New kitchen

[HoneyB123]

Hi wise ones, we are having to replace our kitchen due to a leak that has caused damage. It was not in a great condition anyway and to fix the damp caused we have to rip out the units. We only have a very small budget so will be buying the best flat pack units we can afford. Looking for any money saving tips and also your opinion on what would last longer - matt or gloss finish? Any advise would be appreciated x

When I did our kitchen I managed to find a showroom having a re-vamp so bought all the old units very cheaply, and only new doors to match.
You can often find very good kitchens on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree.
Personally I prefer matt finish, gloss (depending on colour) shows smears and fingerprints more easily.

We just bought our kitchen from Wren having shopped around at IKEA, Wickes, Wren and Opun (John Lewis). Don’t even bother getting a quote from Opun. They were quoting £25k for a kitchen that was comparable to the one we bought for £11k.

Wren have great software so you can really visualise what you’re buying. They only do kitchens so really know why they’re talking about and their manufacturing and logistics makes them beat others on price. The Wickes salesman basically gave up when we said we were going to Wren.

In terms of Matt vs Gloss, gloss shows scratches more so my vote would be for Matt.

Just be aware (unless you are fitting it yourself) that what you "save" on flat pack, you spend on the fitters labour time putting it together (rather than buying ready made kitchen carcasses. Hubbie just fitted a flat pack kitchen where the client perceived a 2/3 day fit, (£750 around here at £250 a day fitters price) .... it actually took 8 days!! (£2,000!) ..... And he does it for a living so isn't slow at all! They thought they were saving money with flat pack. . .

Whereabouts are you and how small is the small budget? Have you had a look at DIY Kitchens? If feasible you may be able to collect from them yourselves which would save on delivery charges and you wouldn't have to put the cabinets together as they're supplied rigid.

Hi OP, exact same situation here!

We're using IKEA for both planning and buying the units. Zhoozhing it up a bit with solid laminate worktop from Worktop Express (still fairly cheap), posh tiles, and Flooring Supplies floor. Vast majority from ikea because they do 0% finance – that's my biggest money saving tip, at least saving money up front, anyway.

Ikea planner tool is good for checking your spending as you plan; you can very quickly adjust all your doors or worktop or lighting choices and see the savings.

My tips: assemble the carcasses yourself to save costs. Choose a simple tile laying pattern to use fewer cuts: less labour time. An upstand might work out cheaper than tiling. Ditto on flooring, we're doing straight planks not herringbone because the labour cost between the two is insane. Keep all your services in the same place. Efficient design so you don't need loads of end panels and filler pieces, as these add up. Remember that lots of drawers is nice, but more costly (and take longer to assemble) than cupboards. Simple tweaks like 4x 80cm units vs 5x 60cm ones and a 20cm pullout/open space/filler is cheaper – fewer doors, fewer handles, fewer carcasses.

In a similar position so following.

I have just fitted a new Ikea kitchen. The whole thing cost 3k. We fitted ourselves and it wasn't that difficult as they have a handy system for easy levelling (providing you have square walls which we don't!). The drawers are a pain in the arse to make but we did them all in an afternoon. Saved ourself nearly 2k on fitting although at times when building the drawers, I would have happily paid it!

Our doors are kind of a mix between gloss and matt and are easy to wipe down once the dogs have inevitably shaken off in there 😩

My only recommendation with Ikea kitchens is to go through the quote with a fine tooth comb. I found numerous extra charges for appliances that we already had and didn't need but their system automatically pulls them through when they add them in to the design to fill the gaps.

I had a friend who bought one off eBay. The person she bought from was doing an upgrade and extension,my friend got a very good kitchen for very little money.

Ikea kitchens have 2 different kind of drawers. The more expensive drawers are much easier to put together. The cheaper ones are such a pain. I almost gave up at the drawers also. A year later my mum opted for the soft close upgraded drawers and what a revelation putting them together was and the extra cost was not even that much more.

In this house I will be fitting another ikea kitchen, the quality to price ratio cannot be beaten.

Diy and units online is the best for quality at a very good price but they can't beat Ikea prices except on their most basic kitchens. Benchmark are good and they supply Wickes.

I don't like Howden because of their lack of transparency on pricing and convoluted ordering system. Magnet, Jewson, b & q, you can get much better at better prices. The rest of the high street are very much the same quality at inflated prices.

With Wren I think you need to be lucky to bother with them as they have quite extensive and known problems with their service, fitting and delivery. People who have a decent time with Wren just got lucky.

11k for a wren kitchen is a rip off when you can find far better quality elsewhere for cheaper, Wickes, Ikea, Diy and are all better for a much better price.

Independents can be very good. German kitchens are very good and handmade is great. If you want a cheaper handmade option then Pineland kitchens are great. Devol and their ilk are good.

Op don't succumb to a fancy showroom, go for the best units you can afford, matt is better than gloss and go for doors that can be easily repainted.

Diy kitchens and Units online are a great starting point for quality and price. The kitchens at higher price points like Tom Howley and The Shaker Kitchen company (which has changed it name) have suffered from some problems, so price is not an indicator that you are getting a better product and/or that the service will be top notch.

Even granite can be bought and fitted cheaply so don't assume it will cost 3 -5k, there is granite around that costs the same as laminate to buy and fit. Wood is very cheap from Ikea.

Tiles are available at all price points and online is generally far cheaper for often the same products. Same with lighting, look around and wait for discounts.

Get a interest free credit card or save up for everything. Don't go for the shops finance unless interest free like ikea and make sure its long enough to have paid it off before it reverts to their super high interest rates.

Op there are a couple of threads on here, the kitchen lessons learned one, there's a show me your kitchen one and also the how to replicate Devol kitchens which was useful. Good luck.