DIY kitchens - Helmsley anyone?

[Lambrilittlelegs]

Hello
We think we have decided on a Helmsley kitchen from DIY kitchens. Has anyone else got this one and if so would you mind posting some pictures? It’s not available to view in the showroom so we are buying offline without seeing it (although I will order a sample door).

Going for a F&B painted finish.
Any advice/tips/pics most welcome! Thanks

Do you guys know if there's any difference in quality between ceramic sinks? Are known brands better? I want a double Belfast one and cheap ones are just under £150, whereas better known brands closer to £300 and more. They all look identical in photos. Will cheaper ones scratch and chip more or are they all manufactured the same?

I am really not sure. I usually do a ton of research before I do anything (researcher by profession!) but I went for this on a bit of a whim. I saw it today and it’s beautiful, so that combined with the name and the sale did it for me. It’s fireclay ceramic which is meant to be very resistant to chips etc. There are plenty of slightly cheaper fireclay ones also so not sure how they compare.

rosita I'm slightly derailing the point of this post by butting in as I've not gone for Helmsley. In the end we have gone for the Ellerton range, which is a handless shaker. It feels a good compromise between slab handless which my DH prefers and shaker which I prefer. Plus there's one less decision to make ( no handles to choose ) which is a blessed relief at the mo!
I'm still dithering over the sink! We need an undermount 600mm sink. We will have chalk white units with a white marbley top. Stainless steel or white ( ceramic or granite?! ). I have no idea which would look better.

@Bobkate Look for photos with that type of kitchen to see what others have gone for? Stainless steel would match appliences and a white ceramic sink might be lost whith white-ish units and white-ish worktops. I think stainless steel is so much more practical, our last ceramic sink did scratch. But I just prefer the look of ceramic sinks.

I think we are going with Ikea Kulinarisk pyrolytic oven and a microwave oven combi, I like their 5 year warranty and Kulinarisk has good reviews. Getting AEG induction hob, same as in last house as I liked it, a Bosch dishwasher and integrated washing machine, again as we had both Bosch before and they were very good. And a Haier fridge, never heard of this brand before but the only American fridge that fits the gap and is fairly shallow.

Just looked up Ellerton, love the slim narow shaker frame. Very nice design.

Thanks aisteb - I have tried looking but can't find many images of a similar style kitchen. Our appliances are either integrated or mainly black. I have a ceramic sink at the mo, and even with the builders leaving tea bags in, dropping bits of plaster, etc in it, all sorts of other building detritus, its still coming up beautifully on a Friday evening when I blitz it to make myself feel like I'm cleaning something!
I'm wondering if it matters if it gets lost....just mulling out loud as opposed to questioning what you've put!! I'll be so glad when all these decisions can be done and dusted and I can go back to not spending my evenings with 40 billion tabs open on the ipad!

aisteb oooh thanks! It was the slim frame that caught my eye initially. I felt the norton was too thick a frame for me. I was all set on that before the sample door arrived! And I was going grey and hague blue. Now we're doing chalk white and putty!

40 billion tabs here as well

Sounds nice, is putty going to be the island?

What brand is your sink? Maybe brand does matter re scratches We had one from Howdens before.

So the mock up doesn't really look like right colour wise. The back tall run of units will be putty grey, as will the island. The units to the left of the chimney breast and the sink run opposite will be in the chalk white.
I'll have a look and see if I can find a brand name on the sink. Although I'm not sure it is a branded one. Quite possibly just one we got from benchmarx when we had the kitchen 9 or so years ago.
Have you heard of the pink stuff cleaning paste? It's FAB!! I used it to clean the inside of the old kitchen cupboards before the builder came to take it all down - stupid, but I was embarrassed at how grubby they were inside

Your kitchen looks huge, I am so jealous What's the square footage? Those colours should look very nice in the space. I so so wanted an island but we can only fit a peninsula in.

I don't have as nice a mock up as yours but here's ours. There's a wall with a patio door to the garden in the middle of the peninsula as the kitchen protrudes at the back. Plan to have the peninsula in dark blue and the rest in light grey. There will be one bar seat on the side of the peninsula and one at the end.

I have emailed UO asking for a quote on Fri and they still haven't responded, is this regular? DIY came back with a quote of around £8k but are not very helpful with all the spare bits I need like a spare door to close off an awkward corner. The other kitchen company (Online Kitchens Uk, the one that had no reviews) were super good at preparing the plans but have not priced them up yet.

Oh and I have never heard of the pink stuff sugar soap cleans greasy surfaces or inside of the cabinets well too

Aisteb,
I am planning a similar space and online planner on DIY gave quote of around 4-5k depending on some different combinations. It was with Linwood doors. Does 8k is due to Hensley or does it include any worktop/appliance? I am wondering if I am missing something...

