centre. I whizzed over there today and they were very helpful, loads of stuff in stock and they made it pretty clear the price sticker was only the start....

Also yesterday I got a peek at my friend's carpenter MDF kitchen (installed the same time as my tulipwood one) and sadly the ends of the cabinets are blowing out - as I thought they would, I'd imagine she'll be gutted...

Yes, I've used Molteni, Roundhouse and currently working with Plain English Design. All excellent and very pleased with the results. I'd recommend them all, depending on what style you're looking for.