New Kitchen

[AgathaQuiztee]

Has anybody got any recommendations for a good and reliable kitchen company?

I’m in the process of getting mine done by Harvey Jones, had the final design meeting today.

So far, so good, I’m impressed with the quality, the attention to detail etc, and that they paint the cabinets in situ, so you leave the colour decisions to the last minute, to suit the light, floor, worktop etc.

I like the designer, she has a degree in interiors architecture so is a million miles away from the usual sales person.

DIY kitchens you have to do the plans yourself but they are good quality, price is good compared to other companies, they have a showroom just outside of Pontefract in Yorkshire well worth a visit if you can manage it as they have the kitchens set up so you can look at quality, finish , colours etc and talk to their very knowledgable staff , we went with them as a better kitchen was £2000 cheaper than wickes

Budget? I've had a full wooden painted kitchen from John Lewis of Hungerford which will be £25k up for a medium size kitchen. It's beautiful and in my tenanted flat has held up really well.
Howdens factory assembled is a Which? Best Buy. I'm loving the handleless style, and will cost £8-10k or so. I've used Howdens for six renovation projects but never lived with one myself, but two good friends have it and after six years (kitchen was in the house when she bought it so who knows how old it actually is) looks great.
But really it's your fitter that counts the most - they can make a good kitchen awful and a budget one work.
If budget is a non issue I'd use Harvey Jones or Neptune.

The reason we didn't go for Neptune in the end is that it's made in China so we were concerned about supply chain issues. It is lovely though, our last holiday was in a cottage with a Neptune kitchen and it was beautiful.

Harvey Jones make everything in England which is good, also I like that they will build whatever you want, and paint it absolutely any colours you fancy.

Totally depends on your budget and your expectations.

Are you:

A) looking to buy the units, appliances, worktops & tiles yourself and employ trades to complete the kitchen yourself (carpenter/kitten fitter, tiler, flooring, electrics etc)

Or are you

B) looking for a kitchen company that will help you design and then supply and fit your kitchen from start to finish.

I've done option A for a small kitchen in our annexe earlier this year. units from DIY Kitchens, worktops from Howdens, oven, hob, fridge all sourced from the Internet and trades we know to fit etc. It's a nice finish, but took time to achieve given the availability of the different trades we needed.

For our main kitchen and scullery we are going for option B. Yes, it's more expensive but we want a high quality look and feel so have gone for a handleless kitchen from a German brand with lots of extras like touch open/close cupboard doors plus we are able to have the custom sized units so we can accommodate some odd spaces we have without compromise. It's up to the kitchen company to mange the whole job, from removing the old kitchen, replacing the ceiling, rewiring the kitchen and then installing the new units, appliances, worktops and splashbacks etc. We've gone with a local independent kitchen company with an excellent reputation and winner of national awards for kitchen design. Some of the ideas they brought to the table have made a huge difference to final design and are things we would never have thought of. Their eye for detail is incredible l.

If you want a kitchen like Harvey Jones, Neptune or DeVol on a budget I suggest Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch . We have just had one fitted and am very happy with it.

Avoid Benchmarx.

QC - did you have any issues with HMKC? Anything you would do differently or advice for dealing with them? Thanks

I'm getting mine from Wren. I've been very impressed so far.

Thank you everyone. I've budgeted £20K but that would have to include fridge freezer, oven, hob and dishwasher. Ive got my heart set in an American style fridge freezer and DH wants a range cooker.
I'll have a look at your suggestions.

Probably best to ask locally, say a local Facebook group.

£20k for everything is an ok budget. It might be worth speaking to a local joinery company to see if they can work to £20k all in. Hand-built locally and fitted by the joiner who made it, after local recommendations is definitely a really good way to go.

Locally that would be Thomas Davies kitchens. Have a look at his website. Kingston upon Thames.

@kitchensnew

QC - did you have any issues with HMKC? Anything you would do differently or advice for dealing with them? Thanks

No issues at all - we’re very happy with our kitchen. We only had 1 small issue - we hadn’t measured the depth of our microwave that we wanted to put in the larder top which meant we had to buy a new microwave. As all their units are bespoke we could have had it made a few cams deeper.

@AgathaQuiztee

Thank you everyone. I've budgeted £20K but that would have to include fridge freezer, oven, hob and dishwasher. Ive got my heart set in an American style fridge freezer and DH wants a range cooker. I'll have a look at your suggestions.

