Where to buy a kitchen?!

[Rainsbow]

The house were moving into needs a brand new kitchen. The room is HUGE so we really want a big island. General look we'd like is white gloss units (maybe handle free) and a marble floor but ideally that doesn't cost the earth. Are wickes/Homebase decent? We've got £12k max for this particular project.

Check out DIY kitchens online. They have an enormous range, they are cheap, the quality is great and the reviews excellent!

Have a look at DIY Kitchens. You have to plan it yourself but the costs are upfront on the website. Wide choice of ranges and cabinet widths and options. They come rigid built too. I had a quote from wickes, over £6k in their 50% sale, only included one lot of pan drawers, DIY was under £5k and had pan drawers on virtually every unit.

Howdens?

All I can say is please do not use Wren. I am currently in week 6 of fitting with no end in sight. They have been utterly appalling since delivery, despite a very polished show room experience.

My old mans a high end kitchen designer but really rates Ikea.

DIY Kitchens would be my recommendation too.

LadyPenelope I keep hearing Wren horror stories. I hope things get sorted for you soon x

Thank you Tatlerer. The least I can do is warn others about them to stop them ripping others off.

It's worth going to lots of places to work out what style you want. With that budget most important is to get it properly designed. A kitchen with a good layout looks and costs exactly the same as a bad one but the second will be a PITA for the next 10 years. Spend £500 of your budget on a designer and they will save you that much. DIY kitchens are great for good quality units once you know what you want.

Marble floor? Is it a palace (speculates on OP's identity)? Did you mean limestone or limestone effect tiles (will stain less)?

To answer original q. Wickes are OK but you can get the same thing cheaper elsewhere. Use somewhere that specialises in kitchens. Homebase I think are the cheaper end of the market and if I was buying an expensive kitchen I'd go to somewhere more specialist.

Amtico do marble look flooring. We have it in our bathroom. In a big kitchen it might make it look like a morgue or a fishmonger's though.

Find a kitchen fitter and work back from there, we used an independent chippy, Howden's units (I wouldn't recommend Howden's though despite loving my kitchen)and a different company for work tops because despite Howden's measuring it, when our chippy came to fit it found out that they don't actually sell work surfaces long enough for our kitchen!

Travatine tiles are good in the kitchen, I'm really pleased with mine.

Travis Pekins also have a range of kitchens.

following.

Notme where do you find a kitchen designer?

I have a white, handleless gloss kitchen. It came from Benchmarx.

I'm very pleased with it.

We got ours from benchmarx.

There's a massive ex display kitchen island on eBay at the moment. It's white but can't remember if it's glossy!

DIY kitchens were great for us, loads of choice and the customer service was brilliant, very quick communication and so accommodating when I messed up my measurements and couldn't get the 4m worktop into my home - they took it away, redelivered it in 2 2m pieces for free and the delivery drivers brought it up despite that being a more expensive delivery option than I'd picked in the first place (despite it being my own stupid fault)

They also have extra-height units in most of their finishes, and a massive range of unit sizing and shapes - the main reason we chose them, our kitchen is tiny so the extra space/flexibility is super useful, and the space behind for pipes is really decent.

ohgoshidontknow check out OnePlanOnHouzz a concept planner with a great reputation :)

We've just had our kitchen done (it was finished just yesterday, bar the floor) . We bought from Wickes in the sale, Sofia cream gloss, no handles, zannusi appliances came to just over £6k. Builder/kitchen fitter project managed it all, electrician was separate bill and flooring separate too.

Howdens wanted &8k with their own appliances - although I probably could have got it lower with haggling!

Took 3 weeks and I'm very pleased. The lady I dealt with at Wickes was excellent, replied to phone calls and emails.

It's cost us about £13k in total

Do not use Wren

Builders tend to like fitting ikea

My kitchen fitter told me he'd fit my kitchen as long as it wasn't Ikea, said they're a nightmare to fit ha ha

My builder told me Wren are rubbish. Howdens are easier as the carcasses come ready made.

You will blitz the kitchen for 12k but your flooring could be expensive. Get it all costed up online before you start spending.