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One plans or kitchen suppliers design

18 replies

mumdone · 04/04/2020 10:58

Hi,

I’m really tempted to use Karen at one plan but looking to cut costs.

Is one plan really different to a kitchen suppliers design?

OP posts:
wehaveafloater · 05/04/2020 07:12

Hi. I think it depends on the showroom and particular sales persons skills that you might compare her to. So impossible to say without knowing who particularly you would put her service up against.

Would need to be someone pretty special though!

There's lots of consistently updated reviews on Houzz from lots of happy clients. https://www.houzz.co.uk/pro/oneplan/oneplan

I am one who's been a very happy client.
I particularly liked the sense she had no hidden agenda.

Pricing is very fair (much cheaper than the fitters charged to fit) and she gave us options to add in other areas if we wanted to, but it was up to us, no pressure or anything. ( we haven't ever been bombarded with advert /junk emails from her either come to think of it, she's not salesy at all)

The sketch designs ( we were given five) were all very different to what the two showrooms I'd been to previously had come up with, which were both basically the same as what was there.

The ideas were clear and well thought out and she talked through each one with us on an evening call.

We chose one and went forward with that and by the end of the week it was adjusted in small ways that we'd gone through with her, to be just right for us.

The finished PDF had Item lists, plans, elevations, perspectives and a nifty link to show each area in panoramic view . All in the right style and colours etc.

I've pretty much said the same on here as I said on my review ( hope it's not too outing )

In short I'd say yes worth the extra to get the design right if this is your home for 5-10+ if you just want to tart up the house and move then no save it for next house. HTH
Sorry I went on a bit.

Saw this in LI too ( I'm not a stalker!) but interesting how she turned a not very nice comment from a showroom person into a positive . That's her all over . Just a really nice person.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/karen-wallace-90586988kitchendesign-interiordesign-activity-6634311671680643072-uUU_E

mumdone · 05/04/2020 09:52

That’s great. Thanks. It’s our long term house, at least 15 years so I think it’s worth it. Plus I just don’t have the capacity to visit showrooms (3 children under 6) so so think it pays for it self in time! Thanks for your help!
Just out of interest where did you get your kitchen from in the end?

OP posts:
wehaveafloater · 05/04/2020 10:05

John Ladbury in Welham Green who were brilliant. And I had a pantry fitted with shelving from Jali.co.uk and laundry from DIY kitchens , both fab too . HTH :)

mumdone · 05/04/2020 10:35

Wonderful thank you. Did Karen give you advice on where to shop for your kitchen based on the style you wanted and your budget?

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wehaveafloater · 05/04/2020 19:26

Sorry I thought I'd answered this earlier ? Initially we said we'd be buying everything from DIY kitchens - so karen designed using their sizes. But JL were able to supply it in the finished we wanted a bit quicker so went with them for the main kitchen. Still got the laundry from DIY . Karen doesn't steer you to a particular supplier as I am pretty sure she's 100% not tied or on paycheck from any supplier - she seems pretty genuine. Told us about some shelves she had from Jali and that prompted us to look there, but we didn't mention her when we ordered them . And they didn't ask .

MTJTD · 07/04/2020 13:15

I'm a kitchen designer with an independent regional company in the North East.

I can say with all honesty that you'll get a more tailored and "better" design experience with companies such as OnePlan than you'd get from the majority of kitchen designers.

Depending on who else you might consider, you'll deal with inexperienced designers (B&Q, Wren), pressure-selling (Wren, Howdens), deceptive and confusing "Sales" (Most national retailers) and attempts to up-sell (everyone).

We all use fairly comparable CAD software capable of producing high-quality imagery; the exception being B&Q who didn't want to pay the license costs for a high-end CAD package. They use the very basic & limited SPACES software.

The flip-side is that you'll be relying on the independent designer's knowledge/research of the product that you choose being accurate; (is it a 630mm wall corner cabinet, a 600mm, a 625mm? .. 280mm deep, 350mm, 330mm? .. 16mm panels, 20mm, 18mm?) .. there are so many variations and limitations on the specifications of kitchen manufacturers that the design you fall in love with might have to be changed significantly if you change your mind on where you're buying your kitchen from. I'd very much advise being 100% sure on where the kitchen is coming from before you engage any independent designers.

Ultimately, you'd be paying for a service that virtually all kitchen retailers offer for free, but you would be using a service that you're paying specifically to provide your perfect plan.

mumdone · 07/04/2020 13:21

That’s really useful thank you. We are still unsure where we want to get a kitchen from, although I have a good idea! I spoke with Karen at one plan and I think for the cost with something we can ultimately get free somewhere else we will try the somewhere else in the the first instance. Thanks everyone

OP posts:
MeganChips · 07/04/2020 13:24

OP, do you mind if I ask how much the service was going to cost? I have been considering doing that too.

mumdone · 07/04/2020 14:09

Was going to be about £800 for the bit we needed. There are various options so one might be more suited to you, we will go to a couple of our preferred kitchen suppliers and ask them to design if we are n out getting what we want we might go back but I’ve got a good idea, a couple of options I’m toying with. So hopefully we can get it done at no cost saving the money for something else

