How much to spend on a kitchen?

[BurningTheToast]

We've recently bought what will hopefully be our dream 'forever house'. Seriously, it's amazing with the sea lapping beneath the windows and a folly in the garden. With covid and the amount of work that needs to be done, we got for a pretty good price, comparatively. We're very lucky.

However, it is possible, though not likely, that we may sell it in a couple of years, depending on family needs, caring responsibilities and so on, and move back to the city, so we're renovating with a bit more of an eye on resale that we would otherwise.

Without getting into prices, is there a ballpark percentage of house value that we should expect to spend on the kitchen? On the one hand, I could install Ikea jazzed up with good sink/taps and worktop or should I venture into seriously fancy bespoke territory? If we're looking at the middle - most likely - the only thing I've decided is that I won't be letting Magnet fitters through the door after the last time!

Any thoughts? Thanks

@pickledplumjam But a car is a complex piece of machinery, there is a huge difference in how a high end car looks and feels to drive compared to, say, a Corsa. A cheap old car is also more likely to break down or need costly repairs.

Making a sandwich won't be any different on a "high end finish" worktop compared to one from IKEA, or one that's slightly dated.
I'm clearly a kitchen philistine though, I can't even remember off the top of my head what my friends' kitchens look like, even though I've been to their houses lots.

I just spent £20k on a new kitchen from howdens. So far no complaints

Avoid Wren like the plague. When I'm buying houses I do look at quality of the kitchen, for me the most important/obvious thing is for it not to be a laminate worktop. I've had corian, granite, marble etc all fine, but hate laminate. I also don't like wood - whilst I think they're lovely to look at I've always been too worried about the regular oiling/maintenance and the horror stories of them being damp and rotting around sink.

Where are you in Scotland? Friend's parents have what sounds like a similarly priced house and have put in a fabulous handmade one from a local carpenter. It's lovely.

Personally I agree with you though - good worktop, nice taps and tiling and no one knows the kitchen carcasses are IKEA but in a house at that price point I'd be looking for quartz/ stone worktops not laminate.

The advantage with bespoke/ semi-bespoke so that all the space is used though. Depends on how much space you have to play with. I have very little and like to cook so have lots of gadgets so semi bespoke worked for me.

@BurningTheToast Ok, I’ve seen a few posts on this thread suggesting ballpark figures of 50-60k.

Honestly, that is beyond ridiculous (unless you like burning money and making “luxury” kitchen manufacturers even richer).

My advice would be to look on Google/Facebook/Instagram for local carpenters/cabinet makers. You could get a totally bespoke, handmade and hand painted beautiful kitchen (in a design similar to the Handmade Kitchens one you like) inc. granite worktops and appliances for £30k tops. Of course the AGA will bump this price up a little (depending on model).

For reference, my good friend’s house (in Yorkshire) was valued at £1.3m last year. She paid a cabinet maker £16k two years ago to have her kitchen units made to her own design, painted and fitted. The worktops, flooring and appliances bumped the overall costs up, but final costs will still have been way, way less than £60k. It’s gorgeous and looks better than anything that can be bought from a big name.

I noticed you mentioned an aga, have you had a look at everhot? They are similar to agas but much cheaper to run. We are about to move house and leaving an aga here but will be putting an everhot into our new house...alongside an ikea kitchen!! We are going to have solid oak worktops and have found some lovely handles from a different supplier to make it look a bit more special.

Btw the house we are selling is similar price to what you are buying and kitchen is Howdens and was around £25k including the aga (Very large kitchen though!)

@Ghislainedefeligonde - I've cooked a lot on an Aga in the past but people keep recommending Everhots. Do they stay on all the time and heat the kitchen/house as well? Or are they more like a standard cooker? Which model are you installing? Thanks

If I had your house/budget I’d get a kitchen from Sustainable Kitchens.
I stalk and dream on Instagram with my IKEA budget

Take a look at Ashley Ann. Scottish company. Their prices were no scarier than Wren kitchens. Good luck!

@spub I've heard of Ashley Ann but never seen any of their kitchens. Some of those on their website look really nice though. I'll call in at their Perth showroom when we're allowed to travel again - thanks.

I’ve seen plenty of Kitchens comprised of Ikea carcasses with bespoke doors. Spend money on the worktop, taps, sinks and appliances. You can definitely economise on the kitchen units even on a £750k+ house.

