New Kitchen?

[sparklecrazy]

Hi, we are looking at getting a new kitchen fitted and so far have quotes from Wren, Magnet and still awaiting one from Howdens. Can anyone recommend anyone else or share any reviews/experience about those mentioned above? I’ve read so many mixed reviews, most of them are either fantastic or really terrible. Completely new to us, first time getting a new kitchen so any advice/recommendations (or warnings!) most welcome! Thank you 😊

There's a lessons learned thread on here about kitchens. Sorry I can post a link but I'm due to go in a tunnel soon ( on train)
Copy paste any bits relevant or you want to kept into notes on your phone .

I've had three howdens kitchens put into houses I've renovated. All good.
Frankly half the quality of the kitchen is the ability of the fitter - use a crap fitter and it will never look or work right (doors wont close properly etc). Get a good fitter and you're halfway there.
My next (own) kitchen I'm considering Magnet factory built. It's a best buy for quality and longevity from Which? Magazine of the high street brands. I'd actually love a John Lewis of Hungerford kitchen (I've had two of those previously) or Neptune but that would be at least double the budget.

Absolutely don't touch Wren! If you search on here you'll see some horror stories. Mine was a 6-month long disaster.

Have a look at Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch - their prices are online but if you have a plan from one of the other companies you could get them to price it up for you. The only problem is they have a long lead time.

Thanks all. Wren is off the list after reading even more terrible reviews!

B&Q does a solid wood shaker door style kitchen I believe in wood or a beige/cashmere colour which is quite nice. It was one of my potential options when I first started looking and the quote was very reasonable if I remember correctly. Can't comment on the quality of units though which would still be mdf/chipboard.
I ended up purchasing a lovely Wren kitchen (units and integrated dishwasher) last year as they were the only ones who had the style and colour I wanted for a reasonable price. I personally found the service great when designing and it was delivered within a few weeks of me placing the order. I didn't get them to fit it though as the charge was almost as much as the kitchen, so my partner ended up doing it with a bit of help from me and my dad and it looks great. We did get the more 'premium' prebuilt units though, not sure how easy the flat pack units would be. I did purchase the worktops elsewhere as they were wood so could get them cheaper. I did nearly buy a quartz worktop from Wren and the price seemed reasonable as it included fitting of the worktops. I haven't really read any of the 'horror' stories so don't know if it was the quality of the kitchen that was the problem, the service or fitting etc, but I personally have had no major issues with mine and it all went very smoothly. The only problem I did have was the sink arrived slightly damaged, maybe during transport, but after contacting Wren they sorted it out within a week. This is the first kitchen I have bought so I feel its luck of the draw really whoever you go with. I also think that people who have had bad experiences are more vocal when it comes to reviews. I would however probably always get someone independent to fit it for you (or DIY) no matter who you go with, unless it was a bespoke kitchen company.

I've had a IKEA kitchen which was appallingly fitted, a Wick kitchen which was brilliantly fitted by my builder and moser recently went for a low priced range from John Lewis using their kitchen fitter which has been excellent.

As the pp said, the fitter is key.

i've gone Schmidt - yet to be installed but they seem professional so far and will use their fitter

We are currently trying to decide between Howdens, DIY and Wren. DIY has long lead times, which is an issue for us because we don't want to finalize plans until walls are knocked down. howdens is expensive at first pass, so you have to argue with your builder to get the kick back they give them passed to you. That pisses me off. Also, the way Howdens have super short lead times is by having much less choice. We've had to make some design compromises to fit in their options.

Wren - ignored them for a long time because of the terrible reviews. But actually the poor reviews are mostly about fitters. They have great choice and 4 week lead times. So if they have something you want then I'd consider it.

Agree with the PP that a lot of the really bad reviews for Wren are largely about the Wren fitters. We didn't intend to even consider Wren for our soon-to-be-fitted kitchen until our builder recommended them (we've used him for other big jobs and he's become a friend, and we completely trust his opinion, as opposed to him being some random bloke we don't know with a Wren discount card! ). Anyway he has fitted quite a few Wren kitchens himself over the past couple of years and all have been good quality and straightforward to fit. So we are going with Wren. The sales process was very straightforward and the Wren guy we're dealing with gets back to me very quickly with query emails etc. So far we are impressed. BUT we will be getting our builder to fit it rather than risking a Wren fitter disaster! I'm hopeful that everything will go to plan! However we are getting our granite work surfaces from a local stone merchant, which charges substantially less than Wren does.

DIY Kitchens! Much better quality, cheaper and look great

I’ve always put in IKEA kitchens with custom doors, and been very happy with the results. Always used good fitters though, as that’s really key.