Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Anyone planned their own kitchen?

13 replies

PamelaAnderson · 30/10/2021 19:27

I made a mess of it and had a badly fitted kitchen. I’m finding no one wants to fit a kitchen for me, because it’s not brand new…. But that’s for another thread.

I’m hoping if I can order the kitchen myself but I’m finding it hard to plan the kitchen. It’s from DIY Kitchen but I’m starting to doubt all my measurements.

Plus I can’t get the oven to sit in the right place below the extractor. Agh.

Is there an online service or can anyone recommend anyone in Manchester who can measure for me?

OP posts:
Original poster
PamelaAnderson · 30/10/2021 19:27

Measure and design*. Obviously will pay. A kitchen fitter will be great .

OP posts:
TreeLawney · 30/10/2021 20:56

I used diy kitchens & planned our own kitchen around 4 years ago. Are you using their online planner? I found that worked really well.

Massive attention to detail really helped me - down to visualising doing things in the kitchen eg cooking favourite dishes, making a cup of tea etc, where would everything be, where would I move, what would be in that cupboard vs that drawer and so on.

Kitkat151 · 30/10/2021 21:12

We planned and fitted our own kitchen....we got our measurements out on one side ( galley kitchen) ..... for us ( a couple) it was no big deal getting a slimline dishwasher instead of a standard one....but could have been a different story if it had been for another appliance.
I remember my Dad always saying ‘measure twice....cut once’

AnnaMagnani · 30/10/2021 21:20

Yes! I did it using the DIY Kitchens planner.

I found some things planned themselves - I couldn't move the room doors, windows etc which effectively decided where the cooker, sink, fridge went.

After that it was just making up runs of cupboards. My experience is pan drawers are better than cupboards, and no cupboard is wasted. I ended up with a 15cm gap, stuck a cupboard in it thinking I was nuts - it's now a really handy place to putting chopping boards and baking trays.

If you are in Manchester it might be worth the trip to the showroom, they will help you out when you are there if you do most of the work on the planner yourself.

Zinnia · 31/10/2021 11:26

I've done my own, on the (old style) Ikea online planner, it's being fitted now. But I've spent months fine-tuning the design, and I did a kitchen design course some years ago so knew the basics before I started out! Can you afford a couple of hundred quid for a session with a kitchen designer? Kitchen design is complicated and hard to put right if you get it wrong.

Isseywith3witchycats · 31/10/2021 12:02

what we did was got Wickes to come and do a measure design and went down to the warehouse locally for a qoute which was a lot more expensive than DIY kitchens then we used Wickes measurements on the DIY planner, we are lucky we went down to the showroom and got them to fine tune it did the order online and they recheck you have not missed anything out

skippy67 · 31/10/2021 15:30

I planned ours using the diykitchens online planner. I found it quite fun and the planner added end and filler panels automatically. Diykitchens customer service was very good too answering all my questions and making suggestions based on my plan. I'd recommend.

gogohm · 31/10/2021 15:32

I planned it and dad fitted it but he dies it for a living. I used howdens

Ariela · 31/10/2021 16:58

Years and years ago pre-computer, I went round kitchen showroom places and bought loads of units ex display one January. I then went to a reclamation type place and found some lovely oak veneer shaker-style doors reduced as they were old fashioned imperial feet and inches measurements. Then I drew a scale drawing on graph paper of the kitchen, and cut out scale units, shuffled them about till I'd got them all to fit, bought new worktop and cut that to fit, cut the doors to the correct widths and ironed on veneer strip. Worked brilliantly. Of course nowadays there are online tools do this for you. Cost about 1/10 a normal kitchen would have, even got an oven for free (didn't work, was by a skip, all it needed was a new thermostat).

corblimeygov · 31/10/2021 18:41

The guy that fitted ours offered to measure it for me, then I worked with Karen at OnePlan to get the design right. ( I didn't use DIY as I've gone for a ply kitchen) she's all online and very patient and so sensible. 100% recommend and she's got loads of reviews on her Houzz page too. Ive just posted her name on another thread too, (someone else also recommend her too)

Dogsanddrums · 01/11/2021 22:40

IKEA have a decent online design tool (the full tool not the basic one). Also, if you go for a free design appointment at B&Q are given a login to their design tool, which is good. We used it for our current kitchen even though we went with another supplier in the end.

Daughterpanic · 02/11/2021 06:10

Can you go to a few places like b and q etc and home base and then use DIY? My dh was extremely nervous about usujng their planning tool and then said was excellent...
As pp said it is very good at measuring for you.
Our kitchen is quite simple though and nothing moved much. I much preferred being able to get exactly what I wanted myself from DIY.

SollaSollew · 02/11/2021 13:32

I've planned my own kitchen a few times now, two were from DIY kitchens and the most recent from HMKOC who do have a designer but he just mainly advised on the most economical boiler cupboard solution.

Graph paper and a good tape measure are what you need. Things sometimes are easier if you start with what you can't move, other things that I think have helped me are:

  1. Work out where your services are going in first so where is your existing drainage, where your gas comes in etc. while these things can normally be changed if you want do it its expensive.
  2. If you have a boiler in your kitchen you probably won't want to move that either.
  3. You want to keep your dishwasher and if you don't have a separate utility your washing machine together.
  4. I personally like to have some symmetry which can help with where you place your tall cabinets etc. I do think it looks better to not have too many different types and sizes of units so not a 50cm cupboard next to 90 cm drawers next to 60cm appliance housing for example. This might just be me though!
  5. It's useful to have some prep space next to your cooker but also think about where you're going to put your small appliances when you're working out how many tall cupboards vs worktop space.
  6. People do talk about the work triangle, fridge, sink, cooker all within close walking distance of each other. I've never been fortunate enough to have a kitchen large enough where I think this would have been a problem but seems to be the first thing you read about none the less!
  7. I think like a pp said it's worth thinking about how you'd be operating your kitchen, so if you're making a cup of tea at your kettle where will your mugs and tea bags be, where are your teaspoons. How close are where you're storing your crockery to the dishwasher and the dining table etc. These little things that you're doing all the time are the things that make your kitchen feel like it's a good design or a bad design in my experience.

Anyway HTH, people on here will happily look at your design for you as well so that's always worth thinking about.

Good luck

New posts on this thread. Refresh page