Help with kitchen cabinets. Looking to immitate deVOL.

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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!

Yep, it's completely bonkers but if I take the overall cost of the units, doors and hardware it'll come to around £10k, which feels reasonable and that extra cost makes it look really special. Also, we'll be installing the kitchen ourselves which is a complete doddle (compared to our other renovation tasks). I guess it's personal choice as to what you splash on and what you compromise on. I've looked at lots of other door hardware and they really don't look as good.

Sadly, and when dealing with a whole renovation, it's the cost of other things that really make me . The cost of timber, bricks, various trades etc. are eye watering.

True Crumblina that's a great price all in. Our units alone are £8.5k, but it's pretty big. What are you doing for worktops?

I'm going to Diapol for a white quartz worktop/island top. We've used them a couple for times before and they've been great (and the cheapest). Will get in a couple of other quotes just to make sure they still are though! Will probably use Mandarin Stone for a marble tiled splash as well (I love their tiles!)

Can you post that Crumb? Would love to see the quartz against marble?

I'd recommend going for a 1.5 deep butler sink. There is no option to rinse unless you empty the whole sink or only fill it half full initially. It's a real pita with just one bowl.

Re: the inframe, agreed I don't want hinges - lovely look, but something else to think about and cost up. How much was one door for a standard base unit from Foxstows out of interest?

Devol put a feature on their website about a recent installation, stressing what good value it was. I wonder if they are realising they're missing out on a significant market share because their pricing is unaffordable for most: www.devolkitchens.co.uk/kitchens/shaker-kitchen/leicestershire-kitchen-woods

I'm using One Plan on Houzz to help me with my design:www.houzz.co.uk/pro/oneplan/oneplan

Karen is great, I used to read her responses on here, but she hasn't been on here for a while, too busy I presume. I'd like a window seat too if I can get it in, she's very creative. Have a look at her work if you need some layout/input help.

We had Karen design our kitchen and open plan living space, including a window seat, abd mightily happy with her service we were too. We've now translated what she drew up for us into an existing order with DIY kitchens and that'll be fitted in June time.

Back to the OP, I think it's the little bits which make a kitchen standout, like door knobs etc which had already been mentioned. Our kitchen units came to £9k and our door knobs over £1k alone (all Armac Martin). With quartz top I'm hoping it'll come together and look more expensive than it will be.

Yes, more than happy to post pics of the finished kitchen and the worktop/splashback. Most likely to be in May if we get our socks on. Re the sink, I think we're happy with our choice as we don't tend to fill the sink and most things will go into the dishwasher. We've got a big single bowl Villeroy and Boch farmhouse sink in the utility room and I love it!

I've priced up the hardware from Armac Martin this morning and it's actually more like £1.3k - ouch! That definitely puts the in-frame question to bed as hinges would cost much more.

A 600mm door (or anything up to 900mm in height) from Shaker Doors is £114. That's for oak, painted in a colour of your choice and includes VAT.

I see your point about DeVOL - the kitched featured isn't too expensive as there's not much of it! That said, I'd definitely go with them if I could afford it (and I know a couple of people who have). Their showroom is beautiful - sigh.

Ah yes, I've seen OnePlan on here and she's so helpful! I think we're there with our design now though - all being purchased on Monday!

Lovely to hear, Karen's been a dream to work with so far at the planning stage.

What DIY kitchen and colour are you going for Humpty out of interest? We're all obsessed on here!

Oh, and sorry I can't really help with your other post, Goingslowly. We're project managing our own renovation and extension but we're also acting as the builder as well so 99% of the project tasks have to be undertaken by us! We did have an architect for the initial design but it was a pretty basic service. My guess for the plug sockets is that you plan where you want them and your architect produces the drawings for the builder??

Ooh, I received the Railing sample today (from Shaker Doors) which was printed on card instead of wood/MDF. That said, it looks exactly as Railing should. I have a sample pot of the colour and so will try and find time to paint some wood and compare it to the card they sent and post on here if the photo comes out ok.

We like shaker style kitchens and are going with Helmsley painted in F&B Ammonite with F&B Hague Blue Island. It may have been done to death but we don't care, it's our kitchen. DIY we're so accommodating, we've managed to change the faces of the Helmsley so the carcases have a flush finish instead of having a cock bead finish. That on top of of alot of other diva requests. I'll post pics once done.

What are you going with?

Who’s Karen?

Goingslowly, I have a perfect t picture of your kitchen in my head! It sounds like you are definitely do for an upgrade and what a difference it’ll make. I actually love ikea but you sound a lot like my husband - I know a trip to Ikea will absolutely result in a moody husband. If you are resourceful at getting bargains then definitely make it as nice as possible. If you are going to be there even for a few years it is worth it!

I had a look on Etsy and saw some lovely larders! The higham one I saw was very beautiful and well made. I’ll send some drawings over to them this week and they will give me a provisional quote. I haven’t ruled out Ikea or diy with a bespoke door combo but I was pretty impressed with them and might be worth the extra expense for our forever home... we shall see!

Does anyone have an opinion on DeVOL VS Higham?

I love that sink crumbelina! I was thinking of 60cm but I am really considering 80 now and I also want just a single sink. We stick everything but large items in the dishwasher and this would be perfect for that!

£1300 is a lot but the quality looks fantastic and it will be for life. It’s one of those things that you won’t regret spending the money on in the long run.

Please do send a pic of the colour sample if you can, I’d love to see how it looks. I saw basalt by little green when I went to the Higham showroom and it was very beautiful.

Humpty, we have ammonite in our master bedroom and it is a super lovely colour! I just googled the Helmsley kitchen and it’s really nice! When will it be fitted?

Girls, sorry for all the separate posts, I’m writing on my phone so it’s hard to remember what everyone wrote! What is the cost of hiring someone like Karen from OnePlan?

