DIY kitchens inframe

[wifidatateens]

Those who considered DIY kitchens for their inframe kitchens - did you originally want visible hinges and compromise on having without or go elsewhere - presumably they cant be added to DIY ones.

Also any other tips on ordering from DIY regarding sizing especially wall/larder heights as we have very high ceilings and they only appear to offer 2 heights.

Alternatively has anyone found a supplier as well reviewed as DIY who offer made to measure where needed at a good value price, albeit more than DIY, due to similar set up without all the retail outlets.

Thanks.

Have a look at handmade kitchens of Christchurch. Made to measure, only slightly more than DIY kitchens (maybe 10%?) as they always have a half price sale and they're made to order.

You may be able to convert the doors to butt hinge by buying some butt hinges and brass ball catches and your fitter installs them. It will be a waste of the spring hinges and the holes will need blanking off inside the doors, but nothing like the extra thousands you might spend going to another supplier.

I have done this on an inframe kitchen before- there is usually enough clearance between the door and frame.

sorry multiple answers. you can increase height of wall units by adding top boxes, there are examples in the showroom.

Thank you very much NotMe I had thought it might be possible to add hinges on outside. I saw the top boxes but think there was very limited widths and perhaps only one height so may not give the flexibility to have the units reach the ceiling. Did you use DIY?
Thanks LBOC - That sounds great as I am very happy to pay more than DIY but I don't want to pay triple to cover show rooms/design etc as the DIY format suits me what we can just design, order and fit ourselves to save money.

I've used DIY kitchens but not for in frame. Their units are very good quality and you can get a traditional/high end look with careful design and detailing. I inherited an in frame kitchen in a previous house- it had a lot of narrow units which you couldn't fit anything in, which is why we re hinged some of the doors to open wider. Don't bother with anything less than 500mm wide, that's my tip!

There's nothing to stop you customising your own units or stacking up bespoke combinations of cupboards. If you look on the "extra doors" section it will give you all the available sizes of fronts. I think they might make custom sizes in the Innova range, my mum got a 550mm unit made for her sink IIRC for a small premium.

Thank you. I will re look at the options available and ask them re a couple of bespoke pieces.

Just looking at Christchurch and they look twice as expensive as DIY even on their sale price unless I am looking at the wrong thing. I am not keen on companies that offer sale prices like this - it reminds me of places like Bathstore. I like businesses that offer best price/value and only reduce old stock/end of season items. How can you have sale on bespoke. Has anyone used them as the appearance is exactly what I want with hinges and bespoke sizing (as best you can tell from photos) or any other options?

Re Christchurch - quality isn't anywhere as good as DIY also dent easy as wood soft - I've seen two friends which have them, a few years later she wants to rip hers out 😩

Possibly unpopular opinion, but I think the mock in-frame kitchens tend to look quite rubbish quite quickly. The doors are kept in place by little metal brackets which bend easily, and the frames are individual to each cabinet, so there is a line between each unit anyway.

The only way to get a good in-frame look is to get a proper handmade kitchen, where the units will be produced in groups. There is a considerable price differential though - our kitchen cabinets (solid wood painted shaker door) were a shade over £5k from DIY kitchens, and a handmade equivalent would have been £20-25k. Simply money we didn't have, and despite the fact that in our house it would have looked excellent, DIY was a winner for us.

Takeyourrubbish - I definitely would never consider mock inframe - I would rather basic ikea than something fake. I do really want handmade but don't want to pay 5 x the DIY price. Presumably you didn't find anything more midway between DIY and totally bespoke. I would pay double DIY or more but not 5 times and happy to be only bespoke for a few pieces where needed but really want the hinges and some bespoke. Anyone else?

Ah see, what DIY sell as in-frame is what I would consider "mock" in-frame, much like Magnet/Wickes/wherever else. I could be wrong, the DIY showroom is too far from us, so I've never actually seen one in the flesh. We didn't find anything in the middle really - there was one local independent kitchen supplier who was doing a sort of halfway bespoke thing, in that the majority of the kitchen was a made to order but standard carcass design, but they have the ability to hand make whole kitchens so could have made specific items for us bespoke. They were roughly double DIY's price. Ultimately we've done exactly what we did before which is a nice but standard kitchen, with standard shaped doors.

Have you looked at British Standard kitchens? They're probably midway between DIY and bespoke handmade

Takeyourrubbish - I have seen absolutely dreadful mock inframe in places like Wren and they look appalling as in the mock part of the drawer pulls out with the drawer or is attached to the cupboard front!! I think I could live with the DIY ones as not totally fake but I have yet to visit the showroom and see and touch them properly as long as I could make the sizes work I may be able to live with them and without visible hinges!! However I would never buy without visiting first.

Begging - never heard of these I will have a look. Did you use them?

No. We were going to but didn't end up doing our extension. I'd love one of their kitchens eventually though, just need a new house to put one in. They looked great in the showroom

I have a DIY kitchens in frame kitchen (Helmsley I think?) and love it. The quality of the cabinets is really good. Yes I probably would have loved visible hinges but have made my peace with that. Mine is a proper in frame, not a mock one.
I would agree with pp re handmade kitchens of Christchurch, I’ve been to the showroom and its a bit too rustic / likely to warp and wasn’t flexible enough in terms of different units.
I took a leap of faith with DIY as I’m nowhere near the showroom, but knew others who had ordered via them and I ordered sample doors before ordering. My carpenter sat with me whilst I went through the order online to check I had everything, and they did call to check some design points with me. I can’t lie, I had a bit of time of it with missing parts etc but all sorted in the end and I’m really happy with it.

We have an inframe kitchen from DIY - think it's Harewood. I don't miss the butt hinges that were on the crap kitchen we took out. All the trades we've had through the place have been impressed with the quality of DIY.

One of the shops in Christchurch, I think it's either Handmade kitchens or classic kitchens direct will refund your design cost if you have a design done by OnePlan. I think you have to order from them, but if you were going to anyway, worth getting a great design done.

Thanks - those who had DIY kitchens did you need any more unusual sizes - could they do anything in a different size?

Have a look at Units Online (and the Burbidge kitchens)

DIY can most of the dimensions of a cabinet but they cannot change the door size, that much I do know. We had two cabinets supplied so they could be taken apart as they needed to be adapted for the specific space - can't remember what they call that, but it was cheaper than bespoke and the kitchen fitter just trimmed them to size.

Thanks -
Africa - I will look at the other options - have you used them?
Wow - Ok that may help as some of the bespoke needed is regarding depth so we could adjust that but if doors are totally fixed size that wont help height issue.

DIY have an online system for queries - you can ask them whether they can do what you specifically need. Don't just dismiss them on my say so!