Help with kitchen cabinets. Looking to immitate deVOL.

[HomeExtender]

I'm looking to imitate a deVOL kitchen but can't afford one
I've looked at DIY kitchens Norton range but the lay-on frame is 10cm, a lot chunkier than deVOL. Has anyone seen any kitchens with a slimmer onlay frame above no V groove (so the frame is flush with no gaps)? I dint want in-frame. Thanks so much!

[Crumbelina]

No, we didn't need a designer to visit (and I don't think Ikea offer this service?). We used the online Metod kitchen planner to design the kitchen (you can also include an island in the plan). We then booked an appointment with a designer instore and he refined and re-worked our design for us as we had a few problems trying to find the right corner cabinet. Just to note, I think you can visit and IKEA can design the whole kitchen from scratch if you find it too difficult.

You then send the design to Shaker Doors who will take a look at it and give you a quote for the doors you need. (We're just about to do this).

I'm not having any Ikea appliances as I want Neff for most things. The only exception is having an Ikea dishwasher as there have been lots of problems with trying to fit a door onto non-Ikea dishwashers. Shaker Doors said it wouldn't be a problem and recommended an Ikea hinge but the man in IKEA said that this still isn't a great solution. He wasn't pushing to sell any other appliances so I'm inclined to believe him.

[Crumbelina]

Forgot to say, you can tell Ikea and Shaker Doors the appliances you do want and they can check if they'll fit with the cupboards.

[HomeExtender]

Hi guys just seen his post (that I started) has been resurrected! We went with diy Norton and are chuffed to bits with it :)

[Lambrilittlelegs]

What is the difference between DIY Norton and DIY Stanbury? I have just ordered our new kitchen in Stanbury (but can change it if need be until 7/1/18). We saw the Stanbury in the showroom and really liked it but didn't see the Norton. Anyone looked at both? Thanks

[HomeExtender]

Stanbury is smooth painted whereas Norton you can see the painted wood grain.

[minimalist99]

Homextender-

What was the process with diy kitchens do you just call them up with measurements? I am completely uneducated in this field and I really like the look of the norton so please could you talk me through the process. Sorry for being a pain

[Lambrilittlelegs]

Thanks for the info Home Extender. Good to know.

[whatashower]

minimalist just in case homextender is busy.
DIY kitchens are really flexible and helpful. There is a huge amount of information and faqs on their website too, and I believe there is a new online planner now, although I couldnt see a link on the website
advice.diy-kitchens.com/customer-questions/
www.diy-kitchens.com/support/new-ticket.asp?enty=14&enht=Quotation
We planned our kitchen ourselves, created a shopping list of items we thought we needed and a couple of queries and sent a rough drawing and the shopping basket reference through to their customer services team who double checked for us. You can visit their showroom with a plan too if preferred. Some people have used the IKEA or similar planner service to get an idea of what they could do - but then opted for DIY kitchen units.
I found the discipline of working through their online shop and unit options a massive help in thinking through what was required and what was possible, and without taking the time to do this I would not have
the kitchen we have now - for instance I discovered shallow depth larder units which are fantastic in our small utility room, and waste fitments etc that all inspired our final design.

[Crumbelina]

Just to update, we're taking the plunge with IKEA and Shaker Doors. Costs look very reasonable for 7 base units, 7 wall units, 6 tall units and a 1.8m by 0.8m island. This includes a fair few 80cm units and drawer units. Around £2.4k from IKEA and £6.7k from Shaker Doors including all cornicing, plinths, delivery etc. Will update with photos and fingers crossed it looks good! We're then spending another £10k on a quartz worktop, decent appliances and some seriously expensive hardware (around £1k - eek!) to replicate the DeVOL look. So all in, should be around £20k.

Has been pretty epic to plan it all and we're fitting it ourselves.

[Crumbelina]

Should have mentioned, that's solid oak shaker doors colour, matched with Farrow and Ball. MDF shaker is much cheaper.

[BarbieV7]

Crumbelina would you be able to send a screenshot of what your kitchen looks like in the planner? I’d love to see what all those base units look like mapped out. What a great saving, I hope the look is amazing in the end!

[Crumbelina]

Yes, sure! Out and about but will post a few pics a bit later ...

[Goingslowlymad123]

Hi Crumbelina

I too am interested in similar. Is it a standard oak door you've gone for? Do you have to paint it?

I hope you don't mind me saying but 10K sounds an absolute fortune for worktop! Who's the supplier?

[BarbieV7]

Wonderful, thank you! I checked out some of the companies that the doors. Super nice!

[FiloPasty]

Just place marking as currently doing my kitchen x

[Crumbelina]

Goingslowly, that's £10k for the worktop and all the appliances! I think our budget is around £3-5k for the worktop and it's highly likely we'll use Diapol (have used a couple of time before). Really competitive prices and good customer service. Will ship around to get a couple more quotes though just to make sure they're still competitive.

It's standard oak in the shaker style and they have an affiliate company who do the F&B colour matching and spray paint them all.