@BurningTheToast
We are almost through our kitchen installation with them. Have found them to be good and their customer service is excellent. Hope you find something you like at a reasonable price

I want your life!

I want your house, your sea lapping, your 'folly' & your DH who is handy & has a sense of humour. Would you mind swapping?

As for the kitchen, with a DH who is experienced at installing them, I'd go for IKEA. As you know, they can be made to look fabulous. You can get exactly what you want in terms of a beautiful cooking/socialising space and you don't need to 'get back' ££££££ if/when you sell. The 'named' kitchens are just cabinets & doors with snob value!! You don't 'get what you pay for' with kitchens really, you get 'a brand'.

DIY kitchens is great too, well built cabinets & have plenty of painted/unpainted options (as well as other finishes).

I'd go for IKEA or DIY (you can get bespoke painted with them too) and enjoy the planning & choosing of flooring /worksurfaces/lighting etc.

Above all else, enjoy your life you're living!!

We have a DIY kitchen in a house of similar value. It has a solid wood, painted shaker door, a quartz worktop and high end appliances. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and it certainly didn’t cost £50k (more like £20k). It looks fantastic.

If you absolutely do want a ‘high end’ kitchen then try and deal with a local cabinet maker because they are likely to be competitively priced.

Can I make a suggestion to get more bang for your buck when buying your kitchen ? Go to a joinery firm. You can have a fantastic kitchen made even with bespoke cabinet sizes for awkward corners. We have a quirky house and when we had the kitchen done the value was similar to yours. We spent about £35k including appliances but had we gone to Mark Wilkinson or similar it would have been nearer £50k.

I want your house, your sea lapping, your 'folly' & your DH who is handy & has a sense of humour. Would you mind swapping?

@Bestoption Thank you but can I also swap the difficulties in getting a stonemason to check over the ruin to make sure no lumps of stone fall off onto passersby; the leaking, rotten windows (all those waves) that are going to take months to replace because of the backlog in planning applications at the council, and the difficulties in getting roofers (too busy to even quote it seems) out to fix the leaks?

Kitchen-wise, I think we're going to get a selection of people round to discuss and quote but your suggestion and that of @Flamingolingo are probably closest unless I fall in love with another option.

Since it sounds like you have a lot of other places to spend money I really would be practical with the kitchen choice. We had the same issue: everything in our house needed replacing, so a chunk of our budget went on things like wiring, heating, all things you can’t see. Like you, I didn’t want to spend so much money that selling it would be an impossibility. You need to strike the happy medium between being decent enough quality and not too expensive. I’m proud of what we have achieved in this house but it’s all a compromise.

@Flamingolingo Oh we have so many places to spend money - you should see the spreadsheet! I began this thread because although we've refurbed a dozen or so houses and I had my ideas, I'd come across various statements that I should be spending a certain percentage of the house value on the kitchen and I wondered what the Mumsnet consensus was. Turns out there isn't one and I should stick to what I was planning...

Hi @Qc16

The units are being oiled and undercoated as we speak. Worktops are on and more of the lighting is done. First picture is from after worktops last week and the second is about 10 mins ago with the in cabinet lighting and the veneer inside of the cupboard oiled.

My photography really doesn't do the quality justice!

Sorry to hijack your thread @BurningTheToast!

@SollaSollew That looks lovely!

Oh there is a mumsnet consensus that if you have an expensive house you need to have an expensive kitchen. But I don’t agree.

I've never spent much on a kitchen. 12k in our 1960s semi. Plain white wood, wood tops and it was fine.

But what I can say is that we've just bought a Victorian farmhouse for £850k and it has a large hand made ( not designer but a good local cabinet maker) kitchen. Everything is solid wood, painted in gorgeous colours, an Aga, underfloor heating, pantry cupboard. Lots of touches only a keen coin would think of. And ( call me a mug) it absolutely sold the house to me. I don't have time or brain space to plan such a project and was happy to pay for someone else to have done it.

@SollaSollew

Hi *@Qc16*

The units are being oiled and undercoated as we speak. Worktops are on and more of the lighting is done. First picture is from after worktops last week and the second is about 10 mins ago with the in cabinet lighting and the veneer inside of the cupboard oiled.

My photography really doesn't do the quality justice!

Looking great - lucky you having your kitchen installed - we have had to postpone ours once more due to getting the extension built! Are you painting it yourself?

But I do now have the plan from HMKC - something to look forward to!