Where should I buy my kitchen from?

[herecomestherainagain2]

I popped to b&q but examples on display didn't grab me.

Saw some I liked in magnet and have booked a design appointment.

Where are other good options?
Howdens? Wicks?

Is better to go for their fitters or book yourself?

Howdens are really good, mine is 10 years old and still looks good. Would definitely recommend. All the cupboards come ready built so are study. My friend has a flat pack b&q kitchen and it doesn't look great.

I used Benchmarx, and although I was pleased with the kitchen itself I had a nightmare with the branch who I bought it from. They measured 3 walls out of 4 wrong and overcharged me £1500, (including an oven I had bought from JL).

So in a nutshell, good, solid kitchen but glad I checked my receipt against the delivery notes and list of components otherwise I'd have been overcharged.

If I were to do it again I'd probably find an independent fitter first and see if he could recommend a good supplier.

Other places to have a look at would be Ikea and DIY Kitchens.

I am having my kitchen completely gutted out - from floor tiles to wall tiles - and redesigned and refitted by John Lewis including moving the sink and electric meter, etc. All appliances/equipments to be supplied by them. Will be meeting them again for the third time later this week to finalise details.

Don't assume that a bespoke kitchen is out of reach financially. We had a solid wood kitchen fitted twelve years ago. The cabinetry actually cost less from a local handmade kitchen company than some of the diy type stores mentioned. One of the main benefits is that everything is made to your size and specification. No awkward corners or
Gaps filled with wine rack, towel rails or tray recessed.

I've got one from Howdens & very happy with it. Previously had Ikea and liked that a lot too. Our fitter said Wickes are pretty good too.

I think most Howdens branches have just a small show area where you can look at the doors, etc, but they do have some with more on display. You have to order through a trade account e.g. a builder, or kitchen fitter. Their costs are a bit difficult to fathom as they offer do massive discounts (usually about 70-80%) but the builder doesn't have to pass this on or even tell you how much discount they are getting.

Remember you can get sinks, taps, appliances and worktops elsewhere, often better quality and better prices.

Thank you for the comments. I must admit the howdens thing confuses me - if I don't know how much they will charge how can I budget? And presumably I need a design to get a quote for fitting but I need find a builder to order it before I can have a design fitting (from how I interpret their website!)

Diy I hear mentioned here a lot but their showroom seems to be Yorkshire which is miles from me!

We just had ours done with Wren. Fantastic and helpful in the showroom- the lady who designed it for us was great and so helpful. We got some good deals and appliances thrown in, cost £5k total for a relatively small kitchen but kitted our nicely. We opted to fit ourselves which is where it got trickier- the instructions for cupboards with Wren are almost non-existent, we really struggled with the guidance on fitting them. Plus some of the quality of the laminate is a bit meh. It’s was the Vogue so entry level. But would use them again!

Howdens are trade only but really good as they have everything in stock in case you need to switch them, and they are great at swopping bits!

Definitely have a look at small local companies. We had our kitchen done same time as a friend years ago and she had come across them whilst researching but used a different one. Ours was about half the price of the one she used and looked really good.

The house has been on the market recently and most of it looks different but the kitchen units are still the same ones we put in 17 years ago, just with different worktop and tiles, original cost about 2.5k.

Definitely have a look at local kitchen showrooms. We had a kitchen designed and priced up by Howdens but hated the design.

DH convinced me to go to a local bespoke kitchen designer and their design and spec was only marginally more expensive. We went with them in the end because everything was just better put together design wise than Howden's, and there were better unit choices.

DH's company have had a trade account with Howdens for 25+ years so have a decent discount.