DIY Kitchens!

[AltheaVestr1t]

Currently planning a house move and a new kitchen, and I'm leaning towards a navy and white kitchen from DIY kitchens. There are a few DIY Kitchen threads on here but none since 2016. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences of DIY Kitchens to share? Thanks!

[westr]

My kitchen is from diy kitchens and it looks amazing. My architect dealt with the design/ordering etc so I don't have any input on that but end result is fantastic.

[LondonCalling1234]

@AltheaVestr1t

Currently planning a house move and a new kitchen, and I'm leaning towards a navy and white kitchen from DIY kitchens. There are a few DIY Kitchen threads on here but none since 2016. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences of DIY Kitchens to share? Thanks!

Think we have paid ~3-4k for the first kitchen - was 3.5x3.5m but not all walls had cupboards.

For the next one, much larger that we are planning (4.3x4.3m - units practically on 3x walls, with a very large island 1.2x2.4m -) I got the units (with VAT) at about £7.5-8.5k depending on the units as the fancier drawers and pullout units are much more expnsive (I have a plan in Excel so easy to copy and make changes and look at the cost).

Quartz worktops - (again large area ~9 running metres of worktop plus that 1.2x2.4m island and splashback, etc) would cost from about £2k (for 20mm thickness and a more "plain" colour). They have their own range (Innova) that even the fancy marble effect ones come out at £3-4k for all the length above, which seems a good deal compared to other companies.
Also think a colleague at work paid more for a much smaller worktop (half or a thrid of what I said above, Corian at ~£3k).

[LondonCalling1234]

Hello, had their kitchen installed in our previous house. Didn't visit the showroom. Was really happy. In fact planning to potentially use them again, in our fancier (one day) "new" (it doesn't deserve that word) home.

We did visit the showroom recently on our way back from York, as otherwise a bit of a hike from London. Convinced me to seriously consider them again. You need to book bcs of covid, although we had no clue we had to and they still let us in (4 people).

Also ordered a bunch of quartz worktop samples from them. They seem to have quite good deals on them (the worktops, not samples, although samples are also pretty cheap at £3/each, think VAT on top)

[L0obyLou]

@boredboredboredboredbored thanks for the info. The worktop looks really good with the dove grey - perfect combination. I would love a solid wood top but don't think I can be trusted to take care of it!

[boredboredboredboredbored]

@WoolyMammoth55 @L0obyLou Sorry only just saw your questions. Its solid beech from worktop Express. I don't like the darkness / yellow ness of oiled wood so I finished this with Osmo oil white tint, doesn't show very well in these photos. HTH 👍🏻

[L0obyLou]

Beautiful kitchen @boredboredboredboredbored. Can I ask which worktop you have please?

[Lily7050]

@Soulstirring: I have heard there are some free online applications to use for design, e.g. sketchup. I got my design done by Karen from OnePlan, coz I am too tired looking after 15 months old DS and working full time.

[Soulstirring]

@Stampcee thanks I’ll have a look, it’s just as shame as we live relatively near DIY so can visit the show room. Really frustrating about the online planner, puts me off using them. I also wonder if they have done it until after the price rise in Oct to discourage new orders

[Stampcee]

I would recommend Better Kitchens in Western Super Mare. Brilliant personal service and excellent quality. They will draw up plans for you using the info you provide and are online like DIY. Nothing is too much trouble. My kitchen has been fitted a year now and is still perfect. Really love it.

[Lily7050]

@Soulstirring: I do not think they put the planner back to life.

[Soulstirring]

Anyone managed to use their online planner recently?

[101namesforme]

Thanks @Lily7050

[Misty9]

[quote isseywith4vampirecats]@Misty9 that sounds about right with the tiling done ours would have been £1200 without the tiling and only two more wall cupboards than yours[/quote]
Thanks. I'm getting the same kitchen as you 😊

[isseywith4vampirecats]

@Misty9 that sounds about right with the tiling done ours would have been £1200 without the tiling and only two more wall cupboards than yours

[Misty9]

I'm interested in fitting costs too as a friend's husband is doing my fairly small kitchen (2 double wall units and 5 base units, all pre built) for £1k, including tiling. And I'm not sure if that's a good price?

[WoolyMammoth55]

@boredboredboredboredbored Love your kitchen! Did you go for wood tops, since your sink is undermounted? If so can you tell me where? I'm thinking of ordering from Worktop Express today - argh!

[Lily7050]

@101namesforme

Thanks *@Lily7050* that’s interesting. Was the magnet quote £8k before or after the 50% off?

@101naemsforme: it was after 50% off.

[101namesforme]

Thanks @Lily7050 that’s interesting. Was the magnet quote £8k before or after the 50% off?

[Lily7050]

@101namesforme: DIY's units came just under £3K, Magnet quotes £8K with 50% discount.
Magnet's pricing policy does not make sense to me as the quality of their doors and painting is not as good as DIY. Also magnet's designer made a small change that I thought was a good idea. I asked DIY's sales person to include the change but he said it won't work and explained why.

[101namesforme]

@Lily7050 - how was your quote from DIY?
I would be interested to see how they compared for essentially the same design.

[Lily7050]

I am waiting for a quote for DIY Kitchens. I also sent Karen's design to Magnet and Schmidt as they got showrooms close to my home.
Howdens did not want even to see the kitchen design until I give them a a buider's account.

Could anyone please recommend other competitors of DIY Kitchens to get quotes to compare.
I looked at Units online but they would send 3 samples only even though the samples are not free. Also not sure about Onlinekithenstore. I looked at their accounts on Companies House. Both are very small companies. It is a bit worrying that they did not manage to grow their businesses unlike DIY Kitchens.

[boredboredboredboredbored]

[quote Lily7050]@boredboredboredboredbored: Very nice kitchen! But open shelves are not for me.
If you kitchen of the photo from DIY Kitchens, what colour is it?[/quote]


Yes this is the Norton in Dove grey. I didn't want enclosed wall units all the way around as it's a small kitchen. I'd completely run out of money by the time I got to the kitchen as the house was a complete derelict renovation and this was a good compromise.

[BullshitVivienne]

@Lily7050

Thank you BullshitVivienne. Would you know if Dove grey is lighter than Cashmere?
I got door samples in Cashmere (Linwood painted) and in Mussel (Altino Gloss) but cannot decide which one would suite better. I like Cashmere and not sure if it will make the kitchen too dark. Though Cashmere colour feels warmer than Mussel.

They look similar I think but cashmere seems a bit warmer. Our kitchen gets lots of light, so we've got a darker island.

[Lily7050]

@boredboredboredboredbored: Very nice kitchen! But open shelves are not for me.
If you kitchen of the photo from DIY Kitchens, what colour is it?

[boredboredboredboredbored]

@AltheaVestr1t

Can anyone give me a rough idea of fitting costs for a DIY kitchen? Obviously there are a lot of variables but a ball park figure would be really helpful.

I had a local carpenter fit mine and he charged a day rate of £125, took him about a week. That said my kitchen isn't very big but he did make a bespoke wall unit for me too....I'll attach a photo