OP posts:
AmberleighMouse · 07/04/2020 14:34

We went for one of the cheaper options and I think it was best money we spent on our kitchen. We wanted a high level concept, complete redesign and I simply did not get that from the in-store free designers. I wasn't comfortable asking high end kitchen companies for free designs when we were never going to buy a £50k kitchen. For us, paying a little for a great design and then buying a budget kitchen worked really well.

mumdone · 07/04/2020 15:21

It’s the various sizes with different suppliers bothers me. We could get the perfect design but then it wouldn’t work with the kitchen we want and we would need to have it redesigned. I think we are nearly there with our kitchen so will ask the supplier or affiliates to design.

OP posts:
wehaveafloater · 07/04/2020 17:36

Yeah she did ask us about suppliers as part of the questionnaire, so she could design it in their specific sizes. That said though, the other companies I approached with her pdf had no problem quoting and let me know any slight differences they would need ( one couldn't do a 450 base bin ) so it was still comprehensive and worthwhile for me. And we got a fantastic design that no one else had done up with.

Your kitchen must be really enormous to be £800 ? Or was it more than one room for that?

mumdone · 07/04/2020 17:39

Great thanks for the feedback. It is our open plan kitchen and utility room.

OP posts:
MinecraftMother · 07/04/2020 17:45

Can you use OnePlan and DIY-kitchens?

wehaveafloater · 07/04/2020 18:25

@minecraftmother Yes, I did. She's very used to their product sizes and they are used to seeing her PDFs

@mumdone. a big kitchen that's open plan and a utility, I can see why that's more now . Still cheaper than pretty much all other trades people for a Monday to Friday week though!

mumdone · 07/04/2020 18:51

Oh yes of course I’m not disputing the price although I’m sure she juggles multiple project in one week, not just the one!
I’m just keen to explore the design from the retailers we may buy through. If that doesn’t satisfy our requirements we may use a designer.
We need to make cost savings where we can; every little helps!

OP posts:
wehaveafloater · 08/04/2020 12:02

I'm nosey, so I've phoned her this morning to ask, "for a friend", for clarification on the size bits and how many projects she does a week etc that's been raised on this thread.

"The size of end panels of different corner cabinets are all done at a set size to suit the furniture choice made, no design is so close to the wire that it can't take a few small changes to the size of corner cabinet or end panel thickness, small infills to walls are added purposefully for this precise reason, they can be increased or decreased as required." So that's that box ticked

" I do two small projects or one big project per week, as I go into such detail with clients, it would be impossible to do three sets justice in one week. The only exception to this is a week where we are doing designs for builders/architects using the B service, then we do up to four in a week." That's that box ticked too.

She did say ( which I thought was actually very interesting ) that shopping around with a set design allows people to contact multiple showrooms and ask for their best price, where as going into the showroom and asking for designs at each one will only ever get you the full retail price as you are using the full retail experience.
Giving them the plans, when you are obviously building a new build or extension is an even better way to get a trade price. (So that's something I hadn't thought of )
I did ask how much difference she thought it would be. She said that if you were spending say £10k on a kitchen and you could probably get an extra 10 or 20% off that would more than cover any cost for design, but she added as she's not involved in the buying side she can't confirm what discounts showrooms might offer but it's definitely worth asking for trade prices if you are not asking for the full retail experience.
HTH !

MTJTD · 08/04/2020 14:36

@wehaveafloater

True on the sizes; they can always be accounted for if the designer is aware of them. I've quoted against countless designs from other retailers before. Nothing is particularly insurmountable; it typically means (at worst) adjusting the size of a cabinet or filler slightly to accommodate thicker/thinner panels.

Sizes of drawers can be tricky occasionally, maintaining the right "lines", etc.

I'll be honest and say that the last part of that is decidedly unlikely though. I'll give you a bit of an insight into the industry.

Every kitchen retailer has costs and needs to make a profit to survive.

Simply put; we have to factor in ALL of the costs; the manufacturing/purchasing, the transportation, the storage, the running costs of the showrooms, the wages of the staff, etc.

Then we have to add on a buffer for potential remedial actions (replacing a faulty door in 6 months time or something like).

After that, we have to include the cost of any finance options that you've chosen; Interest Free Credit, Buy Now Pay Later, Interest Bearing Credit; we pay the finance companies when you take one of those out, so we have to pass on that cost to you.

Finally, we add on our actual "profit" from the sale, once all of the above is taken into account.

That said; bartering is definitely a thing. The first price that you're given will never be the best price that you can get; but you'll never get below the "minimum" margin.

No manager out there would allow their designers to sell kitchens that are unprofitable. Business is business after all.

Sorry, I rambled a bit there but the crux of my point is that just bringing a kitchen design into a showroom will not guarantee you a discount.

If you want the best deal out there, you'll still have to do the usual dance; spend some time getting multiple like-for-like quotes from different retailers and play them off one another by asking them to price-match each other.

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