Our kitchen including the units, fitting, painting, Fisher and Paykel Fridge, Rangemaster range cooker, a Bosch dishwasher, a quartzite worktop and Perrin & Rowe taps came to under £20k

Qc - That is a great price. My quote is £15k for the units alone before painting and fitting. Did you get their standard sale price or was there room for any further negotiation? Presumably not as waiting lists are so long?

If your looking at the main kitchen stores in the UK here is a good comparison.

I've just gone with an IKEA unit setup which is being installed next week... In total after installation it would be £8k and that's including hobs, fridge freezer oven, new lights, switches and plugs, flooring and tiling.

Ooops forgot to paste the link

@kitchensnew

Qc - That is a great price. My quote is £15k for the units alone before painting and fitting. Did you get their standard sale price or was there room for any further negotiation? Presumably not as waiting lists are so long?

You must have a bigger kitchen than us - are you maximizing sizes of your units - all of ours are 1m wide. We have a larder unit, pantry doors for the corner 2 sets of 3 drawers, a larder top with base cupboard under and a fridge housing with cupboard over - then an island with 2 more sets of 3 drawers, a bin unit and under sink unit together with all the usual plinths and kick boards etc. We bought in the sale with no extra discount - maybe prices have gone up a little because of the increase in materials.

I’ve just had a look - prices look similar to those we paid. Don’t forget to get the biggest units you can to cut down on the number you need.

@Qc16 being cheeky, but just wondered if we can please see a photo of your kitchen? It sounds lovely 😊

Mine is being delivered by HMKC mid-October.

Our quote is £18k for the kitchen/utility units. About £3.5k to fit, £4.5k to paint, £7k on appliances/sinks/taps (not including the dishwasher, integrated x2 fridges and x1 freezer that we're keeping and reusing from our old kitchen). Then it's £1.3k for knobs/handles and the quartz quote I just received is £7k!! Hoping the worktop comes in cheaper elsewhere.

So ours will be approx £42k, which is high, but good value overall when compared to the £70-75k quotes I got from the bigger, more well known companies.

@kitchensnew I didn't think there was any room for negotiation on the sale prices. They're so busy. I tried to add extra units for elsewhere and they've said end of March for delivery!!

@Qc16 would you be able to recommend your worktop company please? I thought the quote I just got said £7k...it's actually £7.3k plus VAT, so £8.8k 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

We've done Howdens twice and loved it. Kitchens have lasted well. Our old one was 10 years old and still had tons of life in it. We only got rid because it didn't fit our new extension.

We didn't get appliances from them this time or worktops. We sourced a beautiful Italian quartz one from a local stonemason. It was about the same price but much better quality and made to measure so no join on our island.

I would say though that any kitchen is only as good as the fitter so take time to find a really good one. Our utility room is B&Q but fitted by the same bloke. Looks amazing as well but as it's only 6 months old can't tell you much about longevity.

I'd recommend Wren showrooms as well. They are big and have lots of kitchens made up. We got some great storage ideas from them.

@PoshWatchShitShoes @Qc16
Not sure how large your kitchen is but I think you can def get your quartz for much less...

At least a third of not half...

I'm getting mine down for about 4.5k 3.7+vat

I have an island about 3.5 m double width
And a run of similar length
Plus a small patch
Full back splashes
And enough quartz on the slabs to do my laundry room and fire mantle

Shop around...

@PlateSpinnerJuggler I think it may be because I've asked for Silestone. Presume there's a mark up on that brand?

The Corestone equivalent is coming in at £5.9k inc VAT. I'd budgeted £6k, so need to look at the difference in quality.

The island is 2.7x1.3m. Then I've got 800cm either side of the range and a 2m long run in a separate dresser. Then it's 1m either side of the utility sink.

I've never bought worktops before, so maybe that's just the price, but it does seem expensive.

[quote PoshWatchShitShoes]@PlateSpinnerJuggler I think it may be because I've asked for Silestone. Presume there's a mark up on that brand?

The Corestone equivalent is coming in at £5.9k inc VAT. I'd budgeted £6k, so need to look at the difference in quality.

The island is 2.7x1.3m. Then I've got 800cm either side of the range and a 2m long run in a separate dresser. Then it's 1m either side of the utility sink.

I've never bought worktops before, so maybe that's just the price, but it does seem expensive.

[/quote]
Yes you're probably right.
I went with a cheaper brand as my island is 3.5m and I didn't want a join on it... and there aren't many companies that do slabs in that size... most have max lengths up to between 3-3.2