@BarbieV7 her plan we were looking at was £400. I'd spoken to enough kitchen fitters that we were confident in our design & didn't use her. But still cheaper that a Wickes type kitchen if you do use her x

@Humptynumpty02 you've got me emailing DIY Kitchens to see if we can have our dream of an inframe slab !

Thank you! I messaged her and got a very speedy reply which I will look at properly tomorrow!

Yeah, 1909 are famous for their inframe slab aren't they?
www.1909kitchens.co.uk/kitchens/in-frame-slab-linear

I don't think that's for us as a little too modern, but can see the appeal, but amazing that DIY accommodated it. They'll probably bring out their own range of it now!

Humpty, I'm not sure yet. Like The Nickleby from Humprey Munson as inspiration, but would never pay (or could afford) to buy from them:
www.humphreymunson.co.uk/
We have a north facing room (it's a dark house), so need to pick colour carefully, very neutral I think, so no navy and copper sadly........

Barbie, Karen is aka OnePlan on Houzz, let's see if my link works now:
www.houzz.co.uk/pro/oneplan/oneplan

I've paid her for a couple of hours so far - £35 per hour and got a plethora of amazing ideas and tips. She's so impartial and knowledgeable so for e.g she knows all about these combos we're discussing on this thread, work tops etc. I will get her to design our kitchen and then go and buy it from either Ikea/DIY and Foxstow or see what other options there are. I'm also going to get her to go over our architect's final drawings for ground and first floor and see if anything is missing or whether she can add in something slightly more beautiful/light etc.

On our last project I wasn't working so had a lot of time to plan our kitchen and didn't know about OnePlan then. I called in Howdens, Magnet and a couple of independents. Essentially, they come to the house and give you a free computerised plan of what new kitchen will look like and what you need etc. BUT they've all wised up over time and just give you the drawings without any measurements as they know others will go elsewhere - like DIY and 'use' their design. Ours was a galley kitchen and so small, it wasn't hard to work out I needed a 600 base unit etc so I didn't need an independent designer. Interestingly, the snotty independents around here now won't even come and see you without a deposit and won't give you the plans unless you pay another deposit to commit.

Anyway, now we're in a bigger place (that needs a full reno) and I'm working and stressed. I wouldn't even be able to take off 4 separate days (and wouldn't want to waste holiday) for the kitchen company appointments. They also only sell you what they have, so don't offer bespoke options so it can be a rather safe option.
Karen/OnePlan will be well worth the money to design it - the £400 option takes a week to do, she asks you to fill in a form with what you like, styles, colours etc and do a look book on Houzz. She can then see what kind of kitchen you want, she understands how you live, how many kids, whether it's a forever home etc. It's quite a process and sounds great fun. She also has a very soothing, therapeutic voice, which helps

I will then take the design she has done and her recommendations for colour/brands and suppliers and order it all and give her design to the fitter etc. She's pretty much there to hold your hand as little or as often as you want as far as I gather.

How have you found it Crumb? I hope it's not being too stressful. I have all my trades now, it's just the 'in betweens' so for example, I need builders/someone decent to put steels in etc as the brickies won't, but no decent builder will of course give me their men on a day rate when I've not used them in the first instance.

I know it's going to be a real headache to do it this way as there's SO much snagging as each trade finishes and doesn't want to take responsibility for X,Y and Z.

Off to look at Armac Martin again now......crazy Friday night!

I'm on my phone too so am guilty of separate posts. Goingslowly, I've found the process to be absolutely awful and one of the most stressful periods of my life. It's a whole different world when you work with trades and DH has had most of the contact as sexism still appears to be rife when I get involved directly. It's all about not taking responsibility, trying to take short cuts (until DH steps in), not turning up and a thousand excuses with many family deaths and funerals. . And this is from tradesmen with great reviews!

It was hard when we had DD1 and DH had to work all/every weekend on the house but the arrival of DD2 coincided with the timber frame going up for the extension and then we've had a succession of trades (bricklayers, roofers, door/rooflight fitters) who have mostly been a complete pain. Definitely hearing you on the snagging as well.

Hope you manage to find someone for the steels. We had ours all included as part of the timber frame package which has worked well (although the company's customer service was abysmal)!

We also have the same north facing kitchen dilemma but have put in a 3m x 1m rooflight which should help (as they bring in three or four times more light than normal windows apparently). We'll also paint everything white. Have attached a pic to show the rooflight before the polished concrete floor was poured. Ignore the awful garden!

Oh I cant believe you are talking about the lovely lady, who did our design, on here. Is this mumsnst fame? She was amazing! I think you might be a little out on her prices though. Her info email said from £450 to £675 for a room , so if you have a collection of rooms or knocked through rooms it will be more than £400. But there was an hourly rate option too, if that's over your budget. Lol yes very soothing voice! She doesn't get phased by much. And answers emails out of hours even if she is able to. Would totally recommended her. We emailed her finished PDF to DIY kitchens and they priced our Hemsley kitchen . Much easier than trying to price it ourselves. And yes, its a dream go work in as its been designed specifically to suit me .

Oh, and back to kitchens - will post a pic of the sample and colour match soon, Barbie. I'm now 100% that I'll be going with Railings and the Armac Martin hardware (despite the cost!). I think they're quite timeless so if we update the kitchen in many years I'll use them for something else!

Oh should add my kitchen and extension came to £725.so that was for kitchen and dining and living area ( I think the extra areas were discounted ) and was a Monday to Friday work slot . can't think any of my trades men worked for as low a price as that, for five days and the odd evening call too.

Sadly DIY kitchens can't do the inframe slab which is a shame. We'll be sticking with the Norton which beautiful. Maybe I'll be able to stretch to that when we have our forever home