[BarbieV7]

Crumbelina I just realised you wrote on a previous thread I stared and it seemed we had similar taste and you were also very helpful there! I actually looked at Diapol a year ago because I wanted to change my current worktop but the Carrara marble slab they sent me a photo of was very dark and I wasn’t happy to proceed for that reason, other than that I couldn’t fault them. Maybe it was just a bad batch. I found some other guys north of me in Wembley who did charge more but not too bad and you could go in person and select the slab you wanted and it was really lovely. Which material will you go for?

[Crumbelina]

Ah yes, I did! Sorry I haven't been back to your thread - we're having a bit of a crappy time dealing with trades and the usual madness of children.

We're going to opt for Blanco Zeus Extreme which we have in our utility room. It's basically a very white quartz with no flecks so it's an easy one to buy straight from the internet as you know what you'll be getting. We also had it for five years in our last house and it never stained (Bar Keepers Friend is an absolute God send of a product and kept it super white).

Just waiting for my husband to sort himself out as I need his laptop for the Ikea pics ...

[Goingslowlymad123]

This is very exciting. All such interesting info. Crumbelina, try Granite Master. What colour did you go for the doors? What about the floor?

I've read previous threads that say Ikea are an absolute mare to deal with though. What type of handles are you going for out of interest?

[BarbieV7]

No problem, it’s sounds like you were very busy! Oh if it is quartz then I am sure it’s perfect, there won’t be the variations you would find in something like marble! I would love to know what handles you will go for too, I was just on the DeVOL website and they are lovely. I had something more modern in mind though those are more keeping in style with the shaker cabinets. I guess that’s the good thing about a classic kitchen that you can change hardware and colour and still have something stylish but more updates to changing trends if that’s what you want.

[Crumbelina]

So here's the current plan. The IKEA planner is a real faff and so this isn't quite the finished article. The door panels are a bit misaligned and the island is all over the place! The latter will have a wine fridge and integrated freezer underneath and I've decided against having a sink or hob on the island top. The space is going to be devoted to Champagne and flowers. The tall units are on the opposite side will have an integrated fridge/freezer. The other half of the room will have a sofa, 2-3 metre dining table and lots of space!

[Crumbelina]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma on the door colour. I'm probably going to opt for Farrow and Ball Railings which is a dark grey/midnight blue (very similar to DeVOL's pantry blue). Everything else (walls, worktop, Carrara marble splashback) will be white to ensure that the space isn't too dark. The trouble is that Railings can sometimes be a bit too blue depending on the light. I feel a bit nervous about ordering something I've never seen but the kitchens on Shaker Doors Instagram page do look very good.

Re hardware, we're opting for Armac Martin cup handles, knobs and square catches (from their Cotswold collection). We're also having an antique copper finish which is beautiful and will contrast really well with the darkness of the units. Trouble is the price - £90 (yes, that's nine - zero) for one of the catches. That said, the handles and knobs are more reasonable and so we'll limit the catches to about four. Also we're saving many, many thousands by not having a DeVOL kitchen (not that we could afford it anyway, sadly!) and so I think it's worth the splurge given the units/doors are only £9-10k.

As it's a new extension we've opted for a polished concrete floor which has been poured and now drying. The company (The Concrete Flooring Contractors) are coming back when it's dry to polish and treat it and I can't wait! They've been amazing so far and the floors on their website looks gorgeous. It's expensive compared to tiles (£140 per sqm) but definitely worth it!

Thanks for the recommendation on the worktop supplier, Goingslowly! Ikea have been ok so far it's mainly been us doing the design and we haven't ordered yet. Will let you know how that goes!

Very good point about the units, Barbie! The cost of the hardware means we'll keep them forever but we'll definitely paint them when the colour dates or gets ruined by two young children.

[Crumbelina]

These are the Armac Martin finishes (we're going for Antique Copper Plate). Burnished brass is also really nice m.martin.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=_120

[BarbieV7]

A space devoted to champagne and flowers sounds dreamy. Interesting to have a freezer in the island, I always complain I need more freezer space for meal planning and massive batch making. My dream would be to have an enormous freezer in a pantry room.

I really really like the colour railings, it’s in my top 3 actually! I don’t mind that the blue would be more dominant in full light actually. I had a look at the hardware you mentioned and it is priced but very beautiful, I think copper will look 👌🏼

I think if I do have something on my island it will just be a prep sink, we got a lovely sink and tap from a company called olif which I would use.

I bet you can’t find wait to be finished, not long till may! Will you attach photos of your kitchen once youve finished?

[Crumbelina]

We currently have one tiny freezer which is jammed packed full of batch cooked toddler meals. Having an extra integrated freezer will be great after being without a decent one for so long. The only real thing I've had to compromise on is having one single oven and then a combi micro/oven and warming drawer (although that should be enough!) Ideally I would have loved another single oven but it would have taken over the room a bit. A prep sink will be great and Olif taps and sinks look amazing! Definitely worth the extra money to have some really fabulous pieces.

Yes, I'll definitely attach pictures when it's finished! I'll be posting them on every thread that mentions the word "kitchen" . That's if it looks ok of course. We currently have seven separate leaks in our extension roof (made the mistake of hiring a terrible roofer) and it feels like it'll never get finished. He has around 50-60 flowing reviews on MyBuilder but seems to have completely cocked our job up.

How's your planning coming along? Have you had any more quotes? Oh, and what are your other favourite colours?