Mum15 it is for bespoke colour Helmsley and 10% on top of the price to remove the beading. Regular Helmsley would be 5,5-6k I think. I also want the tall units to go right up to the ceiling and we have a high ceiling so need 3 top boxes on top of tall units and nearly a thousand pounds worth of end panels to box it all in and to build and additional bespoke sizes cupboard. That's why the price is so much higher than yours and that's why I am considering UO as they do more bespoke sizes and may actually work out cheaper. If only they would respond

The marble quartz worktop for one side plus a matching window sill will be 1,8k including VAT, 60cm by 4,5m long, and oak worktop for the other side 330 quid. My appliences come up to around 3k, a bit more if I go for the ceiling flush extractor.

Sorry my pound symbol has dissapeared from the phone keyboard

Thank you for giving all details. As of now I am thinking for Linwood light grey. I like inframed ones a lot but worried it means less space in drawer. I am so obsessed with maximizing storage, and I don't even have too many things in kitchen. But I want it all very neatly and accessibly organized. I hate searching for things or even taking out one thing to reach the other. I so much wish ikea had nice doors like DIY kitchens.

Ikea Bodbyn is quite nice, in grey? Our last kitchen was ikea and their inserts for storage solutions are great. If I was not getting an inframe kitchen I would get wire drawer racks for all the cupboards, they are practical.

Unfortunately inframe does limit the space ever so slightly and does limit what solutions you can have inside.

I like ikea savedal as simple shaker, just that it is not painted finish. I have been looking at Hemsley and harewood on diy-kitchen. Both look so nice!

aisteb thank you - glad you like the look of it! I think it's about 60sqm in total. I can't wait for all the decision making to end! I am also mid secondary school looking, and so now we have more things to dither over! It feels never ending. Did UO come back to you? I don't think I had to wait very long - might be worth chasing. Bob was extremely helpful and came up with some great ideas when things had to be altered slightly.

@bobkate OMG 60sq meters, I am green with jealousy - our entire floor is that size (it was the size of an entire 3 bed mid terrace we have recently sold). Amazing space.

I wrote a whole essay about the quotes I have received 2 days ago and for some reason it is not here

To cut a long story short UO got back to me on Weds, they are around a grand more than DIY but I found DIY very unhelpful. And fair enough they are cheap because they do not offer a kitchen design service. It seems with some custom cabinets and an awkward corner we want to box in we need a bit of guidance and hand holding in regards to how many end panes, plinths and what kind of spare doors we need. Also Burbridge custom colour option takes slightly less time than DIY and we are completely out of time. If I had more time I would probably go through UO quote and order it from DIY but the kitchen should have been ordered two weeks ago, I am going on a two week holiday in 5 days and the renovation starts next week so we will let UO do it all and order Burbridge Petworth from them.

My own fault for running out of time and having to spend more.

I do like that Petworth has a shallower recess into the shaker bit than Helmsley and that we can fit fake butt hinges on it. Also didn't realise Burbridge also do custom colours so very pleased we will be getting LG Basalt for our peninsula.

I had two veeeery long phone calls with Tony from UO and he's been very helpful and had good suggestions so will confirm our order on Monday. They did take ages to get back to me though, apparently the busiest time of the year with everyone trying to get their kitchens in in time for Christmas.

@countingto10 we are going to be Petworth buddies . Are you still happy with your kitchen ?

Finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel aisteb. We had an issue with the granite which necessitated replacing one section (joins were put in that weren’t templated or wanted) so another 2/3 week wait. The flooring is being done this week and hopefully my Neff extractor is winging its way from Germany as we speak (been on order for nearly 3 months and Neff kept putting back the delivery date) so that and fridge freezer will be here the week after next.

Having a big sort out this weekend, turning the makeshift kitchen back into a utility room, putting everything into my new kitchen and clearing most of the downstairs (except the lounge) for the flooring guys by Wednesday. As the builders keep telling me, it will be done by Christmas .

Good luck with everything - I think I’m going bald now.........

@countingto10 sounds like it's been one long renovation for you! I really wanted to buy a house that needed doing up and was looking forward to this but I won't want to see another paint/tile/flooring sample for years

Placed our order with UO this morning, all seems very real now. I am having my doubts like will I regret choosing wide framed Petworth over Helmsley, have I overpaid (all came up to £8,700 and would have been around a thousand less with DIY). I could not fault their service, Tony who helped me design it all was super nice and super helpful. But I am having a sort of kitchen blues, spent ages planning it all and then in the end it was still a very rushed decision as I have left it too late. Don't make my mistake, get the plans done waaaay in advance

Oh I am so the same aisteb I think so much time and brain power has been invested, so much googling, pinteresting, mnetting, comparing prices, quotes, handles, no handles...the list goes on and on and on!!! I'm dreading it arriving in a way in case I think it's wrong!!!

@bobkate when is it due? Makes me feel better knowing I am not alone

aisteb you are certainly not alone in your thinking! I could have written your exact same post! Ours isn't due until mid to late november. What about you?